The election season is in full swing, and like every potential presidential candidate, President Obama and his administration's policies are under scrutiny. Given today's uncertain economy, Obama's employer policies are especially facing criticism. While some employer policies may pose some challenges, others offer positive benefits, such as the new W-2 reporting requirement for health care, says Sheryl Kovach, president and CEO of Kandor Group, a human resources consulting firm in Houston.
As part of the new W-2 reporting requirement under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, employers must report the total cost for all employer-sponsored health care plans, and this is beneficial to employers and employees alike, Kovach says. Employees typically value salary as the biggest job benefit, but by showing employees how much their health care truly costs, it gives them a better insight into their job perks outside of pay.
"This definitely has a lot of positive aspects to it because it does help bring awareness to employees on the noncash compensation they're getting for health insurance," Kovach says. "A lot of times employees don't realize the noncash compensation they're getting from their benefits, but by disclosing and reporting that value on employees' W-2 statements, there's greater awareness and transparency."
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Reporting these figures can help employers because it brings all health care costs to the surface, Kovach adds. With each of these costs itemized and readily available, an employer can better analyze and manage its health care spending.
Along with bipartisan support from Congress, Obama's effort to increase veterans' job opportunities after they return from duty has also been a positive policy of the administration, says Mike Aitken, director of government affairs for the Society for Human Resource Management. Under the veterans jobs bill, an employer is offered a tax credit for hiring an unemployed veteran, and there are fewer burdens keeping veterans from entering the civilian work force.
Despite the positive impact of the veterans jobs bill, the DOL's recent push encouraging employers to hire workers with disabilities is not supported by Aitken. The DOL recently submitted a proposal that modifies affirmative action regulations under Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Based on the proposal, most employers with federal contracts would be required to set goals of having workers with disabilities account for 7 percent of their work force. Although Aitken strongly agrees with the goal helping workers with disabilities gain employment, he believes the DOL is going about it in the wrong way.
"We share the same goal as the Department of Labor, but it's going about it in a difficult way by creating administrative burdens, time tables and what some would argue are quotas in order to try to reach that goal," Aitken says.
The Obama administration is also creating a more union-friendly environment, which could pose challenges for employers, Kovach says. As part of a pending requirement under National Labor Relations Act, all employers must post a notice in the workplace informing employees of their right to unionize. While this mandate has already been delayed three times, employers can expect more employees to become interested in their options when it goes into effect, and they must be prepared.
"Employers need to be trained on how to manage the situation because there are rules and policies that prohibit an employer from interfering with its employees' right to organize," Kovach says. "We will see more organized efforts once, and it's important that managers and supervisors are educated in how to handle those situations."
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