Horizon Point Consulting

Author: Lorrie Coffey

  • A Few of Our Favorite Things

    A Few of Our Favorite Things

    At Horizon Point we are big on giving. We give throughout the year to causes that are near and dear to our hearts, we give our clients a Book of the Year at the holidays, we adopt a family for Christmas, and we give to each other – our time, our gratitude, and of course, gifts. Some of our favorite gifts have come from each other, and we always try to personalize our gifts, both for the occasion and the individual. One way we are able to do this is through the help of a Favorite Things questionnaire that we have each completed. 

    Jillian

    Gifts are not my love language. Or at least…they weren’t. I’ve always been a Quality Time and Words of Affirmation girl, both in my personal and professional lives. When our team studied the 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace, I was also dating a big Gift guy. I had one of those Aha! moments when you realize it’s not all about you; that people show appreciation or love in ways that are meaningful to them, and that’s the part that matters. I’ve grown to truly appreciate Gifts because of what they mean to the giver. I’ve also been so fortunate that the Gift givers in my life are so thoughtful and intentional when they consider the type of Gift that I would appreciate – often gifting experiences like a gift card to a bakery I’ve been wanting to try, or a bag of locally roasted coffee they thought I’d like. Just today, I received a beautiful piece of art by one of my favorite Alabama artists, and I could just burst with the warm-and-fuzzies. So…are Gifts my love language now?! I married that Gift guy, so as the magic 8-ball says, “signs point to yes”! 

    Taylor

    Finding a gift for a friend or family member is one of my favorite things to do. I love to find something that “fits” the person I’m gifting. I have a lovely aunt who has always been the best gift giver because she shops with the mission of finding something that is just right for whoever she is shopping for. As a little girl, I remember getting a glitter baton and a manicure set from her. For me personally, it truly is about the thought. With that being said, the top of my list of gifts I’ve received includes anything thoughtful. Recently at Christmas lunch with friends, I received earrings that were perfect & my sweet friend said she thought of me when she saw them. She also included a massage gift certificate; she knows me well.

    Lorrie

    Growing up my dad would save his change all year in one of those big water jugs and each December he would give it to me and my brother to buy gifts for our family members. We would spend hours rolling it and my mom would take us to the bank to cash it in and go shopping. We would spend all day looking for the perfect gift for each person on our list. It was a tradition that we kept well into our late teens. Through that tradition, I gained an appreciation not just for the gifts I receive, but for the thought that I know must have gone into each one. Each year for Christmas my dad buys me tools…yep, tools! And I’m not sure who is more excited, me to get them or him to give them to me. You see I grew up helping my dad build and remodel houses and now I enjoy restoring old furniture. Today at lunch with friends, I was surprised with another great gift – a book on how to build tiny houses and a gift card for Airbnb. This year I decided that I want to design and build a tiny house with my dad in the next few years and so I’ve started researching ideas. Part of that research is finding tiny homes on Airbnb and making weekend trips out of going and checking them out. My friend knows how important this goal is to me and her gift was perfect. Not only because it was given with thought and caring, but also because it was a sign to me that she believes in my ability to make this goal a reality.    

    As we head into the holiday season, how can you personalize your gift giving? 

  • Creating a Work Space that Brings People Together

    Creating a Work Space that Brings People Together

    Her name was Ima, Ima Fish. She was a Betta that I got when my son was four months old and I decided being a stay-at-home mom wasn’t for me. So, when my old boss called me and asked me if I wanted to come back part-time, I jumped at the chance. I bought Ima to put on my desk at the office. I had that little fish on that desk for five years! And everyone in the office knew Ima. If I was out of the office, I knew someone else was taking care of it, I didn’t even have to ask. Coworkers would stop by my desk daily to see how Ima was, even before they’d check to see how I was. Ima became the office fish. 

    Employees spend a large portion of their time at work, away from their families. Coworkers often become a second family. So how can employers create a work space that helps to bring people together? 

