Employers' attempts to monitor remote workers is backfiring

REMOTE WORK TENSIONS: Despite proof that remote work is successful, employers still want to closely monitor employees' whereabouts and productivity. But their efforts to keep productivity high could be the reason it starts to fall.?Many employers are still using pandemic-era strategies, such as mouse tracking, in an effort to ensure employees stay at their desk. This is forcing workers to try anything to keep from "going yellow."?

"[The term] refers to Teams or Slack statuses," says Hannah Yardley, chief people and culture officer at employee engagement platform Achievers. "A yellow status means an employee is away from their desk, not active, or hasn't moved their mouse for a certain period of time. But this phenomenon is stressing out employees because they feel the need to always have an active status, so that it looks like they're working with no breaks from nine to five."?

Read more about this contentious issue between remote workers and their employers: Employers' attempts to monitor remote workers is backfiring

FAMILY PLANNING: At fertility benefits platform Progyny, supporting employees on their path to parenthood looks different for everyone, and that's a good thing.?For LGBTQ employees in particular, fertility care and family building can come with a variety of emotional, physical and financial obstacles, and couples are often left to figure it out on their own. Having the right support in place can help employees build the families of their dreams — and foster employer-loyalty, too.?

"Both of us being women was a huge barrier starting out," says Stephanie Kalili, a site leader at an Amazon facility in Arizona. "Having Progyny, which is so inclusive and straightforward, made it really easy for us."

Read about how this employer benefit can help create an affordable path to parenthood: These LGBTQ couples are building a family with Progyny's fertility benefits

POSTPARTUM MENTAL HEALTH: The latest episode of Employee Benefit News' award-winning podcast, Perk Up!, dives into how the right benefits can help mothers address postpartum depression and make the early days after giving birth just a bit easier.

"[F]or postpartum depression, there can be this feeling like an overall feeling of this doesn't feel like me. It can feel like drowning, right? I'm just overall really low mood, sadness, tearfulness, loss of interest or pleasure in things that you used to enjoy, feelings of agitation or rage, feelings of hopelessness," says Alyssa Baron, a behavioral healthcare manager and psychotherapist at WINFertility.

Listen to the episode: Perk Up! Giving birth, then back to work: Supporting postpartum mental health