According to a CNN report, Americans working in a claustrophobia-inducing cubicle have one more thing to complain about: shrinking cubicle size.

The average worker’s office space has dwindled 15 square feet since 1994, down to a cozy 75 square feet in 2010.  And it’s not just the everyday workers who are feeling the squeeze—senior workers’ office space shrunk 19 feet over the same period.  Everyone but executive management, who enjoyed an increase in office space, has to do more work with less space.

Or are they?

What popularized the cubicle in the 1960s was its functional, modular office space without the construction required to build walled offices.  In the past, cubicle size has had to accommodate the latest office technology, such as bulky telephones, typewriters, and desktop computers.  Today, that technology is slender and sleek, such as flat-screen monitors, laptops, iPads, and Blackberries—and more important, that technology is mobile.

Mobile technology replaces the need for workers to be chained to their desks.  Instead, workers can telecommute or work from different places in the office, as in the open-space seating model found at companies such as Facebook and Intel.  This open-space model is becoming more popular thanks to its team-oriented setup and efficient use of work space.  Due to meetings, travel, shifts, or personal leave, not all work space is required at all times, so it makes sense to have fewer and unassigned work stations.

While some employees appreciate this modern, flexible approach to office space, other employees reject the approach’s irregularity, close quarters, and lack of privacy.  Since employees spend half their days at work, it’s important their office environment works for them to foster comfort and productivity.  But just as office spaces come in all shapes and sizes, so do employees, so not every model will suit every employee’s personality or work style.

Does that mean private offices are on the verge of extinction?  Not if SAS, a North Carolina business intelligence software company, is any indication.  For the last two years, the company was named Fortune magazine’s best place to work.  The kicker?  SAS gives almost all its employees private offices.

Times are looking up for the once-struggling American auto industry, which means good news—and shared profits—for industry employees.

Last month, Ford Motor Co. paid $5,000 in profit sharing to each of its hourly workers, which was more than its contract with the labor union required.  And though Chrysler Group LLC did not make any money last year, the company still paid $750 to each of its hourly workers to thank them for standing by during recovery efforts.  Following suit, General Motors Co. is poised to pay each of its 45,000 hourly workers at least $3,000 in profit sharing.  This will mark GM’s largest ever payout, crushing 1999’s previous record of $1,775.

GM’s move comes as 2010 saw the company solidly back in the black for the first time since 2004, and just one year after a highly publicized $50 billion government bailout.  In those darker days, GM was forced to restructure by closing domestic factories and slicing more than 20,000 jobs, including much of its white-collar workforce.  Moving into the future, GM executives have expressed interest in compensating hourly workers according to their performance, much like the way salaried workers are compensated.  It should also be noted that salaried workers will not be receiving across-the-board raises.

Your business’ productivity could suffer because employees are chaining themselves to their desks.  But why are employees spending so many days at work and shunning the personal leave they once relished?  New studies show employees are afraid to—or genuinely unable to—step away from their desks.  Even a nasty head cold or the beckoning of a Caribbean vacation won’t unlock those chains.

As for the head cold, a recent CareerBuilder survey found 72 percent of workers report for work when they’re legitimately sick.  Most respondents (55 percent) do this because they feel guilty about missing work.  While this seemingly demonstrates amazing loyalty, how loyal is it to show up to spread germs to healthy coworkers?  Furthermore, does an office full of runny-nosed people slumped at their desks promote productivity?

And then there’s that Caribbean vacation.  A Right Management poll found 46 percent of workers didn’t use all their vacation time in 2010.  Workers either couldn’t get away from their desks or felt like they couldn’t get away to enjoy their annual vacations.

Whatever the case, employees are spending more days at their desks.  With so many businesses short staffed, with more duties falling to fewer employees, taking personal time is a legitimate concern for many workers.  Employees also worry that if they miss work, even for a day or two, their employers will realize either the worker or the position isn’t vital.  Employees are afraid to step away because their jobs may not be there when they come back.

If your employees aren’t taking the personal time they need, they’re at risk for employee burnout.  Workers who don’t feel like they can get a break from work, either to get healthy or to have fun, are more likely to suffer persistently high stress levels.  In turn, high stress levels can lead to employee turnover, which can quickly have your business flipping through job applications.  So what to do with employees who won’t unlock that desk chain?

Hand them the keys.  Now, more than ever, it’s important to tell employees it’s OK to miss work—and it needs to genuinely be OK.  Remind employees that their jobs will be waiting when they come back, and then train coworkers to fill in for sick or vacationing employees.  At the end of the day, employees able to take time off work will be healthier and happier, and will respond with increased loyalty and productivity.

If your employee handbook was last updated in the age of high hair and parachute pants, it lacks key legislative changes such as the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Polygraph Protection Act.  Relying on an out-of-date handbook is a surefire way to invite litigation!

