Human Resources Issues - April 2024

See what is new with us and keep up on the latest employment laws and legislation that affect your business with articles by Joe Stein, WNY HR Professional.

BREAKING NEWS:

Erie County is expected to pass a new law today that guarantees all workers paid time off during Bills’ games, regardless of whether you were scheduled to work during the game or not.?

The only businesses allowed open will be Bills’ stadium gameday workers and those that sell beer or liquor, with such workers receiving double time compensation.*

Upcoming Specials:

Advertise in our three Job Fair Issues this month and get additional exposure for your ads! Or if you are participating at the event, let job seekers know ahead of time you will be there and what positions you are recruiting for.

April 5 Job Fair Issue

2024 Be Your Own Hero Career & Industry?Expo?on Thursday, April 11 at Highmark Stadium.? Deadline is Wednesday, April 3 at 4pm.

April 19 Job Fairs Issue

Spring Diversity Career Fair on Thursday, April 25 at the Downtown Public Library, and the Spring Career/Job Fair (hosted by the Buffalo Urban League’s Division of Workforce Development) also on Thursday, April 25 at the Buffalo Convention Center. Deadline is Wednesday, April 17 at 4pm.

April 26 Job Fair Issue

NYS Department of Labor/Erie1BOCES Job Fair on Wednesday, May 1. Deadline is Wednesday, April 24 at 4pm.

Seasonal Category continues throughout April

Post your Seasonal and Summer Jobs online and in print with WNYJobs.com.

Save 10% when running two or more weeks!

Call 716-648-5627 or email your sales rep today.

Hiring Success Stories . . .

A Sampling of the Positions Filled by WNYJOBS Advertisers Last Month:

Cooks?? Delivery Driver ? Compliance Liaison ? LPN ? Cashiers ? Commercial Cleaners ? Shipping/Receiving Driver ? Laser Machine Operator ? Warehouse Associates ? Customer Service Representatives ? Office Administrator ? Order Picker ? Short Order Cooks ? Stand Managers?? Shipping and Receiving Clerk?? Keyboard Specialist ? Farm Laborer ? Warehouse Supervisor

Dimar Manufacturing: “We received multiple candidates referred from WNY jobs which was amazing. We will be closing the ad for now as our hiring needs are all set.”        

Latina Foods: “We had a great turn out at our Open Interviews Event!”        

Tops Distribution: “Our event was great! 63 people in 3 hours.?You're the best! I love doing business with you.”        

April 2024 Human Resources Update

It is now April, and we will soon be in bloom here in Western New York. As the weather warms up (we hope!), so does the news that impacts HR Professionals in this region. So much has occurred in the month since our last e-mail update.

• On February 26th, the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that their online website for 2023 EEO-1 filing will open on April 30th. Applicable employers will have a little over a month to file as the deadline will be June 4th. All employers that have at minimum 100 employees and some federal contractors (and sub-contractors) are required to complete the EEO-1 forms annually.
• As the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) continues to expand its definition of concerted protected activity, comes their February 21st Home Depot decision. The NLRB decided that Home Depot violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) when it prohibited “BLM” employee apron messages. The board’s reasoning was that the message became protected because it came after complaints of racial discrimination at the store in question.
• On March 8th, a district court judge in Texas blocked the NLRB final rule that would have made it easier for employers to be deemed as joint employers for a contracted worker. The judge ruled that the new rule is too broad because it would potentially find companies as an employer even when they lacked meaningful control over working conditions. Furthermore, on March 21, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce passed a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to cancel the new independent contractor rule.
• Employee happiness does not appear to be trending in a positive direction according to a recent study from Bamboo HR. Their survey revealed that employee satisfaction was at a four-year low in Q4 of 2023. The shocker is that the employer number is now lower than where it was at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, a primary driver of high inflation/financial strain is generally out of the hands of employers.
• The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) gave the H-1B process a facelift, when on February 28th, they launched a new online platform. This launch was done in time for the 2025 (fiscal year) H1-B application season. The new system allows multiple people within an organization (such as Human Resources and Legal) to prepare H1-B documents simultaneously.
• It has been a while since we looked at the unemployment outlook in the U.S. The unemployment rate?has remained under 4 percent over the past two years, with about 1.8 million workers continuing to claim unemployment benefits.?The expert’s interpretation of the numbers is that while hiring has slowed, employers are hanging on to workers, avoiding layoff situations. In other words, the labor market continues to be candidate friendly and tight overall.

Stay safe and well, and we will update you again in May!

Joe Stein, WNY Human Resources Professional

The following has been prepared for the general information of readers. It is not meant to provide advice regarding any specific legal or policy matter and should not be acted upon without verification by the reader.

*Happy April Fool's Day! Everything else in the newsletter is accurate.