Horizon Point Consulting

Author: Lorrie Coffey

  • Legal Update

    Legal Update

    We are only in May and already we have seen a number of employment law updates this year that have a huge impact on employers. Johnson, Paseur, & Medley, LLC shared the info in the images below with us:

     

    Fair Labor Standards Act

    The #1 change everyone is talking about and preparing for is the recent update to FLSA. Effective July 1, 2024, the salary threshold for a position to be eligible for exempt status will increase to $43,888 ($844 per week) and will increase again effective January 1, 2025 to $58,656 ($1,128 per week). This is almost a 65% increase in the threshold and will have a significant impact on many employers and employees. In addition, the highly comped threshold will increase from $132,964 to $151,164 effective January 1, 2025. 

    As the first deadline is quickly approaching, employers should be reviewing the current salaries of all exempt staff to determine how many employees this will impact and how to proceed with each position. Below are a few things to consider:

    • If an employee’s current salary is close to the new January 2025 threshold, would it be more beneficial to increase their salary to meet the new requirement. 
    • If an employee’s current salary is between the July 2024 and January 2025 thresholds, when should you move them to a non-exempt status and how far in advance should you communicate that change to the affected employees? 
    • For those employees that you will need to convert to non-exempt, is moving them to a salary non-exempt position the right option for your organization? This means that you guarantee an employee their full salary for hours worked up to 40, but would still be required to pay them overtime for hours worked in excess of 40 per work week. 
    • When do you need to have these converted employees set up in your timekeeping system so that they can begin to track their hours, and do you need to schedule training for these employees on how to use the timekeeping system? 
    • Does your organization have highly comped employees who will be impacted by the threshold increase and if so, what is the best way to navigate that impact? 
    • And the biggest question employers must ask is what financial impact will this change have on your organization and how can you mitigate that impact? 

    Also, employers need to be prepared for the long-term effects of the most recent FLSA changes, as it also includes an increase every three years, with the next increase going into effect July 1, 2027. The rate of change has not been determined and will be calculated every three years based on current calculation methods, so the full impact of future increases is still unknown. 

    To assist employers with understanding the new FLSA rules, the Department of Labor has scheduled two webinars that employers can sign up to attend for free. 

    Non-Compete Agreements

    In April, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a ruling banning most non-competes effective September 4, 2024. This ban includes non-competes for all employees, including senior executives. Current non-competes become null and void for most employees, with the exception of senior executives. If senior executives have a current non-compete, they can remain in force if those individuals earn at least $151,164 and are policy makers. However, effective September 4th, no new non-competes can be entered into with senior executives. 

    As part of this ruling, companies who have current non-competes in place will be required to notify all employees, excluding those current senior executives, that the non-competes will be null and void effective September 4, 2024. To aid in this effort, the FTC has provided sample language employers can use. 

    While employers can no longer utilize non-compete agreements, there are alternatives to help protect proprietary information, such as a non-disclosure agreement or confidentiality agreement. In addition, Federal Trade Laws provide a great deal of protection to employers. 

    EEOC Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace

    A few weeks ago, the EEOC released final guidance for employers on the legal standards and employer liability that apply to harassment claims. This new issuance was designed to update and consolidate the previous five guidance documents issued between 1987 and 1999. Since the last guidance was issued, there have been significant changes to discrimination laws, including the landmark decision in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020) in which the Supreme Court ruled that sexual orientation and gender identity were protected under Title VII. 

    The newly issued guidance includes a significant number of examples to illustrate various forms of harassment and discrimination, not only from coworkers, but also from vendors, customers, and other third parties. It also addresses the changes in the workforce, such as remote work, increased use and modernization of technology, and social media harassment. 

    In addition to these changes, there have been some significant guidance documents released recently, as well as a significant decision by the Supreme Court that impacts discrimination claims. 

    What to Watch For

    In addition to the updates above, there are a number of items that HR professionals and business leaders should keep on their radar this year. 

    If you like to learn about Employment Law, you might enjoy these blogs too:

  • Open the Door to Vulnerability and Courage

    Open the Door to Vulnerability and Courage

    Last week Emily complimented me in her blog post when she spoke of the struggles I have faced in the last year and my ability to persevere through them. (Thanks, Emily!) And she’s not wrong. I have been that way for as long as I can remember; not letting anything stop me or get in my way. My dad taught me to have determination and I am so grateful that he did. But that determination and perseverance go hand in hand with the ability to be vulnerable. And this is where I used to fall short, very short. It wasn’t until I joined the Horizon Point team that I learned it was okay to be vulnerable, to ask for help, and to let others handle the load when you can’t. And during my health struggles in the past year, they have helped carry the load, without hesitation. 

    Vulnerability isn’t a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength. It’s the ability to acknowledge when you can’t do it alone, when you made a mistake, or when you fell short. As Brene Brown puts it “(T)he definition of vulnerability is uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure. But vulnerability is not weakness; it’s our most accurate measure of courage.” 

