USCIS extends I-9 expiration date:  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services updated the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification to extend the expiration date to 05/31/2027.  Employers must use Form I-9 with the edition date of 08/1/23, which may have an expiration date of either 07/31/2026 or 05/31/2027. Either form may be used until its respective expiration date. Downloads available on the Form I-9 download page will only include the new 05/31/2027 expiration date.  Employers are encouraged to update their electronic Forms I-9 systems to use the 05/31/2027 expiration date as soon as possible and must do so no later than July 31, 2026, the expiration date on the previously-issued Form I-9.For more information, visit I-9 Central or join a free Form I-9 webinar.  Source: USCIS August 2, 2024

Lack of federal paid leave law leaves employers in the lurch:  In the vacuum created by the lack of federal legislation, an increasing number of states and localities have enacted their own paid sick leave and paid family leave laws. This patchwork of state laws poses many administrative challenges for employers, noted Joshua D. Seidman, partner for labor and employment at Seyfarth Shaw LLP at the 2024 Spring Policy Forum hosted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).  Because each state's paid leave laws vary significantly, this results in "challenges for employers from policy and programming perspectives, including keeping their human resource (HR), payroll, and timekeeping systems up-to-date, training their managers and their HR professionals on how to administer these benefits on a day-to-day basis, and then getting all that information out to their employees in terms of how their leave operates and how it coordinates with the company-provided benefits," noted Seidman.   According to Seidman, most employers are hoping for a "one-size-fits-all” approach and that federal preemption will come in and save the day.  It is unlikely to happen in the near future.  So, employers have to deal with the patchwork of laws.  Source:  CCH 7/10/24

Are layoffs coming for manufacturers? More U.S. manufacturers are rethinking their plans as they brace for an extended slump in demand.  Higher interest rates, rising operating costs, a strengthening U.S. dollar, and lower selling prices for commodities are dampening activity at factories across the country. Executives for the makers of long-lasting items such as cars, crop-harvesting combines and washing machines are projecting challenging business conditions for the remainder of the year. The deceleration follows years of robust growth in sales and profits that started during the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic. Homebound consumers unable to spend money on restaurants, concerts, and vacations opened their wallets for new dishwashers, pickup trucks, and home-remodeling.  Supply-chain bottlenecks made it hard to get manufactured goods when consumers stepped up their spending. Companies ordered more to compensate for goods or materials that were hard to obtain. That stoked inflation. But higher prices eventually reduced consumers’ enthusiasm for buying.  Government spending programs to support big new plants for making semiconductors, electric-vehicle batteries, and power-generating infrastructure are offsetting some of the industry weakness.  However, the Covid hiring spree is about to reverse itself.  Source:  Wall Street Journal 7/29/24

How often are you distracted at work? Nearly half of all employees are distracted at least once every 30 minutes by their workplace tools, according to a research report from software company Unily, with almost a third reporting being distracted at least once every 15 minutes by a workplace notification. This means that employees working an average 8-hour day could be experiencing over 160 distractions from their workplace digital tools each week, and it could have long-term effects on productivity. Nearly six in ten employees report that digital tools add to their workplace stress, with 44% of employees saying video conferencing systems are the biggest contributors, according to Unily's findings. Thirty-nine percent blame email platforms and 36% point a finger at instant messaging applications. Managers also shoulder the biggest brunt, with over 59% reporting a digital noise distraction every 30 minutes or less, compared to 48% of all respondents. Unfortunately, these distractions are part of what people need at work: 91% of respondents said their email was necessary for doing their jobs, 84% said the same about their company's intranet and internal communications, 83% about messaging platforms and 80% about video conferencing. 73% of employees even agree that digital tools help workers feel more connected in the workplace.  Source:  EBN 7/11/24

AI will make employees more productive and efficient study says: Professionals across the world expect to free up to 12 hours a week in five years by using artificial intelligence tools, according to a new report.  The report, released by Thomson Reuters, surveyed 2,200 professionals and C-level corporate executives from over 50 countries to determine how AI is impacting employees and workplaces.  It found that respondents expect to save up to four hours a week in the next year by using AI, going up to eight hours a week in three years. And in five years' time, respondents said they expect to save up to 12 hours a week thanks to AI.  "That means, if the average professional works approximately 48 weeks of the year, this will equate to roughly 200, 400, and 600 hours, respectively, freed up over the course of the year," the report read. The survey also asked its respondents what task is "too far" for AI use.  Ethically, most of the respondents agreed that using AI for basic admin tasks is "ethically acceptable in principle."  Using AI for research and analysis, as well as drafting basic documents is also largely accepted for ethical AI use, according to the report, but for advice or recommendations it is not endorsed.  Source:  HRD 7/10/24

What are the top three things EEOC is going after? At an EEOC webinar, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission general counsel Karla Gilbride said Tuesday her office is focused on holding employers accountable for hiring discrimination.  Gilbride then laid out  her key litigation priorities: tackling hiring discrimination and the ways technology can result in bias, and enforcing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. Because the EEOC has access to more workplace data than job applicants do, the agency can see whether the employer's hiring practices match up with the relevant labor pool, or whether there's a discrepancy between applicants and successful candidates in terms of what protected categories they're in, Gilbride explained.  "So, where we do see some troubling indications that there might be hiring discrimination going on, that's something that we take very seriously, and that's a priority in terms of litigation," Gilbride said. She additionally touched on the myriad ways technology can lead to trouble, whether through the use of automated tools in the hiring process or tools that monitor remote workers.  Gilbride said that if the agency were to itself take on a hiring bias case attributable to AI, it would look closely at the screening process.  PWFA complaints are currently being reviewed for enforcement as well.  Source: Law360 7/9/24