LizStevens, Author at Best Money Moves

Offering Child Care Benefits to Employees

by LizStevens | Jan 22, 2020 | Blog

Offering child care benefits to employees. Employers can address work-life balance and aid recruitment and retention efforts with child care benefits for employees.

Both parents are employed in more than 60 percent of American families, yet only 6 percent of companies offer child care benefits, according to research by Clutch.

Another study, by New America’s Better Life Lab and Care.com, found that the average annual cost of full-time center-based child care ($9,589) is more expensive than in-state college tuition ($9,410). (And, both costs are rising smartly above the rate of inflation.)

Employers are expanding family-friendly employee benefits to improve work-life balance as well as bolster retention and recruitment efforts and employer-paid child care benefits are a trend to watch in 2020.

The Rising Cost of Child Care

Research by Freddie Mac found the price of child care, adjusted for inflation, has increased by more than 45 percent over the last 25 years and it impacts a family’s ability to afford a home.

“One of the major challenges, when it comes to affording a home, is the high cost of child care. Our analysis finds that those families paying for child care generally are left with less money for housing. Specifically, we find they, on average, pay about half of the median mortgage payment and nearly eighty percent of the median rent,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist.

The average family spent more than 10 percent of their annual income on child care in 2011. In lower-income families, the cost burden of child care is much higher. Families making less than $1,500 a month with children under the age of 15 spent 40 percent of their income on child care, on average.

Offering Child Care Benefits to Employees

New parent benefits have seen significant growth over the past five years, but child care benefits have failed to keep pace. According to research by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM):

25 percent of employers let employees bring children to work in an emergency
11 percent of employers have a child care referral service
4 percent of employers offer subsidized or nonsubsidized child care centers or programs

As an emerging trend, there isn’t a wealth of data on the ROI of child care benefits, but initial research published in the Journal of Management found companies that introduced child care benefits had lower collective turnover rates for female employees in subsequent years.

In the next few years, we expect to see the number of companies offering child care benefits rise as employers battle for top talent with better benefits.

Minimum Wage in 2020: Increases by State

by LizStevens | Jan 15, 2020 | Blog

Minimum wage in 2020: increases by state. An overview of the states planning to increase minimum wage rates and recent employment settlements for labor law violations.

Nearly half of the states across the U.S. will increase minimum wage requirements for workers in 2020, according to research by Paycor.

The federal minimum wage for nonexempt workers remains set $7.25, but businesses operating in states with laws requiring a higher amount must pay workers at the higher rate.

Minimum Wage Increases by State in 2020

Here is a list of effective and planned minimum wage increases by state in 2020 as previously identified by Paycor:

State	2019 Minimum Wage	2020 Minimum Wage
Alaska	$9.89	$10.19
Arizona	$11.00	$12.00
Arkansas	$9.25	$10.00
California	$12.00	$13.00 *$13.00 rate is for California employers with 26 or more employees. Employers in California with 25 or fewer employees have a minimum wage of $12.00 per hour.
Colorado	$11.10	$12.00
Connecticut	$11.00	$12.00 effective September 1, 2020
Washington D.C.	$14.00	$15.00 effective July 1, 2020
Florida	$8.46	$8.56
Illinois	$8.25	$9.25
Maine	$11.00	$12.00
Maryland	$10.10	$11.00
Massachusetts	$12.00	$12.75
Michigan	$9.45	$9.65
Minnesota	$9.86	$10.00 *$10.00 rate is for large employers. Small employers have a minimum wage of $8.15 per hour.
Missouri	$8.60	$9.45
Montana	$8.50	$8.65
Nevada	$7.25 rate for Nevada employees who are offered health insurance. $8.25 rate for employees who are not offered health insurance.	$8.00 minimum wage for employees with health insurance and $9.00 minimum wage for employees without health insurance effective July 1, 2020.
New Jersey	$10.00	$11.00
New Mexico	$7.50	$9.00
New York	$11.10	$11.80 *Statewide minimum wages apply in areas that are not governed by a higher, local minimum wage ordinance
Ohio	$8.55	$8.70
South Dakota	$9.10	$9.30
Vermont	$10.78	$10.96
Washington	$12.00	$13.50

See Paycor for a breakdown of minimum wage requirements for each state in 2020.

Minimum Wage Compliance

Whenever there’s a legal change governing wages, worker classifications or paid leave requirements, it’s a good time to review current practices and make the necessary changes to ensure compliance.

Employment settlements for these types of violations are costly. Starbucks recently agreed to pay $176,000 over sick leave violations. Walmart was just ordered to pay $54.6 million to truck drivers who sought back pay for time spent in layover, a mandatory break required by the U.S. Department of Transportation, that Walmart exercised control over. Big Lots Stores will pay $7 million to settle a lawsuit brought by workers alleging a host of violations including unpaid overtime and minimum wages, non-compliant wage statements, wages not timely paid and not paid at termination.

Avoid the costs of noncompliance by monitoring federal, state and local workplace legislation, making changes to policies as needed, and following up with supervisors to ensure the legal precedent for policy changes are well understood.

What Does Financial Success Look Like?

by LizStevens | Jan 8, 2020 | Blog

What does financial success look like? Financial wellness month: how financial stress is changing the way Americans define success.

A big salary used to be the primary indicator of financial success for Americans, but that’s not the case anymore.

When Northwestern Mutual asked Americans to define success in a recent survey, having a big salary didn’t even break the top five answers. Instead, nearly half of the respondents agreed that being financially prepared for the future is the best sign of success.

What Does Financial Success Look Like in 2020

Financial success looks a lot like financial wellness in 2020. Not being stressed about finances, having enough money set aside for unexpected expenses and being able to retire when you want to are key indicators of financial wellness, financial preparedness and now, financial success.

