It’s VETS 4212 season for federal contractors: All federal contractors and subcontractors with a government contract in the amount of $150,000 or more are required to file the VETS-4212 report by the September 30 deadline. For more information, go to VETS-4212 Federal Contractor Reporting | U.S. Department of Labor (dol.gov). 

Surprise – 90% of coworkers don’t get along: 90% of employees have encountered difficulties with the team they're a part of at work, according to a report from organizational development platform TeamDynamics. When teams can't get along within organizations, it can have widespread negative effects on the company as a whole. As for what's driving the disconnect within teams, 91% of individuals said they have working preferences that don't align with their team's core behaviors, 70% of employees prefer detailed project plans while only 27% of teams implement them, and over half of teams blamed their teams' rigid communication style for hindering their adaptability and efficiency. However, much of the disconnect between team members may be due to their own leaders. Nearly two-thirds of managers misunderstand their team's behaviors, according to TeamDynamic's findings, and it's negatively influencing organizational dynamics more than they may think.  It may be time for leadership training.  Source: EBN 7/12/24

Do rising healthcare costs positively correlate to higher unemployment? Most people with health insurance are covered through an employer. That system creates a "direct link" between health care prices and labor market dynamics outside of the health sector, researchers said.  As health care prices rise, so do the costs to employers providing health insurance.  But the impacts are felt more broadly among workers. Previous research has found that growing health care costs have also stifled their actual wage. Total compensation was the measure by employers as to labor costs, not actual wages. The new research found that a 1% increase in health care prices lowers an employer's headcount by about 0.4%.  These job losses are concentrated among people earning less than $100,000, contributing to inequality, the researchers said.  For the average county, a 1% increase in health care prices reduces aggregate income by approximately $8 million annually.  Source: Axios 6/24/24

Salary budget at 3.5% per Payscale: U.S. employers are planning for 3.5% raises in 2025, according to Payscale’s most recent salary budget survey. The anticipated salary increase rates vary by industry, Payscale found. On the upper end, government, and engineering and science workers will see raises above 4.5% and 4.2%, respectively. Meanwhile, retail, customer service, and education workers can expect raises of just 3.1%, Payscale said. “Given the stabilization of inflation and the easing of labor market conditions, we’re seeing a slight reduction in planned salary increases for 2025, though figures are still above the 3% pre-pandemic baseline that employees have come to expect,” said Ruth Thomas, chief of research and insights at Payscale.  Source:  HR Dive 8/2/24

Have you taken vacation this year? A survey by Sorbet, a fintech solution, found that nearly two-thirds (62%) of Americans don't use all their PTO. The survey also revealed that 5.5% of American workers did not take any PTO in 2023. The increase in unused PTO – up 14.7% since 2017 – presents a significant challenge for employees and employers alike. Employees begin to accumulate an asset that they typically can't access unless they separate from their current employer. For employers, PTO represents one of the most expensive, unutilized and underappreciated employee benefits, with the lowest perceived ROI – while their employees grow increasingly frustrated and disgruntled by financial pressure and burnout. But despite buzz around unlimited PTO policies, the policy has only been adopted by less than 15% of American companies – in fact, more than half of companies still offer traditional PTO policies by which unused PTO accrues, carries over and gets paid out at termination.  Source: Sorbet PTO Report

Many are still not saving for retirement: According to a recent survey from AARP, 20% of adults ages 50 and older have zero retirement savings, and 61% worry they won’t have enough to support them once they hit retirement.  While there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to retirement savings, financial advisors tend to recommend stashing 10% or more of your pre-tax income for when you ditch your day job. Applying the 10% rule to your pre-tax income instead of your post tax income means you’ll be saving more money, which is necessary in the face of rising costs and longer post-work lives.   For example, if your income is $100,000 and you save 10% pretax for retirement, you’d set aside $10,000 annually. If you do that for 30 years, you’d end up with around $1.8 million saved, assuming an average 10% rate of stock market return. Researchers at Fidelity analyzed national spending data to find that retirees typically need 55% to 80% of their preretirement income to maintain a similar lifestyle in their post work years. To get there, Fidelity determined that around 45% retirement income will need to come from savings—with the rest coming from Social Security—and that setting aside 15% of your income each year from age 25 and 67 will get you there.  Source: The Wall Street Journal 6/27/24