<p>In this episode of <em>Honest HR</em>¸ co-hosts Wendy Fong, Amber Clayton and Gloria Sinclair Miller continue their discussion of workplace-related issues the Biden administration has acted on in the first half of 2021, alongside discussion of other pertinent workplace topics, such as the PRO Act and approaches for finding untapped talent.<br /><br /><b>Earn 0.75 SHRM PDCs for Listening to This Episode</b><br />Episodes of <em>Honest HR</em> help you build your competencies while also earning professional development credits (PDCs) toward your SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP recertification. All relevant details, including the Activity IDs, are provided during the episode.</p>
In this episode of Honest HR¸ co-hosts Wendy Fong, Amber Clayton and Gloria Sinclair Miller continue their discussion of workplace-related issues the Biden administration has acted on in the first half of 2021, alongside discussion of other pertinent workplace topics, such as the PRO Act and approaches for finding untapped talent.
Earn 0.75 SHRM PDCs for Listening to This Episode
Episodes of Honest HR help you build your competencies while also earning professional development credits (PDCs) toward your SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP recertification. All relevant details, including the Activity IDs, are provided during the episode.
Amber Clayton:
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Wendy Fong:
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Gloria Sinclair Miller:
Welcome to Honest HR, the podcast for all of us HR professionals, people managers, and team leads intent on growing and developing our companies for the better.
Amber Clayton:
We bring you honest forward thinking conversations, and relatable stories from the workplace, that challenge the way it's always been done because, after all, you have to push back to move forward.
Wendy Fong:
Honest HR is a podcast from SHRM, The Society for Human Resource Management. And by listening, you're helping create better workplaces and a better world. I'm Wendy Fong.
Amber Clayton:
I'm Amber Clayton.
Gloria Sinclair Miller:
And I am Gloria Sinclair Miller. Now let's get honest.
Amber Clayton:
Now let's get honest.
Wendy Fong:
Now let's get honest.
Amber Clayton:
So on our episode today, we're going to start part two of our mini series on the first hundred days of Biden administration.
Wendy Fong:
Yeah, welcome back. Always great to see you ladies.
Amber Clayton:
Welcome back, Gloria and Wendy.
Gloria Sinclair Miller:
Welcome back.
Amber Clayton:
And if you haven't listened to part one yet, please go back and listen to that. So what we talked about the last time was about some of the issues that were happening in the things around COVID and vaccines. And one of the things that we're starting to hear more about right now is the war for talent. And how many employers are having difficulty finding employees to work, now that they're starting to reopen again.
And what we found is during the Biden administration, there was the American Rescue Plan Act that actually provided for some extended unemployment benefits for employees. And what we're hearing is that some employees are deciding not to go back to work because they realize that they can get unemployment benefits. And it's probably less costly for them because they're not having to pay for transportation costs like gas or public transportation. They may be saving money on childcare as well. And then of course getting that unemployment benefit. So with that in mind, employers are trying to figure out how do we get these employees back to work, or how can we hire other people? And some of the things that I've said to employers are things like think outside the box, not just looking within your local area, but maybe there are people outside of your area that might be interested in employment. And there's many more. Gloria, what types of tips do you have for employers who are looking for talent?
Gloria Sinclair Miller:
Well, I think you bring up great points and I know what I'm often hearing, especially lately, especially being based in the Southeast is a lot of our employers opened sooner than many of the ones in the north where you are, Amber, and even on the west coast where you are, Wendy. And the big issue right now, given the benefits, is it's easier to be out, like you said. So now it's time to bring people back into the workforce. And there's an issue. There is a, I don't know if I'm ready. So there's a safety piece that people are struggling with. My child may still be virtual, so I don't know if I have the appropriate care for my child so that they're able to continue with their education through the rest of the year. And quite frankly, it's creating a little bit of a divide around whether or not the timing is right at this point to bring employees back into the office, given where we are.
And also as both of we're still in a period where we're trying to get people vaccinated. And I don't have all the statistics, but I know that in the Southeast, especially where I am, they're really trying to get people to get vaccinated. There are a lot of people who are still hesitant to do that. So that's also creating a bit of a divide in the workplace, around I don't know if I want to go back to work if someone's not vaccinated at this point. And what is the employer going to put in place from a safety perspective?
