Do you have updated job descriptions for your active employees? Yes, you post job descriptions for open positions, but what about your employees who are currently working for you? Job descriptions evolve as employees settle and grow into their positions, needs change, and projects evolve. Even though your employee may take on new responsibilities, you may not have taken the time to update their job description. Detailed job descriptions provide the employee with clarity on their responsibilities. It’s also a valuable tool for managers to measure their team members’ performance.

Here are some reasons why you should have updated job descriptions:

• Job descriptions are useful tools for communicating clear expectations regarding the tasks an employee is responsible for performing.
• Job descriptions are helpful when creating job postings during recruitment if the position becomes open again.
• Job descriptions also:
  • Identify skills and abilities required for a position.
  • Describe job duties.
  • Define necessary qualifications.
  • Provide a framework for determining an employee’s performance.
  • Support decision for non-exempt vs. exempt position status.
  • List the essential job functions that can aid in the interactive process when reasonable accommodations are discussed.
  • Can be used when determining whether an employee can work light duty after a work-related injury.

PrestigePEO is here to help! Your HR Business Partner can partner with you to create or update your existing job descriptions. Reach out to us if you need assistance.

As the baby boomer generation ages, caregiving becomes increasingly important. As early as 2030, there will be more seniors in need of care than ever, and many younger adults are unprepared. In this webinar from Motivity Care, we’ll learn about the caregiving challenge as demand for these services increases.

Topics discussed will include:

• The challenge and impact of caregiving on individuals
• The growing number of caregivers and the need for services
• How caregiving impacts the workforce

The webinar will be offered tomorrow, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, at 10:00 am. Register at the button below.

Can’t join us? Plan to view our webinar broadcast post-event (posted here) or view our latest Motivity Care benefit.

We’re happy to share some exciting news – our PrestigePRO Worksite Manager features are becoming more accessible. Starting in May, PrestigePEO will roll out worksite manager features within the Employee Self-Service Portal. These enhancements will enable managers to access their manager capabilities without having to log into a separate account.

Below are just some of the manager tools you can expect to see in the Employee Self-Service Portal.

• New hire without social security number (SSN) – for onboarding clients only
• Payroll approval
• Paid Time Off (PTO) calendar
• …and more!

The rollout will happen in phases. An alert will be sent out as updates become available. Managers will then see new features as they click on the Manager tab in the Employee Self-Service portal.

We are excited to offer this streamlined process so that managers can perform their duties more efficiently. If you have any questions, please reach out to Joe Dodgson, Chief Information and Technology Officer (jdodgson@prestigepeo.com), or Kerry Wallace, Business Analyst/ QA Engineer (kwallace@prestigepeo.com).

PrestigePEO is now offering a special enrollment opportunity for our voluntary benefit options! These include include MassMutual Whole Life Insurance, Monument Online Alcohol Counseling, and Motivity Care. The special open enrollment period will take place from May 1 through June 14. If you do not want your employees to receive information about this special enrollment, please opt out here by April 24.

We will be hosting informational webinar sessions led by John Manning, Insurance & Financial Advisor from MassMutual. We will email you soon with further details and registration links.

In early March 2024, a federal judge in Texas struck down the National Labor Relations Board’s controversial joint employer rule days before its March 11, 2024, effective date.  This hot-button rule aimed to make it easier for workers to be considered employees of more than one entity for labor relations purposes.  Had the employee-friendly rule gone into effect, the results would have been an increase in union organizing and collective bargaining efforts in a variety of different business settings across the country.

The NLRB has approximately thirty (30) days to file an appeal.  Given the pendulous nature of the “joint employment” status over the past decade and the NLRB’s commitment to revising the joint employment standard, it is anticipated that the NLRB will continue its efforts to gain traction through various court interventions, likely resulting in final resolution by 2025.  Although uncertain, should factors lead to an acceleration of the process, analysts agree that the soonest this new rule could take effect would be late 2024.

For now, this recent court ruling confirms that the 2020 version of the joint employment standard remains in effect.  As such, employers are only considered a joint employer of a separate employer’s employees if the two entities share or co-determine the employees’ essential terms and conditions of employment, including wages, benefits, hours of work, hiring, discharge, discipline, supervision, and direction.  Additionally, the business must possess and actually exercise substantial direct and immediate control of the employees’ essential terms and conditions of the employer in a way that is not sporadic and isolated.

While employers have avoided this more inclusive standard for the time being, it is important to consider ways to minimize potential exposure in the long term.  Now would be a good time to review or create clear policies regarding the role and authority of third-party vendors, particularly involving interactions with direct employees.  This is of particular importance for employers in franchisor-franchisee arrangements and for staffing companies.

As a reminder, under the recently struck-down rule, an entity would have been considered a joint employer of a group of employees if each entity has an employment relationship with the employees and shares or codetermines one or more of the employees’ essential terms and conditions of employment.

These terms and conditions of employment include:

1. wages, benefits, and other compensation;
2. hours of work and scheduling;
3. the assignment of duties to be performed;
4. the supervision of the performance of duties;
5. work rules and directions governing the manner, means, and methods of the performance of duties and the grounds for discipline;
6. the tenure of employment, including hiring and discharge; and
7. working conditions related to the safety and health of employees.

Keeping in mind the fluid nature of the rule making process, it will be important for employers to stay up to date on the developments to Joint Employer Rule over the foreseeable future.

PrestigePEO is here to help.

PrestigePEO is focused on supporting your business. If you have questions or need assistance reviewing your policies, please reach out to your HR Business Partner.

