Volume 2, Issue 2 (February, 2008)

What employers can expect from Congress in 2008
 

While much of the country is looking to see what will happen in the presidential election this year, there are several HR issues pending action by Congress that could impact employers. A few such proposals that will have the greatest impact on businesses are:

Healthy Families Act would require employers with 15 or more employees to guarantee paid sick leave of seven days per year.

The ADA Restoration Act  would significantly expand the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  The current ADA wording defines that an employee is disabled when "a physical or mental impairment substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual".  Pending legislation would change that to "a mental or physical impairment”.  This change in wording would result in the ADA covering a greater portion of the workforce – it would become easier for employees to qualify as having a disability under the act.

Mental Health Parity is legislation that would require health insurance plans to provide equal coverage of both mental health and medical services benefits.

Employment Verification - this is becoming a strong political issue and most likely some form of mandatory program will be passed that will impact employers.   If pending legislation goes through it will require all U.S. employers to electronically verify authorization of employees’ eligibility to work in the U.S.  One proposal is called SAVE Act and would require electronic verification mandatory for employers within four years.

Employers can count on numerous legislation or proposals to come up throughout the year that will have an impact to their bottom line. Team HR will update you on these proposals and other legislation as they occur.

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2008 Top Training Priorities

Supervisory skill and leadership development continues to be the training focus for employers. The next highest priority is diversity training. Training is a fundamental strategic planning tool used to obtain business objectives. The ability to address people issues at work appears to be a priority for employers in 2008. According to an annual survey of more than 2,500 HR executives, the emphasis will be on developing interpersonal skills and teamwork with the addition of enhancing communications and cross-cultural competency training. Productivity and process improvement require effectively managing workplace diversity. Successful companies are realizing that through proper training their diverse workforce can be a tremendous asset in an increasingly global society.

Team HR can facilitate numerous training programs to address the changing workforce, engage employees and enhance productivity.