Looking for some beach reading? Check out a dozen of the stories from around the web that ThinkHR editors have curated for you over the past month.
Barriers to Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding has long been a challenge for working mothers of infants. While laws and workplace accommodations have come a long way in supporting new moms who need to express milk, open plan offices, work travel, and other barriers remain.
Thankless Tasks
A study sought to understand why women are more likely to volunteer for thankless, “non-promotable” tasks in the workplace and concluded that the solution is not for women to stop raising their hands, but for managers to distribute these assignments more equitably.
Read more on Harvard Business Review.
Perks are Up
In a tight labor market, employers are getting creative with perks to attract workers and close the talent gap. These perks range from more traditional, yet generous, benefits such as signing bonuses, tuition reimbursement, and paid maternity leave, to newer concepts such as egg freezing and breast milk shipping.
Read more on National Public Radio.
Value Proposition
Co-working provider WeWork has taken a social responsibility stance by promoting a vegetarian lifestyle. Not only has it stopped serving meat at its events, it also no longer reimburses its 6,000 employees for business meals including meat. In doing so, it’s following a growing trend of imposing corporate values onto the personal lives of employees.
Read more on The New York Times.
The ICE Man Cometh
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently announced that it is on track to see the 400 percent increase in workforce enforcement it predicted in December 2017. Learn the steps you can take to ensure Form I-9 compliance and reduce your risk.
Read more on Labor and Employment Insights.
Google’s New Guidelines
Google has updated its employee code of conduct with more detailed rules regarding harassment, including what people may post in the company’s internal online forums. This is in response to a series of lawsuits and incidents, as well as an employee petition demanding a safer and more diverse workplace.
Digital Distractions
A recent study by a time management app found that the average worker faces digital distractions every 6 minutes. Other studies have found it takes 9 minutes to refocus after an interruption. The effects on productivity are obvious.
Summertime Slowdowns
Summertime provides its own set of distractions, with vacation plans, beach days, and even hot weather keeping employees from being fully engaged. Get eight tips for embracing the slower pace of the sunshine season.
Keep Your Cool
When the temperature rises, so does the risk of heat illness for workers who toil outside or in un-cooled spaces. Get five tips for keeping workers healthy during hot weather.
Commitment to Compliance
If upper management isn’t fully committed to your compliance program, its implementation and sustainability is likely going to suffer for it. Active leadership will reinforce the importance of compliance and demonstrate to employees that ethics and corporate governance are essential.
Read more on Corporate Compliance Advisor.
Knowledge Operations
A recent study found that American workers waste over five hours per week on average waiting for information from their peers or recreating existing institutional knowledge. Are your employees keeping their knowledge to themselves?
The Drug-Free Workplace
The patchwork of state and federal marijuana regulations, the opioid epidemic, and increased attention on wellness and safety in the workplace have made crafting a solid drug-free workplace policy more complicated than ever. What should be in your policy?
By Rachel Sobel
Originally published by www.ThinkHR.com