Paid leave continues to be a hot topic in the workplace as HR professionals evolve their organizations’ benefits offerings to keep up with trends, comply with federal and state policies, and attract and retain the best talent.
Several states have introduced bills, or have already passed laws, mandating paid leave. For example, employers in California have spent the past year revising their policies to accommodate the mandatory paid-sick-leave laws that were passed in 2015. Others like Washington are looking to fix dormant laws that were never implemented due to cost and other reasons. In addition to state laws, employers must also comply with the patchwork of local ordinances that may provide additional paid leave.
As workforce demographics and employment models evolve, the details of how paid leave will be handled in the future are sure to shift as well. While Millennials typically favor combined PTO plans because they are more likely to trade sick days for vacation days, they may see tenure-based plans as unfair. The SHRM 2016 Paid Leave in the Workplace report suggests that “some organizations may also want to consider allowing newly hired employees to ‘bring’ their tenure with them so that employees are not penalized when they move to a new organization” as part of a recruitment strategy.
What are your thoughts on paid leave trends? How is your organization modifying paid leave policies in response to new PTO laws in your state and to boost your talent management strategies?
Please join @shrmnextchat at 3 p.m. ET on January 25 for #Nextchat with special guests SHRM Senior Vice President of Knowledge Development Alex Alonso (@SHRMKnwldgeSVP), SHRM Vice President of Research Shonna Waters (@Shonna_Waters). We’ll chat about what’s next for paid leave.
Q1. How does your organization make decisions about employee benefit offerings? What is the role of employee input?
Q2. How does paid leave fit into your organization’s talent management strategy?
Q3. To what extent does your organization differentially invest in benefits such as paid leave (e.g., for certain critical skills areas, high performers)?
Q4. How does your organization evaluate the effectiveness of its benefit program?
Q5. What, if any, discussion is your organization having around parental leave?
Q6. Can more generous telecommuting/workflex policies replace more paid time off?
Q7. What are your biggest concerns about paid leave policies or new paid leave laws in your state?
If you missed this chat, you can read the RECAP here.
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Mary Kaylor is Lead, Public Affairs at SHRM. She is on Twitter at @SHRMKaylor.
The SHRM Blog does not accept solicitation for guest posts.
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