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Employee Privacy in 2018: 5 Ways to Show Your Employees You Care About their Data

Employee Privacy in 2018: 5 Ways to Show Your Employees You Care About their Data

by | Feb 12, 2018 | Blog

Protecting employee privacy is more important in 2018 than ever before. Show your employees you care about employee data with these five strategic steps.

It’s simply assumed that the confidential employee data workers share with their employers will remain exactly that: confidential. But if you’re collecting employee data in any capacity, that data is at risk of a security breach, potentially leading to identity theft.

Sixty-four percent of all Americans have experienced a breach in their personal data, according to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, and about half of Americans feel that employee privacy is less secure now than it has been in years past.

What’s worse, identity theft resulting from stolen employee data isn’t just stressful for your workforce, it’s expensive for your business. Fifty-five percent of identity theft victims reported missed time from work, 39 percent of these victims cited an inability to concentrate or focus while at work and an overwhelming 74 percent cited an increase in their overall level of stress, according to a recent survey of identity theft victims conducted by the Identity Theft Resource Center. In addition to absenteeism, stress at work leads to lost productivity among staff, a higher rate of employee turnover and even puts your employees at a greater risk for a number of significant stress-related health problems.

These days, it may seem as though a data breach is an inevitable risk for your company, but there are strategic steps you can take to protect against criminals accessing your sensitive data.

1. Be clear with your workforce about which employee data you need to access and which data your employees should keep private.
Generally, employers have the right to access and own anything their employees do, say or record on company property or while on company time. Bottom line: make your company’s privacy policy explicitly clear in comprehensive written agreements, HR workshops, employee handbooks or even pop-up warnings on any monitored devices. Ensure that any employee benefits platforms that collect sensitive information – including retirement or financial wellness – do the same. When employees have a clear understanding of what information their employers have access to and what the information is used for, they can better protect the information they divulge. It’s also important that employees understand why these privacy policies are necessary.

2. Use the best data security for the information you keep.
Data from an employee’s computer may help you monitor office productivity, while information about your employees’ average length of employment can help with turnover predictability. You can also use data about employee health or employee finances to help you choose the best benefits programs for your team. Access to this information brings the responsibility of implementing strong security protocols for the safeguarding of employee – and employer – privacy. Work with your data security team to establish best practices for handling internet usage and document storage or destruction of confidential employee data. Limit the time your employees spend on unsecured networks and opt for a private, secure network when dealing with company and employee data. Encrypting all messaging done on company time and property should be a default practice, but utilizing multi-factor authentication adds another layer of safety.

3. Know how your benefits providers handle your employee’s information.
Your company might be handling your employee’s data with care, but what about your third-party employee benefits providers who have access to sensitive employee information about retirement, healthcare and financial wellness? Work with benefits providers that meet your business’ security standards and reevaluate them regularly. Assess what your vendors have access to and limit it to what is absolutely necessary. Look for a retirement or financial wellness provider who can anonymize sensitive information about your employees’ finances. Put your company’s confidentiality requirements in writing. Be transparent with your expectations and only use vendors that comply with company security and privacy protocols and who are willing to submit to regular auditing.

4. Encourage your employees to take an interest in their own privacy.
Employee error is the number one reason for company-wide data breaches, according to research from the Association for Corporate Counsel. Ensuring that individual employees are practicing safe data management can ensure the safety of your company at large. Helping your workforce understand that employee privacy is valuable (and vulnerable) is your first line of defense. Host company-wide workshops with IT professionals to bring everyone on the same page.

5. Stop thinking of employee privacy as a one-time problem.
Criminals are constantly finding new ways to access sensitive employee data. Staying on top of employee privacy isn’t a one-time activity, it’s something that requires constant review and regular maintenance. As quickly as technology improves, criminals find new strategies for stealing employee data.

Safeguarding your workforce from identity theft is a constant battle, but it’s one your company can accomplish by staying vigilant about how you handle sensitive employee data. Stay informed on the ever-growing online privacy landscape in order to take the correct steps in securing the privacy your company’s and employees’ data.

2016’s Top Employee Benefit? Mental and Financial Wellness

2016’s Top Employee Benefit? Mental and Financial Wellness

by | Dec 7, 2016 | Blog

In this week’s Best Money Moves roundup, we take a look at news stories and new research studies that may impact employee benefits and HR issues. We hope you find this news roundup helpful, and we’d love your feedback.

The idea of “wellness programs” in employee benefits initially focused solely on physical wellness, and included things like helping employees maintain a healthy weight or kick unhealthy habits like smoking.

However, 2016 saw an increase in the number of employers offering employee benefits like student loan repayment programs (Time predicts it will be “2017’s hottest employee benefit”) and encouraging employees to take advantage of mental and social assistance programs.

But by the end of 2016, a growing body of research started connecting physical health and financial stress, leading to an increasing number of employers including financial wellness products in their employee benefits packages. Here’s why employers are putting a growing amount of emphasis on mental and financial wellness in their benefits packages, and where we might see that trend go in 2017.

