Florida farmers are nervous about multiple legislative attempts to keep them from maintaining a workforce. Farmers claim recent proposed legislation threatens to take their ability away to hire undocumented workers, which account for up to 75 percent of their workforce. It’s not uncommon for undocumented workers to purchase false Social Security cards and use them upon being hired. There is currently no legal requirement for farmers to check that the cards are legitimate. Most farms file the numbers away and start paying the new employees for their work. Up on Capitol Hill, the proposed Legal Workforce Act (H.R. 2885) would require all farmers (indeed, all employers) to use a federal database to confirm the numbers. This system is the E-Verify database. Farmers would then be mandated to not hire undocumented workers. The proposed law is sponsored by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas. Proponents of the bill talk about how these jobs should be given to legal workers, like American ...

Recent research reports indicate world-wide employee satisfaction remains at a four-year low point. Employees feel the organization hasn’t effectively demonstrated how the individual worker’s effort contributes to the organization goals. There’s a strong correlation between the level of employee engagement and the company’s financial performance. From the employee’s point of view, what have your leadership and HR departments done in the last twelve months to exemplify how their work ties to the bottom line and overall company success in the marketplace? Here are a few ideas you might use at your company: Train your supervisors to engage their direct reports and talk about how the work relates to the “bigger picture”. Arm your supervisors with talking points and handouts to help the conversation. Take the time to develop communication plans that help explain the company strategy. It’s often best to explain the value of an employee’s work wh ...

Recently, the wave of support for preventative wellness programs has begun to change the conversation about whether its financially beneficial to offer them. Financial executives in companies have traditionally been wary of supporting preventative wellness program due to the lack of data and information explaining the return on their investment in those kinds of benefits. In recent years, the data is now coming together to help gather support for wellness programs as a good investment. Traditional healthcare is frequently seen as a reactionary process to healing ailments. Whereas wellness programs emphasize elements that prevent illness, like specific diets, weight loss programs, and health screenings to identify trouble before it gets worse. Proponents for wellness programs frequently focus on heart health, stating lower levels of blood pressure and cholesterol. This, they say, helps to prevent hospital stays, work loss, and prescriptions. The wellness program screenings help employees become informed ...

As the economy recovers, it doesn’t mean business won’t want to keep lean. With companies trying to hold down expenses, in many cases it has become harder to help injured workers get back to work. The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) recently offered the results of a survey that indicated a number of factors affecting injured employees trying to get back to work. Cost associated with creating a position entailing light-duty, transitional or modified duties Many companies used to create special positions with duties customized to help an injured employee return to the workforce. Many times, the positions required some investment to create, and were not designed for the company to get the normal return based on the salary. For an employee with limitations due to a physical injury, companies by have moved the employee’s workspace to a non-optimal location on a lower floor, or in another building. Companies may have installed accessibility hardware, or purchased special office f ...

Whether you hire in-house staff, or utilize outsources to handle your HR needs, having the right resources at your disposal is key to succeeding and hitting your company goals. Business Savvy, well rounded Today’s HR departments, from top to bottom, need to understand the company’s business model and the needs of the hiring managers. They need to be able to work with your leadership staff to draw out the criteria needed in ideal candidates. They should be great communicators Working with hiring supervisors and management can be a communication challenge. The HR employee should be able to listen and ask questions in a way to have a back-and-forth conversation with other staff. This comes as a very valuable asset when a tricky employee situation arises. The HR employee should already have a working relationship with the manager. They need to be educators Working with employees and supervisors usually entails a significant amount of education. The HR personnel should be able to share tactics ab ...