The 2023 EEO-1 Component 1 Data report is due no later than June 4, 2024.  The EEO-1 Component 1 data collection portal will open on April 30, 2024, and the deadline to file the 2023 EEO-1 Component 1 report is June 4, 2024.   The EEO-1 Component 1 report is a mandatory annual data collection that is required from all private sector employers with 100 or more employees, and federal contractors with 50 or more employees.  Employers are required to submit workforce demographic data, including data by job category, sex, and race or ethnicity to the EEOC.  Although the portal is not open yet, PrestigePEO is preparing for this deadline and helping clients meet their obligations.  In the upcoming weeks, the HR Business Partners will be in contact with clients that are required to file the EEO-1 Report to provide guidance.

PrestigePEO is here to help.

PrestigePEO is focused on supporting your business.  If you have questions, please contact your HR Business Partner for assistance.

On March 21, 2024, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek signed Senate Bill 1515 into law, which will go into effect on July 1, 2024. The new law does not repeal the Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA), but it prohibits employees from “stacking” their leaves, and it also amends OFLA to significantly decrease the overlap with the Paid Leave Oregon Program (PLO).

Under the revised law, OFLA covers leave for one of the following (1) leave related to child’s illness, (2) bereavement and, (3) pregnancy disability.

1. Leave related to child’s illnesses will be capped at 12 weeks for child’s home care and bereavement.  The amended leave will no longer provide additional sick child leave for employees who take 12 weeks of parental leave. The additional 12 weeks entitlement will run until June 30, 2024.
2. Leave related to bereavement to deal with the death of a family member will be limited to two-weeks per incident. The new amendment to bereavement leave does not allow it to exceed four-weeks in a given leave year.
3. Leave related to pregnancy disability states that employers no longer need to provide notice to their employers prior to taking pregnancy disability leave and it provides up to 12 additional weeks of pregnancy disability.

Additionally, from July 1, 2024, through January 1, 2025, OFLA will also provide up to two additional weeks of leave to assist with the legal processes required for placement of a foster child or adoption. PLO will incorporate this amendment beginning in 2025.

Under the revised law, PLO is no longer capped. Employees will be able to take the full amount of OFLA and PLO entitlements in a benefit year. Additionally, employees can  use  the accrued paid time off (e.g., vacation/sick time) of their regular compensation while on PLO.

Next steps for employers

Employers should consider updating their leave policies and provide trainings for human resources personnel and other employees that handle family leave matters.

PrestigePEO is here to help.

PrestigePEO is focused on supporting your business. If you have questions or need assistance regarding Oregon’s Family Leave Laws, please reach out to your HR Business Partner.

In the wake of New York State Governor Hochul’s December 2023 veto of a statewide ban of Non-Compete Agreements otherwise passed by lawmakers last year, New York City lawmakers are considering a ban of their own.   This New York City specific ban would prohibit employers from requiring employees and workers otherwise considered independent contractors to sign non-compete agreements.  Employers would also be required to withdraw all existing non-compete agreements that pre-date the bill’s effective date, with both current and former employees.  As with other non-compete bans that have made recent headlines, this bill does not contain an exception for high income earners or executives. A copy of the bill can be found here.

The bill defines non-compete agreements broadly to include any “agreement between an employer and a worker that prevents, or effectively prevents the worker from seeking or accepting work for a different employer, or from operating a business after the worker no longer works for the employer.”  The bill defines a worker to include “any person who works for an employer whether paid or unpaid, including those workers classified as independent contractors.”

Violators would be subject to a potential $500 civil penalty per violation, and the ban would be enforced by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Office of Labor Policy & Standards (OLPS).

Although this is still under consideration by New York City Council, should this regulation pass, it would go into effect 120 days after it becomes law.  All existing non-compete agreements would have to be rescinded by employers no later than the effective date and any new non-compete agreements would be in violation of the new law and unenforceable.

PrestigePEO is here to help.

PrestigePEO is focused on supporting your business and will continue to monitor this potential new regulation.  If you have questions, please contact your HR Business Partner for assistance.

On March 1, 2024, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) published the “Workers’ Bill of Rights,” which is intended to serve as a comprehensive resource for employees to better understand their rights in the workplace in New York City.   NYC employers are required to distribute and post the “Your Rights at Work” poster (link) in a location visible and accessible to all employees no later than July 1, 2024.  Moving forward, this information should be included in employee on-boarding materials to ensure the notice is communicated to all new hires. If employers utilize intranet or mobile apps to regularly communicate with employees, the notice must be posted to these communication methods as well.  Non-English versions must be posted and provided to employees if the DCWP has published the notice in a language spoken as the primary language by at least five percent of the employer’s workers. PrestigePEO is here to help and will be incorporating this required notice in New York City new hire packets for all employees onboarded through PrestigePEO in New York City.

The Workers’ Bill of Rights includes a variety of information related to employees’ rights, as enforced by the DCWP, as well as rights enforced by other state and federal agencies, such as minimum wage/overtime laws and the right to organize.

Failure to provide or post the required Bill of Rights could result in a $500 penalty, although first time violators will be provided warning with the opportunity to cure the violation.

PrestigePEO is here to help.

PrestigePEO is focused on supporting your business. If you have questions or need assistance obtaining or accessing the required Workers’ Bill of Rights, please reach out to your HR Business Partner.  PrestigePEO will be incorporating this required notice in New York City new hire packets for all employees onboarded through PrestigePEO in New York City.