And I think the last point going back to the talent piece is we've lost so many out of the workforce. We're going to have to think differently about how we recruit. We're also going to have to go back to where we were in 2019, thinking about untapped talent groups, like veterans, like hiring the formerly incarcerated, like hiring those with disabilities. In addition to trying to bring those who left the workplace for whatever reason, back into the workplace. So it's a challenging time for our employers who are trying to get things as back to normal as it can be. But Wendy, what are you hearing on the west coast?
Wendy Fong:
Yeah, I think it's important for organizations to really be flexible and agile, as we have all been this past almost year and a half, in terms of the timing of when to bring employees back and when not to. I know that there's a recent survey that surveyed the larger organizations in California, like Google and LinkedIn, Microsoft, and over 60% of the employees prefer to work remotely 100%. And so does this spring into question, do organizations need to shift and respond to employee needs to offer more of that remote access? Or what does a hybrid workplace look like? Sometimes if we don't listen to the needs of the employees, then you might lose them. That might be part of the whole comp and benefits package of why employee wants to work for you.
I think I saw on LinkedIn, an article, like if an employee was given a $30,000 bonus or ability to work from home a hundred percent, which one would you choose? And they chose the latter. They'd want to work remotely a hundred percent. And I don't blame them because especially if you have to balance childcare and dealing with longer commutes. Especially in California, it's very high cost of living here and people are moving further and further away from where you work so you can have a better standard of living. So those are factors we need to consider in terms of what we need to offer our employees. And even coming back into the office, what that means and what's that going to look like? And if you do become a hundred percent remote, how are you going to keep your employees engaged and how are you going to still make sure that they're productive? I know it doesn't apply to all industries, but it's something we have to consider for the future to make sure we're all equipped to be successful wherever we work.
I mean, one nice thing about being remote is the talent pool is now across the globe, right? If you were only based in a certain location, you could only hire within a one hour, two hour radius of your area. So if you're remote you could hire people from different countries or different states. Like me being in California, I'm a remote employee and we're a headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. So it's nice to have that ability that I can still work for a company and have that opportunity, even though we're based in Virginia.
Amber Clayton:
One of the things that I've been asked before is, "Well, how do we find these untapped talent pools of people?" So Gloria, Wendy, where can you recommend or direct our listeners to go if they're trying to find people who are in an untapped talent pool, like the veterans, and individuals with disabilities, individuals who've had criminal records, et cetera?
Wendy Fong:
I think one place to start... Well, I took, actually the SHRM has an inclusive workplace culture specialty credential, and they offered great concrete steps on how to diversify and how to be more inclusive in your recruiting efforts. And one point was to really look at, connect with your local nonprofits. There are a lot of local nonprofits that have these supportive services for veterans, for formerly incarcerated, for disadvantaged people. And if you work with your local nonprofits, then you could help create that funnel so you can interview for different pools of talent. For example, if you are interviewing for a position, and you have four candidates, and all of them are male, well, most likely you're going to hire a male. So how can you diversify that a little more? So there should definitely be women, other people of color, maybe a veteran in that combination. So you can have more likelihood, statistically, the odds will come out that you'll hire someone that's more diverse and hence be more inclusive. So that's one place to start.
Gloria Sinclair Miller:
Yeah. And I would agree with what Wendy said. And I would add on to that, because I hear that all the time, "I want to hire, but where do I find?" And I think, yes, the nonprofits, looking at department of labor. To Wendy's point, we've got the specialty credential, the SHRM Foundation also offers other resources like the Veterans at Work and the Employing Abilities and Getting Talent Back to Work, which focuses on three groups of untapped talent. But I also think there's this piece around making sure your organization is ready to bring in a more diverse group. Because you could hire one veteran or one military spouse, and if that's like, "I've hired one and I'm done," and you haven't looked at, "Okay, how am I going to make them feel like they belong, like they're included, they're engaged? What's the retention strategy? How do I continue to have them help me hire more of a particular group?"
And to the point it's the same whole true for hiring other diverse talent groups where you're trying to hire more women, or you're trying to hire more people of color, whatever it is. There is this piece around finding them. And then there's the piece around keeping them. So how do we make them feel included when they're there? And I also think it ties back, Amber, to the flexibility piece as well, because we have recognized that we don't have to work in one place. And to Wendy's point, we can be remote and still be a productive part of the team. But there are a lot of employers out there who are still focused on, you must be in this office, in this place from nine to five. And we've got to remember that we've got to help employers to be more flexible so that they see that in order to get a more diverse group, in order to tap into some of these pools, they're going to have to change some of the ways of working that we've been doing in the past.
