February 2018 HR & Compensation Trends

Welcome to the second edition of the “compensation corral” – a monthly round-up summarizing 10 topically relevant articles in the space. We strive to stay up to date on what’s trending in the industry to help you plan accordingly for the month ahead, and although February is the year’s shortest month, a tremendous amount has happened in the world of HR and compensation.

1) US. Appeals Court Says Title VII Covers Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation 

A U.S. appeals court in Manhattan ruled that a federal law banning sex bias in the workplace also prohibits discrimination against gay employees, becoming only the second court to do so. The ruling went against a court brief filed by the Trump administration in 2017 that said Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was not meant to provide protections to gay workers.

Read more about this U.S. appeals court’s ruling and its implications.

2) HR Under Pressure: Falling Behind in the Race to Transform

HR professionals are facing new trends in the workforce including new business models, a focus on analytics, and digital disruption. Now more than ever, business leaders are realizing the importance of finding top talent, and HR leadership is in a position where they need to keep up – but their organizations may be changing faster than they are.

Learn more about how prepared HR leaders are to meet key workplace challenges.

3) U.S. Labor Board Overturns Obama-era ‘Joint Employment’ Ruling

A U.S. labor board overturned a ruling that had made it easier for unions and workers to hold companies accountable for practices of contractors and franchisees. This decision reversed the standard it had set in a 2015 case involving Browning-Ferris Industries Inc., and reinstated a previous test that says companies are “joint employers” only when they exercise direct control over workers.

Read more about this ruling and how it could affect a major case against McDonald’s Corp.

4) Wealth Managers Beware: Emerging FinTechs are Coming for Retirement Planning Next

“Robo-retirement” financial technology (FinTech) start-ups are disrupting retirement savings in a big way. These start-ups use new technology and innovation to compete with traditional financial methods in the delivery of financial services – and at stake is roughly $27.25T held in US retirement assets as of September 2017 (including IRAs, 401(k)s, pensions, etc).

Learn more about the impact these companies are having on workers' retirement funds.

5) Equity Compensation Plans Build Loyalty, but Uncertainty Abounds

New research shows that employees who participate in equity compensation plans that grant company stock as incentive pay understand the long-term value in doing so, but many are afraid of making a mistake when exercising employee stock options or selling shares. This fear is shared by nearly 48 percent of those who participated in Schwab’s Equity Compensation Plan Participant Survey.

Read more about this kind of benefit and how it contributes to employee loyalty.

6) USCIS Strengthens Protections to Combat H-1B Abuses

The H-1B visa program generally allows a foreign employee to work for a specific sponsoring American employer. Recently, USCIS published a policy memorandum (PDF, 119 KB) stating that USCIS may request documentation to ensure a legitimate employer-employee relationship is maintained while an employee is working at a third-party worksite to combat program abuse.

Read more about the recent changes to this program and what they mean for employers who employ foreign employees.

7) 3 Tips to Kick-Start Career Development in Your Company

Career and growth opportunities have proved successful when it comes to retaining employees, but many companies are not satisfied they are doing enough in the career development department to keep employees happy. Luckily, there are projects HR professionals can implement that can prove very influential on employee satisfaction.

Here are some tips on how you can improve employee engagement in a big way.

8) HR Tech Tools Can Help Employers Comply with GDPR

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the European Union’s new personal data privacy rules, takes effect May 28. And, with fewer than 10% of North American firms are fully prepared to comply with the regulation, according to new survey from data governance company Erwin. This is concerning for HR executives, for failure to comply can be associated with large fines.

Read about the technological advances that can help you comply with GDPR.

9) 5 Exiting Employee Strategies to Keep your Data Safe

From a business perspective, employee departures have the potential to pose significant risks to business data – one of the most valuable assets of any organization. To protect that data and other concerns, an exiting employee process must be implemented.

Here are 5 strategies you can use to protect your data once an employee chooses to leave your organization.

10) What are the Latest Buzzwords in the World of Recruitment? 

When it comes to the latest buzzwords that are dominating the recruiting world, LinkedIn’s data reveals a movement away from highlighting individual personal strengths, towards skills and abilities that can be more specifically categorized.

Learn more about the buzzwords that are dominating the recruitment space, and factors that are influencing this shift.

Read last month’s compensation corral.