April 20, 2022
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Retirement Programs: Coming to a state near you
As many as 41 million U.S. workers don’t currently have access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Many states are trying to address this retirement gap by rolling out state-run retirement savings programs and/or requiring employers to offer retirement plans to their employees.
The requirements vary from state to state, but it’s important to study up, especially if you have employees distributed around the country. Multiple states have deadlines approaching in 2022, including California, Illinois, and Oregon. Employers that fail to meet the requirements in time can face penalties. For example, in California, companies with five or more CA-based employees are required to offer a retirement plan by June 30, 2022, or face a $250 fine per eligible employee.
We’ve created a full list of state-sponsored retirement programs—check it out here to see what deadlines may affect you. Want to get the low-down on the upcoming California deadline from an expert? Join our webinar on April 26 at 11am PT and ask our partners at Guideline your burning questions. Save your spot here.
When your employee is at work but not working
These are interesting times. We probably don’t have to tell you that burnout is now closer to the rule than the exception:
“…according to APA’s 2021 Work and Well-being Survey of 1,501 U.S. adult workers, 79% of employees had experienced work-related stress in the month before the survey. Nearly 3 in 5 employees reported negative impacts of work-related stress, including lack of interest, motivation, or energy (26%) and lack of effort at work (19%). Meanwhile, 36% reported cognitive weariness, 32% reported emotional exhaustion, and an astounding 44% reported physical fatigue—a 38% increase since 2019.”
The ongoing pandemic continues to take its toll on our energy and productivity. What’s more, workers have more leverage than ever before, which can lead to feelings of disengagement with their current work. As an employer, it’s important to have tips and tricks handy that can help you keep your team motivated.
Inc. columnist Jeff Haden shared five tactics to try if you need to motivate disengaged employees. It’s also critical to figure out what to do when employees quit suddenly. We’ve got you covered there, too.
Your pay equity toolkit
We’ve talked before about the importance of pay equity, but that’s just the tip of a complex iceberg. Many employers may be aware of the pay gaps that exist from a lens of gender and race, but they simply lack the data and frameworks to take meaningful action. We teamed up with our partners at JazzHR to try and fix that.
Our Pay Equity Toolkit includes an in-depth e-book and webinar with actionable insights and tips that can help you:
- Identify and fix pay disparity in your organization
- Build and implement an equitable compensation model
- Eliminate unconscious bias in hiring
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Find the latest relief options in our Small Business Relief Finder.
Want more news and resources? Check out past editions in our archive.
