13724 Venetian Court, Orland Park, Illinois 60467Office 708-301-6425 Fax: 708-301-6455
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Providing Human Resources Consulting for Small to Mid-Size Organizations | |
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Greetings!
We hope you enjoyed the holidays, are now rejuvenated from the short break and ready to pick up were you left off at work. As we all try to get "back into the groove", this issue of the Pipleline offers an important legislative update and provides some thought provoking ideas on employee engagement as you move into 2010. |
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COBRA Subsidy and Unemployment Extension is now Law
On Saturday December 19th, the U.S. Senate passed the Fiscal 2010 Department of Defense Appropriations Act. This spending bill included provisions to:
- Extnd and expand the COBRA subsidy program from 9 months to 15 months.
- Change the end date for eligibility for the subsidy from December 31, 2009, to February 28, 2010.
- Provide a retroactive period of 60 days for payment of premiums for eligible individuals whose subsidy period expired on November 30, 2009.
- Require a special notice outlining these changes within 60 days to all eligible individuals on COBRA on or after October 31, 2009, or those who are terminated after that date.
- Clarify the original COBRA subsidy program, noting that eligibility and notice are based on the timing of the qualifying event rather than eligibility for COBRA.
- The period during which individuals may file applications for Federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation is extended from the current end date of December 31, 2009 to February 28, 2010 and the period during which individuals may claim and be paid such benefits is extended from May 31, 2010 to July 31, 2010.
- The period during which individuals may qualify for the Federal Additional Compensation (the extra $25 weekly benefit amount on state and federal unemployment compensation) is extended from the current end date of January 1, 2010 to February 28, 2010 with weekly payment provided during the phase out period for weeks ending June 30, 2010 to August 31, 2010.
- The period during which 100% federal reimbursement for weeks of regular federal extended benefit payments for states opting to trigger federal extended benefits based on the Total Unemployment Rate is extended from the current end date of January 1, 2010 to February 28, 2010, with the state option to continue the extended period from May 30, 2010 to July 31, 2010.
The House of Representatives had passed this same spending bill on December 16, 2009, and President Obama immediately signed the bill into law on December 19, 2009. |
| A New Year with a New Approach
 Along with the New Year's resolutions for your personal life, consider making a few promises to yourself (and your employees) in your professional life. Contemplate the following article as a basis to start the New Year off with a new approach.
An organization's leaders are the impetus of creating a positive environment for their workforce. Challenging economic times force businesses to re-evaluate operations. These changes can often generate poor morale, create discontent and reduce company loyalty among employees. It is imperative for business leaders to generate a winning atmosphere in the workplace if they expect to endure these times and win in today's marketplace.
There are many successful people and businesses that have grown to prominence during the worst recessions and downturns. These successful individuals and organizations all shared similar characteristics and took similar actions to thrive while others merely tried to survive (Jon Gordon "The Shark and The Goldfish-Positive Ways to Thrive During Waves of Change").
How do you boost morale and engage employees in the current economy? Here are a few points to consider:
Focus on People, Not Numbers Numbers do not drive people, people drive the numbers. Looking at the numbers is only an indicator of how your people are performing. Culture drives behavior, behavior drives habits and habits drive results.
Model Good Behavior Set the tone, inspire a positive attitude and reflect it towards your interaction with your employees. "Whatever you expect from your employees, expect the same from your senior leadership," Gordon suggests.
Practice Positive Leadership
Remaining positive in the face of adversity creates respect and shores up the confidence others have in you. Optimistically focus on where you are going and what strategies you will employ to reach goals and objectives.
Fill the Void. In uncertain times, questions arise as to how the industry will be impacted. As a result, employees often question their job stability. Where there are questions, there are voids. When there is a void and it is not filled, negativity will fill it. In the absence of clear and positive communication people will assume the worst. Communicate with your employees on a regular basis. Share your vision of the future, as well as allowing them to voice their concerns, fears and ideas.
Either be part of the solution or part of the problem. Successful organizations with great cultures focus on solutions, not complaints. Gordon suggests, "Complaints must always be accompanied with a solution. No solution, no complaint."
Re-engage yourself to influence your employees; positive employees are positive contributors; contributing employees are the foundation of a winning organization. Use the start of the New Year to embrace a new approach.
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Regards,
Rich
Rich Lehr, President
RGL Consultants | |
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