Looking forward in 2024, the labor market is expected to ease somewhat, although employers will likely still struggle to attract and retain talented employees. Skills gaps and high inflation remain challenging, but the influx of Generation Z (Gen Z) workers into the workplace is expected to help shift market conditions in employers’ favor. Organizations that focus on learning and development opportunities, transparent practices, and competitive compensation may be better equipped to find and keep high-demand workers. Our latest HR Insights article explores five attraction and retention trends to watch in 2024 so employers can prepare their strategies for the year.

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Chicago Paid Leave Changes Delayed Until Jul 1, 2024 – The Chicago City Council has voted to delay a new law that will expand the city’s paid leave mandate to 40 hours of paid leave (PL) plus 40 hours of paid sick leave (PSL). The implementation has been delayed to July 1, 2024. Until the new law is effective in July, Chicago employees will continue to earn one hour of paid sick leave, not paid time off, for every 40 hours they work (or at least five days per year).

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Check out our PDF chart below for a list of states that have upcoming minimum wage increases in 2024 (click the image for the full report):

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As a small business, it’s challenging to stay on top of effective and efficient people practices. With this in mind, we released a new Small Business Bulletin for December 2023. In the bulletin, we discuss the following topics:

• Year-end HR Activities – The last months of the year are a great time for small businesses to ensure they’re prepared for everything that needs to be done. It’s also an opportunity to evaluate which HR processes organizations want to take forward into the new year and which to leave behind. While certain HR compliance activities must be completed by the end of the year, small businesses can also use this time of preparation to focus on tasks that will set their organizations on the right course for next year.

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The traditional concept of a vacation often involves escaping the daily grind and relaxing in a faraway destination. However, the landscape of work and leisure has recently been transformed, with remote and hybrid work becoming more prevalent. This shift has led to workcations, where remote employees take vacations while still working, and “hush trips,” which are workcations not disclosed to the company.

Even before the rise in hybrid and remote work arrangements, it was common for workers to add paid time off (PTO) to their scheduled business trips. That could include taking some personal time off while already traveling somewhere for work or bringing along their friend and family while they’re traveling.

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A recent report by JLL, a global commercial real estate and investment management company, found that U.S. workers now spend an average of two days per week in the office. This is consistent with recent findings from management consulting company McKinsey & Co. that revealed spending half of working time in the office was the ideal setup for hybrid work, balancing employees’ wants and expectations of flexibility with the isolation of working remotely full-time.

Survey Findings – JLL reported that 87% of organizations are encouraging employees to work on-site at least some of the time. In fact, just 20% of employees work fully remotely or fewer than two days in the office per week, a decrease from 39% two years ago. This indicates that hybrid work is likely to remain popular as organizations increasingly push employees to return to the office in 2024.

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We recently released a new checklist that outlines the steps to help employers comply with federal and state fair employment laws that affect the process of interviewing job applicants. The checklist also includes general information about laws that protect applicants against discrimination based on certain personal characteristics, disabilities, and medical conditions, as well as laws that aim to promote equal pay by prohibiting questions about an applicant’s past salary or wages.

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California Prohibits Questions About Off-duty Marijuana Use – Almost a year to the day after enacting Assembly Bill (AB) 2188, which provides employment protection for job applicants and employees who use marijuana outside of work, California has enacted additional new protections related to legalized marijuana. Specifically, Senate Bill (SB) 700, enacted Sept. 19, 2023, adds protections against marijuana-related questions for job applicants. Both new laws go into effect on Jan. 1, 2024. Read more: California Legal Update

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