While 87 percent of HR executives rate employee engagement as one of their biggest challenges, there’s no real agreement on what employee engagement actually is. Learn what employee engagement is and how to use it to improve your company’s culture.

Gender equality in the workplace is becoming an increasingly important issue for women and men. A recent study found that more than half of employees felt gender inequality was a problem at their company and many of them plan to look for a new gig in the next six months.  

The holidays are filled with potential opportunities for identity theft. Here are some ways employers can help their employees avoid this stressful holiday hazard.

President-elect Trump campaigned on the promise of reducing regulatory red tape. That could be bad news for consumers’ retirement accounts if he rolls back President Obama’s fiduciary rule, which was set to take effect in April 2017.

Can your physical office environment keep employees from leaving? It might, according to a new survey from the International Interior Design Association. Here are the features you may want to add to the office to boost employee retention.

What is the most important factor in attracting top talent? SHRM’s newest study looked at what HR executives are doing to draw in new employees and keep them with the company.

Are you working on your resolutions for 2017? What about resolutions for your business? Get yourself started with these five financial wellness resolutions for the new year.

A lack of financial knowledge is the root cause of many employees’ financial stress. But why are so many Americans financially illiterate in the first place?

Is your organization struggling with a high turnover rate? Here are some of the most common reasons employees quit and seven simple steps you can take to make them stay.

Did you find this Best Money Moves roundup useful? Please let us know. Email us at info@bestmoneymoves.com.

It’s hard to stay on top of everything in the news. That’s why each week our Best Money Moves newsroom will bring you the most important news in financial wellness, employee benefits and financial stress. We hope you like the information and, if you do, please spread the word. For midweek developments, follow us on Twitter and on Facebook.

How to Help Prevent – and Recover From – Identity Theft

How to Help Prevent – and Recover From – Identity Theft

by | Oct 12, 2016 | Blog

Financial stress in the workplace often comes directly from worries about the unexpected: job loss, surprise expenses or injuries. Identity theft and fraud are becoming an increasingly common source of financial worry for employees.

According to a recent survey from Bankrate, 41 million adults in the US have been a victim of identity theft and 49 million more know someone who has been victimized. This crime is sometimes unavoidable and recovering from it takes a serious toll, both emotionally and financially.

Here are some of the ways identity theft causes stress for employees and some steps employers can take to help educate their workers.

Financial stress from identity theft

The number of ways identity theft and fraud can happen are startling – from a parent running up debts in a child’s name to a stranger abusing personal information from a data breach – and once an employee is victimized, the financial stress sets in.

A recent survey reported by HSB showed that more than a third of Americans had been the victim of a cybercrime in the past year, including the hacking of their personal information and their data being held for ransom. In nearly a quarter of these incidents, the victim spent up to $5,000 of their own money repairing the damage, while more than half spent up to $500. In fact, $15 billion was stolen through identity fraud last year in the US alone. This sudden major expense causes extreme financial stress for victims, in addition to the emotional anxiety of having their information abused.

A long recovery means drawn-out stress

This stress is often prolonged, as victims of identity theft face a difficult path to recovery that doesn’t happen overnight. If an employee of yours had their identity stolen, they might have their checking account emptied, debt transferred onto a credit card in their name or a mortgage opened using their credit. Their recovery process could include getting a police report, filing an identity theft report, ordering their credit reports and requesting fraud alerts or security freezes, even dealing with debt collectors and loan servicers looking to collect payments for fraudulent accounts, all while having to keep a careful eye on every one of their financial accounts for the foreseeable future.

It can take years for a victim to restore their credit and finances, often without any sort of explanation for how they became a victim. The Bureau of Justice Statistics’ most recent report claimed 68 percent of identity theft victims had no idea how the perpetrator got ahold of their personal information, leaving them still feeling vulnerable. If your workers are dealing with this kind of stress, whether it’s an ongoing abuse of their identity or paying thousands of dollars to restore the damage caused by fraud, the anxiety doesn’t go away once they arrive at work.

Steps for employers to take

Your employees would certainly appreciate your understanding if they’re facing these issues, but they can also use your help. Workers of all ages can be victims and the less familiar they are with digital security, the more at risk they’ll be. Educate your employees about good digital habits – like using strong, unique passwords for every account and reviewing accounts on a regular basis for fraud – that can be applied to both the workplace and their personal lives. We’ve already seen that regular reminders can help change your workers’ habits, so encourage them to change passwords frequently and stay on top of their financial accounts.

You can also talk about risks like computer viruses, phishing attacks and ransomware, all of which can be used to steal data in or out of the workplace. Prevention is a major part of protection against identity theft and the more your workers know, the more prepared they’ll be to react appropriately and manage the financial stress that accompanies this crime.

Your workers can’t make the right decisions if they don’t have the knowledge they need both before and after their identity has been abused. When financial stress hits, having a guide is helpful, which is why providing the right resources is one of your best options to assist them.