Many Americans have a long road ahead of them to achieve their definition of financial success. A new survey by KeyBank identified some of the common money missteps they’re making. Twenty-five percent of Americans confessed to impulse buying. Over 30 percent admitted they don’t have any savings set aside for emergencies. More than 20 percent copped to not contributing to retirement savings.

The good news is 60 percent of Americans are ready to take steps to prevent future money mistakes in 2020.

3 Steps Towards Financial Wellness for 2020

These are the three steps Americans plan to take to get their finances in order and avoid further money mishaps:

Identify and prioritize “needs” vs. “wants”
Determine a monthly budget and revisit on a weekly basis
Educate themselves through financial literacy courses

Financial wellness programs that allow for self-assessment, provide access to budgeting tools and a library of resources employees can use to educate themselves on various financial matters, like Best Money Moves, can help employees take steps towards financial wellness in 2020.

Top 3 Hiring Trends for 2020

by LizStevens | Dec 18, 2019 | Blog

Top 3 hiring trends for 2020. How employers are planning to expand recruitment efforts to attract and retain the right talent in a tight labor market.

Employers are ready to pay up to combat the skills shortage in the new year.

More than 80 percent of employers are ready to offer higher salaries for sought-after candidates and give pay raises to ensure their current staff is happy, according to the third-annual hiring trends report by Hays, a global recruitment firm.

“It’s encouraging to see such employer confidence and motivation in the face of market uncertainty but they should consider that money on its own may not be the long-term solution to skill deficits and employee dissatisfaction,” said David Brown, CEO, Hays US.

Top 3 Hiring Trends for 2020

Hays drew from a national survey of more than 3,500 employers and employees across the U.S. for their latest report. Their findings identified three major hiring trends for 2020:

1. More Flexibility

Nearly 35 percent of employers offer no flexible work options, but that percentage is likely to drop in the next year. More than 50 percent of employers are working on adding the ability to work remotely. Almost 40 percent are investing in flexible work hours.

Hays notes that unlimited vacation time and free childcare are also growing in popularity, but are implemented on more of a case-by-case basis.

2. Career Development

Over 20 percent of employees are considering leaving their current role because of limited opportunities for career growth.

“It’s an incredibly competitive job market and employers have to focus on bigger picture aspects of work if they want to achieve their business goals,” added Brown. “People expect to do more than punch a clock. They’re looking for meaning, a vibrant culture and to be united with their colleagues under a shared purpose. Employers who understand this fact will be better-suited in the 2020 fight for talent while nurturing their current team.”

3. Health and Wellness Focus

Close to 60 percent of workers say they have no health and wellness activities through work. Providing healthy snacks and space where employees can rest and reset on their breaks is investing in the health and wellbeing of employees.

Employers can also remind employees when it’s time to get flu shots, when open enrollment starts, and have someone available to review healthcare benefits and out-of-pocket costs to help them better understand changes each year.

If you’re not convinced that sending a reminder can make a difference, read about how a reminder the IRS sent out to those who paid a fine for failing to have health insurance may have saved 700 lives.

More on Recruitment and Hiring Trends for 2020

Health and Wellness Benefits Insights for 2020

Top 10 Employee Benefits for 2020

5 Must-Have Benefits for Millennial Employees

Hiring Trends to Watch in 2020

4 Big Employee Benefit Trends for Family Planning

Employee Experience 2020: 4 Key Aspects for High-Performance

Recruiting Trends 2020: Top 5 Features for Financial Wellness Programs

Health and Wellness Benefits Insights for 2020

by LizStevens | Dec 11, 2019 | Blog

Health and wellness benefits insights for 2020. Where employee benefits are missing the mark and how employers can reduce work-related stress.

Aetna’s Business of Health 2020 report looks at some of the greatest challenges employers face maintaining a healthy workforce and improving business performance.

Their first key finding is that health and wellness benefits are missing the mark.

Seventy percent of employers believe they provide good health and wellness benefits, but less than 25 percent of their workers agree.

Health and Wellness Benefits Disconnect

A part of the health and wellness benefits disconnect between employers and employees could be explained by uncertainty. Nearly 40 percent of employers are unsure about what employees want from their benefits package and over 40 percent are concerned about the cost implications of employee health and wellness.

Communicating directly with employees to find out what health and wellness benefits they need most can help employers and employees get on the same page about benefits goals. This could be achieved through company-wide surveys, focus groups or direct benefits conversations with workers. Setting a firm budget for health and wellness benefits can ease employer concerns about program costs.

Health and Wellness Benefits Insights for 2020

Employee stress is a huge threat to the well-being of employees, so much so that employers agree it’s the most challenging occupational health issue facing corporations worldwide, second only to viral illnesses like the flu.

Nearly 50 percent of the global workforce feels stressed because of work and 80 percent of employees rated their company’s support for stress as adequate or poor. Of the almost 60 percent of employees who don’t get enough sleep, close to 35 percent blame job stress for keeping them up at night.

Reducing Work-Related Employee Stress

Only 25 percent of the HR Directors that Aetna interviewed believed that they offer good support for those who are stressed at work.

What can employers do to reduce work-related employee stress? Encouraging the use of sick days and having flexible working hours could help. More than 70 percent of employers don’t think employees take enough sick days. Less than 15 percent of HR Directors believe that flexible working policies have a positive impact on employee retention, but flexible working hours are the most popular workforce policies requested by employees.

Employers have another opportunity to reduce work-related employee stress by supporting mental health in the workplace. More than 80 percent of employees are concerned that a mental health issue could one day affect their ability to work. Over 40 percent of employers say their company offers good support for mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression, but only 25 percent of workers agree.

Mental health is becoming an important factor for recruitment as well. Nearly 70 percent of employees said they wouldn’t join a business that did not have a clear policy on supporting those with mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.