Then we always say 2020 was a reset. It's a reset button. So let's try to reset and do something a little bit more different so we can be more productive.
Amber Clayton:
Yeah. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the remote work really is going to depend on the industry and the positions. I mean, obviously if you're working in a restaurant, most people are not going to be able to work from home unless they're doing some type of a delivery where they're going in, getting the food, and then delivering it to the customers. So there are several industries out there that, numerous industries, I should say, that just can't allow the remote work. But where it could be allowed, where it was helpful and it worked last year, employers need to consider whether or not that can be something that can be extended. And we're actually seeing that, through our research, that many employers are sticking with a hybrid approach or going with remote altogether.
And another thing I just wanted to mention about the untapped talent or finding individuals for employment. I actually heard from a company that was providing transportation to their employees from one state to the other, where they were close to the border of the state. And I thought that was a really interesting and unique way to try to bring employees into the organization by providing that transportation to them.
Wendy Fong:
But even thinking outside of the box of your comp and benefits, like I know SHRM reimburses for your Metro card for taking public transportation. That could be a benefit that you could offer your employees if you have access to great public transportation. In the Bay Area, we have BART, and Caltrain, and Muni systems that are all connected. So that could be a possibility. Or you could rent a bike or a scooter. So maybe companies can offer reimbursements for renting those little scooters that people drive around everywhere, the little Lyft bikes everywhere. There's other modes of transportation besides fossil fuels that people can get around and utilize. I think it's just time to get creative if we're in those types of situations as well, if you still wanted people to come into the office.
Amber Clayton:
So something else you mentioned about remote work, we talked about a hybrid environment and early on in the hundred days, Biden signed an executive order on protecting worker health and safety to reduce the risk of COVID-19. And we talked a little bit about the safety measures in the workplace, but with people now working remotely, either going forward or in that hybrid state, some people are asking us, what's my obligation as an employer for safety within the home. It's not like I can go to their house and look at where they're working or be able to, I don't know, modify their work areas. What are your thoughts or what are you hearing around remote work and safety?
Gloria Sinclair Miller:
So that's a great question. It reminds me of earlier in my career, when we started to allow people to work from home, and all those, and Amber, you probably remember this, all the questions you would get around making sure that people have an ergonomic chair and are following the same safety that they would follow in the office.
And I think this one gets complicated as to how much we want to mandate what happens in someone's home. I think as an employer, my thought would be, let's make sure maybe we standardize what we send and make sure an employee has access to. So either if they're like me, who's remote full time, let's make sure that what we would give someone in the office, from a safety perspective or some of the guidelines that we place, that we make sure that employee has at home in the same, even if it's temporary. That there are certain things that the employer outlines that may help the employee have a safe environment at home. But it does get a little bit complicated when you're trying to mandate things that are easily mandated when you're in an office environment or any type of work environment.
Wendy Fong:
Oh yeah. I agree. There needs to be those policies in place, especially for preventative action. I've seen a rise of, I guess, workplace injuries from not being ergonomic and not sitting correctly or not having your keyboard or mouse correctly. Cause I know back in the office, I had my standing desk. I had my nice keyboard tray and my mouse tray, and now I don't have that at home. So I actually had to purchase one when I started to feel like my wrist tightening up a little bit. Like, "Oh geez, I'm not ergonomically set up at home that I was in the office."
So being aware of those and having preventative measures, instead of reacting and responding to after the fact if an employee is injured and files a claim, I think, is important. And all we can do is make recommendations, right? As Amber, you mentioned, we can't regulate if people hang out in large groups and go to concerts or don't do this or that. But we can try to make recommendations so people can see that the workplace cares about your health and your safety, and here are some guidelines or recommendations to keep us all safe.
Amber Clayton:
Yeah, absolutely. And with the remote work too we talk about safety, but we also have people who ask us about worker's compensation claims, and it depends. So if someone is injured or they become ill and that's in the course of their work, even if they're working at home that could potentially be a worker's compensation claim. So for our listeners, anyone who handles worker's compensation would probably know this already, but you want to check with your state laws and your workers' compensation carrier to see what the eligibility requirements are. If someone's cooking their lunch during their lunch break, more than likely that's not going to be covered on a worker's comp. But if something happens, like you mentioned Wendy, about ergonomically injuries, something like carpal tunnel, for example, that could potentially be a worker's compensation claim if it involves working at home, working on the computer, on the keyboard, it could potentially be covered. So something to keep in mind for those employers who are doing the remote work or the hybrid approach.