    1. It starts at the top. Leadership can help create an environment that brings people together by making connections with those who work for them. Get to know your employees, what makes them tick outside of work. Do they have families? What are their hobbies? Where do they see themselves in the future? When you check in with employees, don’t jump straight into work, ask them how their weekend was, if they have plans for the holidays, just take a few minutes to chat and get to know more about them. By doing this, you not only build a better connection with your team members but you are encouraging them to do the same with each other. 
    1. A lot of work and a little play. Allow for some down time at work. You’d be surprised at how that may actually improve productivity and it will definitely boost morale. Early in my career I worked for a company that had an office breakfast EVERY Friday. And it was employee provided. There was a sign-up sheet each quarter for those who wanted to participate and a schedule was made of what Friday you had to provide breakfast. It was great, people loved to participate and every Friday the entire office of about 50 employees came through the breakroom to grab breakfast. You could bring whatever you wanted and there was always an abundance of food. Good food! We even had one employee who when it was his turn, would bring his griddle from home and make made-to-order breakfast sandwiches. And while you were waiting on your sandwich, you’d get to have the best conversations with him. 
    1. Create welcoming spaces for connection and collaboration. One of the worst feelings for me is walking into a sterile work space, devoid of color, personalization, and warmth. It’s not inviting. Create spaces where employees want to be, that inspires them. A little décor can go a long way. And it doesn’t have to be expensive. Add a few pictures, some fake or real plants, some color. Take that bright white break room and turn it into a space employees want to sit and enjoy lunch or a quick break. A little paint can go a long way to making a space more welcoming, so get rid of that bright white! And while you’re at it, take away the clutter too. It creates stress and don’t we all have enough of that these days? 

    What can you do to make your work space bring people together? 

  • When Working Costs too Much

    When Working Costs too Much

    Last week, Emily gave an overview of What’s Impacting the Labor Force Participation Rate. This week I’m going to take a deeper dive into one of the areas she touched on; the benefits cliff.

    When analyzing the labor participation rate, you have to look at the poverty rate and public assistance participation rate. 

    The current poverty rate in Alabama is 14.9%, which’s places us #7 in the nation for highest poverty rate. Given the high poverty rate, it’s important to look at the living wage and average wage rates paid. A living wage varies based on circumstances. For example, a living wage for one person with no partner and no children is going to be lower than it is for someone with a partner and children. Is your organization paying a living wage? 

    Alabama ranks among the worst when it comes to the percentage of residents receiving public assistance. Approximately 15% of Alabama residents receive SNAP benefits and 20% receive Medicaid or CHIP. 

    So what does this mean for the labor participation rate?

    To enter the workforce and to advance in the workforce, many employees have to consider the impact wages and pay raises will have on their overall finances, and if there will be a negative impact. The chart below is an example of what the benefits cliff really looks like. (Data based on a Tennessee workforce study 2022)

    The termination of each benefit creates a “cliff” for the employee at which an increase in wages creates a decrease in total income due to the loss of assistance dollars. Therefore, it may be more financially beneficial for the employee to terminate employment and find a lower paying job in order to keep their state benefits or to exit the workforce altogether. 

    In recent years, I’ve had multiple clients come to me for advice because they had employees who asked not to receive their pay raise because doing so would mean they lose their state benefits, and losing those benefits would mean that they actually have less income coming in. Some states are moving, or considering moving, to a gradual reduction in benefits versus an immediate loss. 

    What can employers do to positively impact the labor participation rate for those who are impacted by poverty and the benefits cliff?

    1. Analyze your wages, looking not only at market data, but also the living wage for your region. Then keep your compensation plan up to date, adjusting regularly for cost of living. 
    2. Consider what resources you can provide that may not be wages, but may mean more money in the employee’s pocket. This could include things such as childcare assistance, flexible spending or dependent care plans, or even establishing a food pantry.
    3. Understand how state assistance benefits work, what the income cutoff for each benefit is, and how this may impact employees. 
    4. Develop training programs to support employees increasing their skills to advance to higher level positions that would increase their income beyond the need for assistance. 

    What steps has your organization taken to address the benefits cliff?

  • Legal Update 2023

    Legal Update 2023

    Mid-Year Legal Update

    There have been a number of employment law changes in the first half of 2023, so let’s take a look at what has changed. 

    Federal Changes:

    The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

    The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) went into effect on June 27, 2023. It is part of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations when an employee has known limitations due to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless an accommodation would cause an undue business hardship. 

