The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) is tasked with enforcing employment laws that affect more than 148 million workers. The WHD enforces federal minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping and child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), as well as the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and a number of other employment standards and worker protections.

In fiscal year 2021, the WHD collected $230 million in wages owed to 190,000 workers.

At the start of 2022, the DOL announced an initiative to hire 100 additional WHD investigators, signaling a potential increase in enforcement in 2022 and beyond. This initiative means now is the time for employers to review their wage and hour practices to ensure compliance with all relevant laws.

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Receiving performance feedback is a fundamental part of any job. Without some sort of reflection, how would your employees know what they’re doing well or what needs improvement? They likely wouldn’t—at least not in any formal capacity.

Surveys show performance reviews are one of the most disliked features of any workplace. Not only do employees not want to endure them, but neither do their managers.

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In today’s competitive and fast-moving employment landscape, employers may struggle with attraction and retention. In fact, according to Zywave’s 2022 Attraction and Retention Benchmarking Overview, 75% of employers consider this a top-five business challenge.

Time-to-hire is a metric that calculates how quickly a company can select and hire a job candidate. It’s calculated by totaling the number of days that pass between the candidate applying for the role and getting hired as an employee.

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“Quiet quitting” is an emerging trend where workers only do what their job description entails without going above and beyond. Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, many employees shifted their views on their work lives, and this has been reflected in movements such as the Great Reshuffle—a mass movement of workers to jobs that meet their demands for things such as more flexibility and better benefits—the shift to remote work and, now, the quiet quitting trend.

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World Mental Health Day was observed on October 10, 2022. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the overall objective of World Mental Health Day is to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and to mobilize efforts in support of mental health.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a global crisis for mental health, fueling short- and long-term stresses and undermining the mental health of millions. Estimates put the rise in both anxiety and depressive disorders at more than 25% during the first year of the pandemic. At the same time, mental health services have been severely disrupted and the treatment gap for mental health conditions has widened.

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On Oct. 11, 2022, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published instructions for employers to continue using the Employment Eligibility Verification form (Form I-9) when hiring new employees until a new version of the form is published.

Form I-9 – Federal law requires employers to verify the identity and employment authorization of each individual they hire by completing and retaining Forms I-9. Employers must have a completed Form I-9 for every employee hired after Nov. 6, 1986. DHS reviews and updates Form I-9 periodically. The most recent version of this form is set to expire on Oct. 31, 2022. Historically, DHS has allowed employers to continue using the most recent version of the form beyond its expiration date when a new form is not available by the time the most current version expires.

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Addressing current and future skills gaps is a top workplace challenge for employers today. In addition, learning and development are key priorities for workers in today’s competitive labor market who may seek out a new employer if their current one does not offer the career development opportunities they desire.

While employers can approach these challenges in various ways, many are leveraging microlearning, which provides an affordable, feasible and time-friendly opportunity to build employee skills.

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Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, HR professionals have faced many challenges, including the health impacts of COVID-19 on workers and ongoing attraction and retention challenges.

Here are some trends to monitor for the remainder of 2022.

High Inflation Rates – According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ June consumer price index, inflation in the United States has increased to 9.1% in the past 12 months. This is its largest increase since 1981. As a result, workers desire competitive compensation during this time. In turn, employers are exploring strategies such as reevaluating employee benefits, continuing remote work, increasing compensation and offering improved retirement benefits.

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Long COVID-19—long-term effects stemming from COVID-19 infection—continues to impact the labor market and the health of employees. The U.S. Census Bureau’s June to July 2022 Household Pulse Survey found that 16.3 million working-age Americans currently have long COVID. It has been reported that long COVID is even keeping some workers out of employment; an estimated 4 million workers are out of the labor market, according to Brookings Institution’s nonresident senior fellow Katie Bach. With so many out of work, employers should continue to monitor trends such as long COVID rates, the effect long COVID is having on their workforce’s productivity and other related issues so they can be prepared to respond effectively.

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The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently released its July Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary. The month’s reported number of job openings rose to 11.2 million in July, compared with 11 million in June. Openings in July were well above the estimate and still outnumbered unemployed workers by about 5.5 million. Job openings notably increased across many sectors, including the following:

• Transportation, warehousing and utilities
• Arts, entertainment and recreation
• Federal government
• State and local government education

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