So one of the other things that I wanted to mention was the American Rescue Plan Act. And I know Biden was looking to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour. And of course that can be a significant impact on employers when that happens. I know back in 2016, we received thousands of questions related to the proposed overtime regulations where they were going to increase the salary requirements for exempt employees. Now this time around it was pulled out of the American Rescue Plan, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it might not happen in the near future. So what types of things would employers need to look at or consider if there were a minimum wage increase?
Gloria Sinclair Miller:
Yeah. So this is another tough one. I'm sitting here thinking, having practiced in HR, just some of the things that are happening right now, how hard the job is right now having to juggle so many things. So as it relates to the minimum wage piece, obviously it's going to have an impact on those smaller employers that have to adhere to the regulation. And it may cause some smaller employers to really think about what their staffing models look like in order to accommodate being able to pay that wage. And at the same time, what they're able to offer from a benefits perspective, and some of the other perks, if you would, that they're able to offer to their employer. So I think it's just a time when we think about compensation and think about the total package, it's really going to be around what can employers do to sell the entire package?
So yes, I may have to make an adjustment to that minimum wage for workers who, quite frankly, in some of these situations, you're not going to be able to do without. But at the same time, are there things, like Wendy was talking, about the Metro cards for transportation, or like Amber, you talked about bringing people places. Are there ways that employers can get creative to think about how can I provide another type of benefit that will allow workers to see the value, not only in that mission vision of the organization, but the fact that, "Okay, I'm getting this, but I'm also able to do that." Now again, that's going to cost more money, but hopefully employers are looking at ways that they can leverage other resources in order to do this.
So I wish I had a crystal ball, honestly. I wish I had the magic answer, but I do think it's going to be people being more creative about how they're able to do this and how they're able to staff in the workforce. So, Wendy, I know this was on, it feels like this was on the table for a while in California.
Wendy Fong:
Well, it's certainly an investment back into our employees. I mean, California, I think they're raised, they've already raised the minimum wage. We already voted to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2023. It was a gradual process. And then San Francisco already has a minimum wage of over $16 an hour. And although that brings the cost of everything higher, in the end it's an investment in the people, and our livelihoods, and that we're able to have a more equitable standard of living. I remember I read a book called Nickel and Dimed, on not getting by in America, by Barbara Ehrenreich. I think that's how you pronounce her name.
And she did an experiment where she worked two minimum wage jobs, just pretending, with the premise that she didn't have an education or didn't have any skills. I think she was a waitress for one, I forgot what the other job was. And she could barely, working two full-time jobs at minimum wage, she could barely keep up with her standard of living, of having to pay rent and expenses. And she didn't have any kids, in this experiment, that she had to support. So just think if you're a single mother and you have, or single parent, and you throw in that you have childcare expenses, and supporting and paying for food and clothing for your children, that just adds another layer of complexity of your standard of living. So I hope this executive order or recommendation will help at least employers and companies invest more in the people of this country. And so we can have a more equitable livelihood.
Amber Clayton:
Yeah, I think that when it happens quickly is when it becomes a problem. If it happens over a period of time, there's more opportunity for employers to be able to plan things out. When an employer is paying minimum wage, there is sometimes a challenge for them in keeping people. And so speaking of keeping people, we know that during this COVID pandemic, that many employees had an opportunity to look at other employment while they were at home, either on quarantine or if they were laid off, if they were working from home. So we're seeing now, as employers are getting back to work, that not only are the unemployment benefits keeping people from coming back to work, but employees have started to find, or they've found other jobs.
Gloria Sinclair Miller:
To your point, I was surprised, in looking at people's LinkedIn updates over the past nine months or so, how many people have changed jobs. And not just changed jobs in their employer, but actually went and worked for a new company. And I was actually having lunch with someone recently, who said they've never met anyone face to face in their organization because they started during the pandemic when everyone was remote. And now, over the course of the next couple of months, they'll actually meet people in person. But that said I know we heard some of the research on this, I don't want to call it desire, but kind of this being in a situation where people, I think, waited to get through the pandemic and then decided it was probably time to look for another career.