    PWFA applies to employers with 15 or more employees, just as Title VII does. Under PWFA, the employee must make their limitations known to the employer and includes both physical and mental limitations, even if those limitations do not meet the definition of disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Employers are not required to accommodate perceived limitations. PWFA utilizes the same definition of a “qualified individual” as ADA does, meaning that the employee must be able to perform the essential functions of the position, with or without accommodation. However, a major difference from ADA is when those essential functions can be performed. Under PWFA, an employee is qualified if:

    1. any inability to perform an essential function is for a temporary period;
    2. the essential function could be performed in the near future; and
    3. the inability to perform the essential function can be reasonably accommodated

    Religious Accommodations 

    The Supreme Court ruled in the case of Groff v. DeJoy (2023) that when determining religious accommodations an employer must meet more than a de minimis standard for undue business hardship. Up until this decision, the standard for undue business hardship under religious accommodations was a minimal business impact. Now employers must show that the accommodation would be costly, would compromise workplace safety, infringe on the rights of other employees, impacts workplace efficiency, or causes other employees to do more than their share of hazardous or burdensome work. 

    Severance Agreements

    The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a memo in March to provide guidance in response to their decision in McLaren Macomb in which the NLRB returned to their position that employers violate the NLRA when they offer severance agreements that include a broad waiver of rights. This determination is retroactive and voids the terms of severance agreements previously executed if they include a broad waiver of rights. 

    I-9 Updates

    The revised I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Form was released for use beginning August 1, 2023. The new form condenses the required information from two pages down to one page. In addition, due to the resulting employment of more remote workers as a result of COVID, and the continuation post-COVID to hire remote workers at a high rate, USCIS has made revisions to the process they implemented during COVID to continue to allow employers a method by which to verify employment documents remotely. 

    Alabama Income Tax Credit

    In June, the Alabama Legislature passed a bill to encourage non-exempt workers to work overtime. Under this bill, for the tax year beginning January 1, 2024 full-time non-exempt employees who work overtime will not be taxed on the overtime wages earned. Employers will be required to report overtime wages earned to the state either quarterly or annually. 

  • Re-thinking Pre-Employment Screenings

    Re-thinking Pre-Employment Screenings

    I recently attended the first Reentry Leader Conference held in Birmingham along with Mary Ila and Emily. It was a great opportunity to hear from leaders around the state on what employers can do to help those who are justice involved become gainfully employed. As part of the conference, we heard success stories from employers who had programs to employ those coming out of the system.

    As employers struggle to find talent due to the extremely low unemployment rate, as Governor Ivey stated last week, we need to move to focus attention on the labor participation rate and getting people into the workforce who currently are not. Those who are justice involved make up a large percentage of those individuals.

    So I challenge organizations to rethink their use of background checks. I have worked with many clients who don’t fully know why they use background checks and worse yet, don’t have a definitive answer as to what disqualifies a candidate. So how can your organization rethink this and become a second chance employer?

    1. Ask yourself why you use background checks. The first question I ask clients is WHY. Why do they use background checks in their pre-hire process. Is there a business need to conduct background checks, are they in an industry where hiring someone with a criminal history could put clients at risk (i.e. healthcare), is it due to contract requirements or security clearances, or is there some other business reason that justifies the need.
    2. If you need to run background checks, what disqualifies a candidate? The first part of this question is how long should your lookback be? This will be dependent on why you need to run background checks, but you need to establish a reasonable lookback period based on those business needs. The second part of this is creating a list of what types of offenses will disqualify a candidate and what’s the justification for adding that offense to the list. For example, any type of violent offense may be justifiable, but past drug offenses may not be.
    3. Consider what positions you run background checks on. Keep in mind that if you need to run background checks for a justifiable business need, you do not have to run them on all new hires. You can run them only on positions that meet that justifiable business need as long as you are able to justify that decision and that you are consistent in running them regardless of the candidate.
    4. Reevaluate. Reevaluate your process every three to five years or as your business needs change.

    I also challenge you to use the steps outlined above to rethink your drug testing policy. If you currently run drug tests pre-employment, ask yourself what the business justification is for that, as well as if you still include marijuana in the results. I have worked with many clients over the last few years who have rethought their need to run pre-employment drug tests. If you are in a safety sensitive industry, you should still be conducting pre-employment drug screens. But if you’re not in a safety sensitive industry, ask yourself why you need to run them, why you care if employees are engaging in drug use on their own time as long as they are not coming to work under the influence.

    How many candidates could you have hired in the last year if your background and drug testing policies were adjusted to reflect your true business needs?