HR Brief: August 2019

This month’s HR Brief explores the benefits of employees using their PTO and explains where to find help for your EEO reporting obligations.

Download the full version of this HR Brief Newsletter 

Why You Should Be Encouraging Employees to Use PTO

Research consistently points to time away from work as improving productivity, lowering stress and reducing absenteeism.

Unfortunately, many employees still hold onto their paid time off (PTO) and end up losing much of it at the end of the year. Worse yet, many employees avoid taking time off because their workplace culture discourages it.

According to research group Project: Time Off, workers are much happier at companies that encourage time off versus those that don’t—68% to 42%, respectively. Couple that with the fact that 81% of employers agree PTO helps curb burnout and improves focus, and it seems obvious that you should be pushing workers to use their vacation time.

This summer, let employees know that it’s okay to use their PTO and that, in fact, they should! Doing so can actually help your organization.

Consider sending communication to help employees understand the benefits of taking time off. Moreover, make sure they know that using PTO is not only acceptable, it’s also encouraged.

Getting your workforce comfortable with taking PTO is the first step to improving aspects like productivity and stress levels.

Speak with us to learn more about the benefits of PTO and how we can help your organization craft a policy that works for your employees. 

EEO Deadlines Approaching, Here’s Where You Can Find Help

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently updated its website to include more resources to help employers with their annual reporting obligations.

Applicable employers must submit pay data and hours worked in accordance with the EEO-1 reporting requirement. Resources added to the EEOC website can help.

Available Resources

Sample Form: The proposed EEO-1 Form to collect pay data in the Component 2 EEO-1 Online Filing System

Instruction Booklet for Filers: Instructions for submitting the Component 2 EEO-1 Report

User’s Guide: Instructions for using the Component 2 EEO-1 Online Filing System

Fact Sheet for Component 2 EEO-1 Report Filers: A list of important deadlines, reminders and definitions to support a successful submission of Component 2 data for 2017 and 2018 calendar years

Component 2 EEO-1 Compensation Data Collection Initial Notification: The USPS letter sent on July 1, 2019, to notify companies of the immediate reinstatement of the revised Component 2 EEO-1 data collection for 2017 and 2018

Reference Documents: Supporting reference materials including the job classification guide, 2017 NAICS codes and a postal code lookup file