Based on whether they felt like they could hang on and wait through the pandemic, and now I need to learn, develop, go to another company. Or quite frankly, how they were treated during this time may have influenced their desire to want to move to another organization that had more of a reputation of taking care of their employees and their customers. So that brand loyalty piece. So this is definitely something, and we have heard this definitely at SHRM, around people's desire to now move into other roles. Whether it's looking for promotions or lateral moves, and some of those moves will take people out of the organization and into other organizations.
So back in the day when I worked in pharma, we used to laugh and say, usually after March 15th, when bonuses were paid for the year before, is when you saw that big turnover happened. And I think now we're seeing, as things are getting back to normal, or whatever the new normal will be, people are feeling more comfortable to go out, and look, and do something different. So I think this is something we're probably going to be experiencing for the next few months, if you will.
Amber Clayton:
And so for those employers who haven't brought employees back or haven't reopened yet, that's a good understanding for them to have. That they could potentially have trouble getting employees back because those employees, again, may be staying at home or wanting to stay home, or they may have found other employment. So it's really important for employers to be able to have that communication, that open communication with their employees, regardless of whether or not they are currently on leave, they're currently laid off. If you're wanting those employees to come back to work for you, do those check-ins, see how they're feeling, see what their status is. And hopefully they'll be transparent and let you know that they are looking for other employment, but oftentimes they don't just because they're concerned about retaliation or not being able to provide leave, or they may not have a good working relationship with their employers. But hopefully there can be some transparency, and employers and employees can plan for it in advance.
Wendy Fong:
And also looking at the professional development opportunities in your company. what opportunities are you allowing your employees to grow and upskill and reskill? Those are kind of the big buzz words for the year because there's this growing competition in global talent and a shortage of workers. How can we upskill and reskill the employees that we have now and make them feel like they have their skills up to par with what's going on in the industry? What are opportunities we have for them for growth in the company, whether it's upward or lateral? Just being in touch and communication with your employees, making sure that you're providing the right opportunities and benefits, so they feel like they're growing in the organization. So they don't have to look elsewhere. I think it's important.
Gloria Sinclair Miller:
And you bring up a really good point as well as it relates to communication, because I think we need to communicate that there are those professional development opportunities, or there are those opportunities for lateral moves or promotions. But I think one area where a lot of employers sometimes struggle with this is that open two way communication and feedback around where the opportunities are. And once you're able to identify whether it's professional development, or identify a potential role in the future that you want, is having those true direct conversations and feedback around what do you need to get to that role? And if you do do some professional development, where can you utilize that? Because it's great that you went and you got another specialty credential or another type of certificate, but if you're unable to utilize it and be able to apply what you learn, then people get frustrated. So having that open communication and transparency about that, I think will help the retention side of this.
Amber Clayton:
Something that we didn't mention when we were talking about untapped talent and recruiting during this time. And the challenges that employers are facing is immigration. We know that Biden has pulled back on some of the Trump administrations orders related to immigration, and there were some challenges with the H-1B visas. There were restrictions on travel. And so there hasn't been anything that specifically has altered what took place. It's still under review from the Trump administration. But I believe that, moving forward, according to Biden and his administration, that we'll be able to start hiring again and immigration will have, there'll be some rules that will likely be easier for people to obtain employment who have visas. And so for those employers who do work with individuals who need sponsorship for employment, continue to look at the White House and their reports of what's happening on the immigration side.
So the other thing that I just wanted to talk about too, was in the beginning of the Biden administration, the sexual orientation was not technically added to the Federal Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but is being covered under the sex part of the discrimination law. So what are your thoughts around that? And what types of things have you encountered with your members and field service directors related to gender identity and sexual orientation in this new law?
Wendy Fong:
Well, I think it's a huge win. We're talking about how to be more inclusive, how to recruit a more diverse workforce. And by having this added to the Equality Act, then it allows for those with different sexual orientations or identities to feel more comfortable and to feel that they can be themselves and feel, and encourage that culture of belonging. I think that's, what's important that we mention. How can you create a culture of belonging, so people don't have to cover and hide who they are? Because that's another layer of identity. There's so many layers that make up our identity and our personality, and that's just one other identity that people feel like they have to hide in their workplace if it's not protected. And this just allows people to feel more comfortable, and be themselves, and not be discriminated against. So it's a huge win, in my opinion.
Gloria Sinclair Miller:
I agree. It's a huge win. I do think it's also another opportunity to educate because while we want everyone to feel as if they're included, we still do have many who may be uncomfortable, may have some bias, and are not sure how to articulate what that bias may be. So the need for not only having the more inclusion, but also it also reinforces the need for more training and education for our employers, as it relates to having a more diverse and inclusive workplace. But I do agree with Wendy, it's definitely a win.
