On this month’s podcast Rob, Scott, and Jason discuss their best guesses of “What to Expect Under the Biden Administration Over the First 100 Days,” including: HR and employer standpoints, minimum wage, federal paid leave, OSHA, worker discrimination protections, and more.
Contact us with any questions you may have, we’re here to help: hr@employco.com
Did you miss Employco’s most recent webinar on the new PPP loan or would you like to review a portion? The full webinar recording can be viewed here, along with all of the questions and answers that followed: https://bit.ly/recording-jan21
You can view/dowload the slides we used during the presentation as a PDF here: WEBINAR: Presentation Slides
During our presentation we also mentioned including some key recent updates and documents from the SBA:
Please do not hesitate to reach out if there are any questions you still have or topics you were unclear on. We’re here to help!
Join Employco USA to learn the LATEST UPDATES from the SBA including the new Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) guidance, application documents, and important upcoming dates.
During this FREE webinar, we’ll:
There will be a brief presentation to begin the session, but most of the time will be dedicated to answering your specific questions!
FREE REGISTRATION
You’ll be able to join us at 11:30am CT this Wednesday, January 13th from your computer, tablet, or smartphone (you can also dial-in):
You can also use our registration form to submit questions you’d like to see answered/covered during the webinar.
Lawsuits surge as employees say employers aren’t doing enough to protect them from COVID-19. HR expert Rob Wilson explains the legal duties employers have when it comes to COVID-19 protections in the workplace.
New data shows that workplace lawsuits are on the rise as thousands of employees are filing COVID-19 related claims against their employer. From claims that allege their employer didn’t put proper COVID-19 precautions into practice in the workplace to claims that ill workers were not permitted appropriate leave, it’s clear that employers need to be better educated about their responsibilities for creating a COVID-19 compliant workplace.
Rob Wilson, employment trends expert and President of Employco USA, says that employees are suing companies for not providing PPE, for not implementing temperature checks, for not requiring customers to wear masks, and for not adhering to proper cleaning and sanitation protocol.
“This is brand-new territory for all of us, and, understandably, some employers are struggling to keep up with the many precautions needed to keep the workplace safe from COVID-19,” says Wilson. “It doesn’t help that precautions are always changing—for example, COVID-19 quarantine protocol has shifted in recent months, and we expect that regulations will only continue to become reconfigured as the vaccine rolls out.”
On this year-end podcast Rob, Scott, and Jason with special guest Jim Fannin (America’s ZoneCoach®) discuss “How to Have Your Best Year Ever for 2021,” including: operating from a well-defined blueprint, employee communication, challenges that await us in the new year, finding your proven formula for success, and more.
And as mentioned on the podcast, we just scheduled our latest webinar for this Wednesday, December 30th at 2pm CT to provide some clarity on the “New PPP Loan Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act.” Make sure to register, most of the time will be dedicated to answering your specific questions!
Contact us with any questions you may have, we’re here to help: hr@employco.com
Join Employco USA to learn about the LATEST UPDATES from the SBA including the new Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loan under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.
During this FREE webinar, we’ll:
You’ll also be able to get some clarity on human resource issues including unemployment and payroll. Employco provides HR and payroll solutions to businesses across the country.
There will be a brief presentation to begin the session, but most of the time will be dedicated to answering your specific questions!
FREE REGISTRATION
You’ll be able to join us at 2:00pm CT this Wednesday, December 30th from your computer, tablet, or smartphone (you can also dial-in):
You can also use our registration form to submit questions you’d like to see answered/covered during the webinar.
Employment trends expert Rob Wilson discusses why unemployment scams are not a ‘victimless crime’
Unemployment scams are on the rise across the country, with organizations like the Better Business Bureau of Central Illinois reporting that this type of fraud has been on the increase in recent months. Over 200,000 Illinoisans have been targeted for such fraud, and Congressman Rodney Davis (R-IL) himself was a victim, with scammers filing for unemployment benefits under his name.
Employment trends expert Rob Wilson can speak personally to this troubling trend, as he was the target of an unemployment scam, along with other members of his staff.
“We’ve known these scams have been on the rise for months, and we have been helping our clients with how to best address the issue, but it was still a bit of a shock to find out it happened to me and employees within our office too,” says Wilson, who is the President of Employco USA, an employment solutions firm based in Chicago.
Wilson says that the perpetrators are stealing employees’ identities in order to access government funds under their name.
“It’s alarming to consider how much confidential information these scammers have,” says Wilson. “From your address to your birthday to your Social Security number, this a disturbing breach of privacy.”
On this month’s podcast Rob, Scott, and Jason discuss “Virtual Holiday Parties and Employer Responsibilities,” including: the do’s and don’ts, games and trivia, how long they should last, employee travel, mandatory self-quarantines, and more.
Contact us with any questions you may have, we’re here to help: hr@employco.com
HR expert discusses employers’ rights and responsibilities this holiday season
Many employees were asked to sign waivers promising their employers that they would not travel or attend mass gatherings this Thanksgiving season. As we head into another round of holidays, it is expected that even more employers will ask employees to refrain from traveling or gathering with their families. But do employers have this right, and to what extent can companies enforce these COVID-19 policies?
“Yes, employers have the right to ask employees not to travel, and to even formally discipline if they do so,” says Rob Wilson, President of Employco USA and human resources expert. “For example, we have seen cases in which a worker has posted examples of their risky behavior on social media, such as going to a bar and not wearing a mask, or having a large party with friends indoors. When this is brought to the employer’s attention, they have the right and even the responsibility to discuss this problematic issue with the employee and cut the worker’s hours or take them off the schedule until they are proven virus-free.”
This will be happening a lot as we get deeper in the holiday season, says Wilson, and employers should become well-versed on how to handle employees who boldly refuse to limit their social interactions.
HR expert Rob Wilson comments on how employers can avoid ending up with a skeleton crew this holiday season
With the COVID-19 pandemic, many people were forced to cancel their vacations, weddings, cruises, and other planned leisure activities. As a result, workers across the country have collected many days’ worth (or even weeks’ worth) of paid time off, which will need to be used by year’s end or could be potentially lost forever.
Rob Wilson, President of Employco USA and human resources expert, comments on this breaking topic below:
“The COVID-19 shutdown impeded workflow in many ways, but it also created a situation in which employees could no longer travel or engage in their planned vacations. As a result, we saw many employees simply forgo their time off, and instead work through 2020 without a designated break. But this has now led us to a serious HR quandary: All of these workers who didn’t use their PTO have an impending deadline of December 31st, by which they need to use their paid time off or possibly see it disappear.”
As a result, says Wilson, workplaces could be looking at many empty desks for the next few weeks, as employees shoehorn their PTO onto the holiday season.