    I had to learn to be vulnerable, and here’s what I have learned:

    1. If you show vulnerability, others will follow. If leaders allow themselves to be vulnerable with their teams, it creates a culture of trust and in turn those employees will learn that vulnerability is acceptable, encouraged, and expected within the team. 
    2. Being vulnerable takes practice. It’s not easy to be vulnerable. As Brené Brown says, it takes courage to expose your fears, mistakes, and emotions to others. You don’t know how it will be received and you don’t know what others will think of you. But the more you do it, the easier it gets. Start small and work your way up to the big things if you need to. And sometimes it starts with being vulnerable with yourself. 
    3. How you respond to the vulnerability of others is make or break. As a leader, you need to encourage and accept the vulnerability of others. How you react to the vulnerability shown to you can build trust or destroy trust. Allow for mistakes and use them as learning opportunities. Encourage employees to seek help when they are overwhelmed, be someone that they can vent to if needed (without negative repercussions). Understand that they have emotions and while you may not understand or agree with those emotions, acknowledge them. 
    4. Vulnerability in leadership leads to better, more productive teams. By allowing and encouraging vulnerability and modeling vulnerability to your team, it creates a team that is psychologically safe, that is comfortable raising concerns, mistakes, and ideas, that has a growth mindset. And research shows that teams that are psychologically safe are the most productive teams you can have. 

    I have a wonderful team at Horizon Point that I can be vulnerable and courageous with, that I can go to for help when I need it, can share ideas and concerns with without fear of repercussion, and that I can vent to when I’m having one of those days. And I know that they have by back, and in return, they know that I have theirs. 

    How have you as a leader shown vulnerability and courage to your team? And how have you responded to the vulnerability shown to you? 

  • Braving Trust and Vulnerability

    Braving Trust and Vulnerability

    As we just celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I found myself thinking of what made him a good leader. He led with his values always in the forefront of his actions, his values drove everything he did. He was a servant leader, who believed in developing and empowering others, and he was a transformational leader, who had a big vision, shared that vision and challenged others to see the potential of that vision, and fought hard for change. 

    He was a successful leader because he built trust and followed through with action. Brené Brown says that “trust isn’t built in grand gestures, but in the small moments that people treat what is important to you with care.” She breaks trust down into seven (7) elements (BRAVING trust): 

    1. Boundaries: Good leaders have boundaries. They set expectations, explain why those expectations are important, and they hold steady to them. 
    2. Reliability: As a leader, don’t overpromise, don’t say you will do something that you can’t do or have no intention of doing, and if you say you will do something, make sure you do it. And remember that it’s ok to say no, saying no opens you up to being able to say yes to something else. And explain the reason behind your “no”. 
    3. Accountability: We all mess up sometimes. Good leaders show vulnerability, they aren’t afraid to admit when they messed up, ask forgiveness, and figure out how to make it right. They also have to have forgiveness to allow others to do the same. 
    4. Vault: Good leaders understand that others’ come to them in confidence, and they keep that confidence. 
    5. Integrity: Good leaders lead with courage, letting their values guide them in their decisions. They do the next right thing. 
    6. Nonjudgement: Good leaders don’t pass judgement. They listen to the needs of others and their own needs and can talk through those needs without letting their own biases or perceptions take over. 
    7. Generosity: Good leaders give others the benefit of the doubt, that their actions and intentions were well intended. 

    Brown’s elements of trust tie in well to psychological safety, what Amy Edmondson defines as “the belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes, and the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking.” Research shows that in order for teams to be successful, they must have psychological safety. 

    According to Brown, leaders have to be vulnerable. Vulnerability opens us up to opportunity. We have to be able and willing to explore the emotions behind our actions or lack of action. Another way to look at this is, as leaders we have to be emotionally intelligent. Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand our own emotions and how those emotions impact our actions, and how those emotions impact our ability to build relationships (both positively and negatively), and how our ability to read the emotions of others also impact our social connections. Research shows that leaders with high emotional intelligence are much more successful in leading others. 

    In Dare to Lead, Brown talks about learning to rise up as leaders. She breaks it down into three steps; the Reckoning, the Rumble, and the Revolution. The reckoning is understanding that there are emotions involved and exploring those emotions. This is also the first piece of emotional intelligence, understanding that you have emotions and exploring those emotions. It’s understanding that no emotion is right or wrong and that there shouldn’t be any guilt for those emotions. It’s just sitting with those emotions and feeling them. The second step is the Rumble. This is where you start to unpack the why behind the emotions and look for the missing information that may be creating those emotions. As Brown says, in the absence of data we all make up stories to fill in the gaps. In the Rumble, we start to question where those gaps are and what information we need. We start to deconstruct our self-made story. Brown defines her final step, Revolution, as “claiming authorship of our own stories and lives…It’s taking off the armor and rumbling with vulnerability, living into our values, braving trust with open hearts and learning to rise!”

  • 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?