Wendy Fong:
Oh, I did want to mention before, Amber, on your comment about Biden's changes to immigration. So SHRM has a J-1 visa sponsorship that's available. So it's kind of exchange visitor program that provides educated foreign employees and students the opportunity to visit the US for a short amount of time, kind of like a training intern program. So that's a great opportunity to leverage as immigration gets a little loosened in terms of allowing people to work in the United States.
And it's a good reminder that essentially we're all immigrants to the United States. At one point or another, we all have a immigration story unless you're native American. So I remember my parents immigrating here because of that ideal of following the American dream, and they tell me about stories they've heard back in their Homeland of Myanmar, of America's this wonderful place with opportunity and equality where everyone can work, and have a better future, have a better education. And it's great that America can still have those, set those ideals for people to want to come here and have that equal opportunity. So I feel like that's great, that we should encourage other people to come to America, and make our economy more successful, and diversify our companies. Because with diverse opinions, research has shown that we can be more profitable as we're more creative and innovative in how we put out our products and services.
Amber Clayton:
And speaking of equal, I want to thank you, Wendy, for saying the Equality act because I was drawing a blank on that one when we talked about it earlier. But it was the Equality Act that was passed by the House and prohibits the discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. So thank you. So the other, the thing I want to mention also before we end our session today is workplace violence. I mean, we know that there have been several incidents this year with regards to workplace violence, and that kind of falls in line with the whole safety and ensuring a safe workplace. Let's talk a little bit about the workplace violence and what employers can do to help. I mean, you'll never avoid it, but to help potentially decrease workplace violence and to keep their employees safe.
Gloria Sinclair Miller:
Yeah. So I think there's a couple of things that come to mind and it goes back to really understanding your workforce, and taking the time to get to know people, and understand what may be going on in their lives. And when behavior changes that if it's happening internally and it's someone internally, the ability to understand what's happening in their life and when their behavior changes to be more attuned to it. And again, that goes back to knowing your employees. And obviously you can't prevent, but doing the due diligence to understand. And when someone's coming into an employer who may not necessarily be an employee, I mean, part of it is training. So all of us have gone through some type of training probably in the last few years around what happens if someone breaches the workplace if you're physically in a building.
So being able to teach people how to protect themselves, if something does happen, I think is critically important. And 9 times out of 10, if someone is coming back into some type of workplace to create some type of violent act, there is a connection to that workplace, and it might be an employee, or they may be the former employee. And I can think of many times having to have security when I was working as an HR practitioner, when you had to terminate someone, or something was going on, and having the red flags up that something's not right. And we need to have a more heightened sense of awareness for our managers on the floor and for the team as they're moving around. So I do think the communication and the training, we just have to keep reinforcing the need for that. But also we talk a lot within SHRM and around empathy, but also being empathetic about what's happening with people, so that again, you see the signs and know that this might be a time where we need to have some type of intervention.
Wendy Fong:
There's different angles you can approach this. So how does workplace violence even start in the workplace or at home. If you look about in the workplace it would be helpful to do training like harassment preventative training. I know it's mandatory in some states. If you see workplace bullying happening, are you a bystander and just letting this happen, or are you going to step in and say something and prevent something from happening? So an employee is not victimized and gets to the point that they become violent because of workplace bullying.
What do you have for mental health support at your company to support these employees through these practices? Is there a process for them to escalate a situation if it were to happen at work? And also for workplace violence at home, it'll dramatically impact an employee's productivity, when, if they're experiencing those kind of measures. Are there hotlines, supportive EAP programs for them to call. I know in California, they recently passed a law that if you need to attend a court case based on domestic violence, that you can't lose your job. Your job won't be jeopardized if you have to attend court. And I think those type of laws or rules are really helpful in supporting victims who have to go through those processes and still feel secure that they have a job to come back to.
Amber Clayton:
Yeah. And speaking of domestic violence, I'll be hosting a segment on domestic violence this season, as well as speaking with a couple of attorneys from the SHRM LegalNetwork powered by LegalShield about law enforcement in its role with HR. So we'll be talking about some of the workplace violence and issues around that. So be on the lookout or for that session.
