Employee training works for all FMLA changes are in place

The Staffing View

On business, the workplace and employee relations

_March, 2009

Recession Casualty: Employee Training

Employee training is a corporate practice said to be valued by employers and employees alike It provides managers with workers who develop specific skills for a specific job and gives employees knowledge that’s useful for their career development But according to two studies, many employers are cutting their training budgets as they tighten their spending in the slower economy

Average training expenditures per employee fell 11 percent in 2008, according to the research firm Bersin & Associates, and the total US corporate training market shrank to $562 billion from $585 billion in 2007, the largest drop in more than 10 years

Those results are in line with a second report by the training services firm Expertus and research provider Training Industry in which nearly half of 84 corporate and government training professionals said they expect their budgets to decrease in 2009 That’s up from 41 percent in 2008

But just because the company needs to pull back its training spending doesn’t mean that employees must stop their education By taking steps aside from corporate programs you can still sharpen your job skills and keep your career development on an upward curve

Do a self-assessment and fill the holes It may be true that you don’t know what you don’t know, but you can figure out what you need Assess your skills and match them to your job description Even if you have it all covered, honestly appraise what you do well and where you can improve

Find a mentor Connect with a more experienced colleague or superior and learn from them They may have held a similar job and can provide direction What skills do they have that you don’t?

Tap in to a social network Whether it’s on LinkedIn, MeetUp, Facebook or some other platform, there’s likely a group of similar professionals out there waiting for you to join Networking is the point of many of them But networking is about building relationships and exchanging ideas about professional growth is a good way to make connections

Talk to HR Find out what specific training classes have been cut If an in-house instructor would have run the program, talk to him or her about the subject matter and the materials they would have used Then study on your own

Employers Take Note: FMLA Changes in Place

The federal Labor Department’s revisions to the Family and Medical Leave Act Regulations are in place, meaning many covered employers will need to revise their employee polices and practices

Most notable among the changes are the new military family leave entitlements that have been enacted They allow an employee to take up to 26 weeks of leave during a single 12-month period to care for a family member who is part of the Armed Forces

Additionally, an employee is now permitted to take up to 12 weeks of leave for a non-medical activity caused by the fact that the son, daughter or parent of the employee is on active duty These “qualifying exigencies” include short-notice deployment; certain temporary childcare arrangements and school activities; financial and legal arrangements; counseling by a non-medical counselor; rest and recuperation and other circumstances

Those are just a couple of the changes that have been made to the 1993 law, that employers have often said is too broadly written and prone to abuse by employees The revisions are meant to help employers interpret and comply with the law

Family leave applies to any worker at a business or public agency with 50 or more employees Employees are eligible if they've worked at least 12 months and 1,250 hours in the year preceding the leave However, under the new law the 12 months' work requirement doesn't need to be consecutive, but needs to be within seven years That means an employee may be eligible for family leave if he or she works for six months, leaves the job and returns to work six years later

The new law also tries to resolve a sticky problem in the past related to medical certification Employers have five days after an employee provides a notice of leave to request medical certification Employees must provide supporting certification within 15 days; meaning proper paperwork from a doctor or other healthcare provider If the certification is not complete or insufficient, employers can deny family leave Employees then have seven days to correct or complete the form Employers can deny leave and job protections until the certification is provided An exception is made involving military issues, however In that case travel orders are sufficient

Read the complete FMLA changes at the Department of Labor web site

 

Five Questions to Ask When Considering Staffing Firms

Choosing a staffing firm to partner with involves more than providing your name and number and waiting for a call Whether you’re a temporary employee or looking to become a permanent employee, it’s a crucial decision – particularly during down business cycles The firm is not only a potential source of employment, but also a matchmaker for rewarding work

To get it right, adopt the attitude that you’re hiring the firm as much as the people there are hiring you After all, there are many staffing firms from which to choose and certainly some are better than others Step one is to determine if an agency includes the type of work that you do among its job offerings A simple check of the corporate web site will provide an answer and help to narrow the field

After that, you need to conduct a personal interview You’ll be asked about your own skills and experience But then turn the tables, take a hard look at the office and personnel and get some answers to your own tough questions

Is there professionalism about the firm’s staff? Were you invited in to meet the staff or did you request a meeting? A good firm will want to meet with you and establish a relationship Once there, what are the people like? Are they clean cut? Do they listen when you talk about your skills? Call ahead and ask for a strong recruiter who understands the business you’re interested in

How many placements do they do? Many recruiters will promise the moon But a good recruiter won’t bring you in unless you have the skill set he can place Ask how many placements they did the prior month A good recruiter can only work with a couple of hundred people Beyond that he loses touch

What’s the breadth and knowledge of the recruiter?  A good recruiter will understand your industry He or she should have some experience in it and be sufficiently connected to know about emerging trends that could impact the job market or your opportunities If you wind up meeting with someone who doesn’t speak your industry language, consider it a red flag

Who are the firm’s customers?  Are they companies with recognizable names or no-names? During your interview you’ll hear names from the A-List and the B-List Have the recruiter talk a bit about the relationship with those companies and the order flow Do they sound like solid partnerships?

Does the firm set up a placement plan? A proactive staffing firm will work with you to get a job They’ll advise you on when to send resumes, review your skill sets, point out areas of needed improvement, guide you on salary and rates of pay and discuss how frequently you should confer with the agency’s staff Steps such as these – or the lack of them – will indicate how much of a partner the staffing firm really wants to be

10 Reasons To Hire a Vet

Last month President Obama announced a timeline for removing about 90,000 troops from Iraq, the bulk of US forces in that country Do you have a policy in place for hiring veterans? Here are 10 reasons why hiring a vet might make sense for your business, courtesy of the Department of Labor’s HireVetsFirst program

• Accelerated learning curve


• Leadership


• Teamwork


• Diversity and inclusion in action


• Efficient performance under pressure


• Respect for procedures


• Technology and globalization


• Integrity


• Conscious of health and safety standards


• Triumph over adversity

 

March Madness

Office workers across the country will be filling out their brackets and crossing their fingers that their favorite school will go far in the NCAA basketball tournament this month In most cases it’s pure entertainment, but beware if you enter an office pool Know your company’s policies A few years ago more than 9,700 HR professionals responded to an online survey by the Society of Human Resource Managers about office gambling activities It revealed that:

• 30 percent said their organizations don't allow betting pools


• 14 percent said their organization does allow them


• 56 percent said they don't worry about whether betting pools are happening at their workplace

If you play for fun, look for a 12 seed to upset a 5 seed It happens nearly every year!