Anchor Payroll Blog

For 30 years, HR professionals have been working with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), a federal law enacted to protect employees’ jobs and medical insurance when they need to take unpaid time away from work for certain family and medical reasons. 

The last few years have proved challenging for employers trying to fill positions. Low unemployment, among other factors, made the job market much more friendly to jobseekers than to employers keen to hire them. In this highly competitive environment, some organizations upgraded their compensation packages or experimented with other attractive perks, hoping to stand out as the best. Others re-examined their recruitment and hiring processes or sought help from consultants or vendors. Struggling employers may have been tempted to look for a “magic bullet,” that one thing sure to get them more candidates.

While federal employment law changes are generally few and far between, the budget bill that was just passed by Congress and signed by the President includes two sections that provide new protections for pregnant and lactating employees and applicants. 

Small organizations with thin margins are looking for ways to reduce variable costs to offset rising expenses and mitigate the impact of a faltering economy.

Labor and benefits are the largest line items for most businesses. Therefore, savings in this area has a big impact. And the good news is that you can do it without sacrificing the quality of your products or services.

Let’s dive into 7 Fantastic Secrets of Automated Timekeeping That Save Your Company More Money

Temporary workers play a significant role in certain businesses. Especially with employers in industries that heavily rely on strong holiday season sales, the performance of temporary workers also is critical to customer service satisfaction. However, how do you know whether or not hiring temporary workers is truly advantageous to your business?

A: It depends. There are many reasons an employee may choose to use a job title on LinkedIn that is different than their official job title with your organization. For one, employees may feel that their job title doesn’t accurately or meaningfully describe the work they are doing. A job title that makes perfect sense internally may not be easily decipherable outside the organization. Numbered titles like Administrative Assistant 1 or 2 don’t, in themselves, tell you which one is higher. Trendy titles like Brand Evangelist may get overlooked in searches.

Almost 15 years ago, the Great Recession was underway. People lived in a constant state of worry. In workplaces across the country, employees informally gathered after official meetings, trying to decipher what their leaders had shared and what information they’d held back. If the larger implications of the recession were abstract and theoretical, the possibility of layoffs felt very real. 

Election Day is almost here, so as an employer, now is a good time to brush up on voting leave laws.

Most states require that employers provide at least a few hours off to vote, and many of those require at least some of that time off to be paid. The advance notice that may be required from employees is often minimal, so employers should be prepared to grant last-minute requests to leave work to vote.

Each fall, kids return to school with clean notebooks, sharpened pencils, and the excitement of starting something new. For those students in high school, many are also on the lookout for a job, whether for some extra spending money, for a class requirement, to find some independence, or to gain some experience in a potential career.