I think we've covered almost everything except, well, you know what, let's cover the union because I know that's something that, the Pro Act has come up with the Biden administration, and the unions may be able to have more flexibility, or we may be seeing more unionized employers. So I worked for a union employer many, many years ago, and I was just out of college at this job, and had no idea what to do about a union. And we didn't have, at the time, all of these wonderful resources that we have now. And so I had to learn from other people within the organization about union organizing and elections and things around how I could, how to deal with certain situations in the workplace when it came to collective bargaining agreements and union representation. So have either of you had experience in the union environment?
Wendy Fong:
I have not, but I did read recently that Google, so a group of their employees formed a union. So I think it's interesting to see companies that have unions created after the fact, instead of traditional unions that you think of like police officers or teachers or construction workers.
Gloria Sinclair Miller:
Yeah. So I started my career in a hospital, so there were unions in the hospital environment. And then I actually wound up at a retailer, at one point in my career, that started to organize. So I got a very fast lesson in union organizing, and the signs to watch for, and how to try to prevent a union from organizing. So it's definitely a unique situation. And now, being outside a little bit, I'm probably more exposed to unions in a variety of different industries. So I do think it's interesting, Wendy, to your point about Google, because when we traditionally think about unions, we're not thinking about tech workers. And we're not thinking, especially in my case, when I worked for retailer, definitely we were not thinking about a retailer in that particular situation. So we are, you are starting to see other industries and it's much easier to organize because we have this thing called the internet and social media that is making it a little bit more easier now then way back when, when I started in HR. So it'll be interesting to see how this starts to or continues, I should say, to...
Amber Clayton:
Yeah, absolutely. And as we talked about already, employers need to have that flexibility. They need to have good compensation benefits plans. If they have open communication, high employee engagement, those types of organizations are less likely to have unions formed than others that are not treating their employees in a good way. So keep that in mind.
Lastly, I just want to talk about the CDC. I'm going to go back to COVID for a moment, just back from our previous session, part one, because of course I know there have been more changes. We know that there are many, many people who have been vaccinated so far and the CDC is continually updating their guidance. And one of the things I just want to mention, because this had happened, CDC had actually lifted its mask recommendations. And as soon as that had happened, people, I have seen, they've gone into stores and restaurants without their mask on saying, "Well, now I can take my mask off." And the store employees would say, "No, you can't take your mask off."
So just keep in mind, as listeners, when you hear this guidance come out from the CDC, whether it's lifting the mask recommendations or the restrictions, or the recommendations on social distancing, keep in mind that there are local and state laws. There's different requirements. There may be different requirements based on businesses. And let's have a little bit of compassion for one another. Even for those who are fully vaccinated, I know I've heard many employees are going to, or many people are still going to wear mask, even if they're fully vaccinated and that's going to be their choice to do so. I know many people are ready to get these mask off. And so I wouldn't necessarily jump to the now I never have to wear a mask again, because there may be some law, some regulations and guidance out there that might state otherwise. So just keep that in mind, as we have various updates from agencies like the CDC.
Gloria Sinclair Miller:
I'm keeping my mask on.
Wendy Fong:
Me too.
Amber Clayton:
All right. Great. Well, it's been a pleasure talking to you both again. Lots of things have happened in the first hundred days, and I'm sure we're going to see many more things happen. And so today we're concluding our mini series on the hundred days of the Biden administration. Gloria.
Gloria Sinclair Miller:
Thanks again for joining us for Honest HR, if you'd like to learn more about the Honest HR podcast, about our host, or to get additional information and resources on what was discussed in today's episode, head over to shrm.org/honesthr, you can also learn more about the other SHRM podcasts by checking out shrm.org/podcast.
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We have a review we'd love to read from Sarah K. Sarah writes, "Love the posted cast, great real life information. I wanted to know if you could talk about the grocery industry and how the pandemic has impacted employees and the role of the HR manager. I'm currently working in the grocery industry, alongside store managers and HR managers. It's been a tremendous amount of stress on all aspects of the grocery industry, from the cashiers who are overworked, short staffed, and having to deal with customer aggression." Well, Sarah, thank you so much for the review and for the suggestion. And yes, we absolutely understand that this past year has been tremendous for many of us working in many industries, but specifically for those frontline workers who had to be there throughout the pandemic to make sure that we had what we needed to get by. So yes, we will be talking about getting back to the new normal, and dealing with employees who are overworked, and dealing with the rise in violence in our workplaces. So stay tuned for the rest of our season.