Your HR team should continually review the handbook for necessary updates.  Employment law is constantly changing, so your HR team should check new laws against your employee handbook’s policies.  Your HR team should also confirm handbook policies match actual practices.  The last thing anyone wants is to be cornered by an employee armed with a handbook offering six weeks’ vacation, when current company policy only offers four.

Having an up-to-date handbook provides many benefits beyond avoiding uncomfortable confrontations.  Not only does the handbook provide guidance to employees and supervisors, but it also establishes consistent policies important to risk management.  Consistent policies also ensure a more harmonious work environment, since everyone knows what to expect.

If it’s time to update your employee handbook, consider the following steps:

1. Regularly review the handbook to ensure the most current policies.
2. Have an attorney review the handbook at each phase.
3. Implement a plan to address policy updates and how to communicate them to everyone in the business.
4. Train management staff to consistently follow handbook policy.
5. Record all updates and changes in a log.

Check back soon for Parts Two and Three of our Employee Handbook series!

As we look toward a new year, many of us start thinking about how to change ourselves for the better.  That’s where the New Year’s resolution comes in.  Several consistently popular resolutions across the years: to lose weight, to exercise more, to manage stress, to quit smoking, and to drink less alcohol.  What do all these resolutions have in common?  They’re related to health and longevity.  As we look toward a new year, why not consider giving your employees the gift of health through an employee wellness program?

Wellness programs focus on employees’ physical well being, including medical requirements and general health.  Wellness programs offer a variety of health-related solutions, which may include weight loss plans, stress management training, smoking cessation programs, nutrition coaching, physical fitness advice, behavioral health therapy, and physiological testing, like blood pressure screenings and cholesterol checks.  If your business already offers an employee wellness program, why not give the gift of a special alternative therapy, such as a massage session?  Your employees will thank you well into the New Year.

How can healthy employees benefit your small business?  Perhaps the most obvious way is through reduced absenteeism.  Healthy employees show up ready to work and to keep productivity levels high.  They also arrive with improved morale and loyalty, since well-cared-for employees are more likely to feel appreciated by and connected to their employer.  This also contributes to the invaluable harmonious workplace.  Healthy employees also provide the business with reduced health care and insurance costs and, indeed, lower overall costs.  Dollar for dollar, the investment into an employee wellness program is well worth the return.

If your business is interested in establishing an employee health and wellness program—or improving upon an existing program—GHRO can help with our HR Total Solutions Package.  With GHRO Total Solutions, your business will be on its way to an employee wellness program, and it will also have direct access to unlimited services, such as asset protection, cost containment strategies, and turnover reduction strategies.  With nearly one hundred years of combined HR experience, GHRO’s team is committed to meeting your HR needs.  Visit our website to receive a free quote.

Ah, December—a busy and tumultuous time for many businesses . . . a time of holiday office parties, secret Santa exchanges, and most important to many—time off to spend with family and friends.  When December rolls around and employees are itching to clock out, does your company’s holiday pay policy look more like It’s a Wonderful Life or does it look more like How the Grinch Stole Christmas? Much of how your company shapes its policy will depend on the needs of the business (and of course, the holiday spirit!), but when it comes to legal requirements for holiday pay, this employer’s guide to common questions and answers can help.

Q: Must employees get paid time off for nationally recognized holidays?

A: No.  Federal law doesn’t require employers to provide holiday time off, paid or unpaid.

Q: What about accommodating a religious holiday?

A: In short, yes, employers must accommodate their employees’ religious practices unless the business would suffer an undue hardship.

What is reasonable accommodation?  Allowing an employee to use a floating holiday, a vacation day, or unpaid time off are all reasonable ways to accommodate religious observances.

Q: Must employees be paid for employer-provided holiday time off?

A: This answer depends on the employee’s classification.  Employers are not required to pay hourly employees for holiday time off; employees must only be paid for time they actually worked.  On the other hand, employers are required to pay salaried employees who work without regard to overtime for holiday time off if they worked any hours in the holiday week.

Q: Must paid time off be included in determining an employee’s entitlement to overtime?

A: No.  Employer-provided paid holiday hours are not required to count toward an employee’s hours worked ,for the purposes of determining overtime eligibility.  Typically, an employee must work 40 hours in a week to become eligible for overtime.  This may be overridden, however, by collective bargaining agreements.

Q: Can conditions be attached to holiday pay?

A: Yes, but those conditions should always be in writing.  As examples, an employer may prorate holiday pay for part-time employees or may require a certain amount of service time before an employee becomes eligible for holiday pay.

Q: If an employee works a holiday, must they get premium pay?

A: While a common practice (and a kind gesture) to pay a premium to employees who work holidays, it is not a legal requirement.

Q: Must the same holiday benefits be extended to all employees?

A: No, as long as any differences are not a result of potential discrimination, such as age or gender.  Employers can, for instance, grant holiday pay to full-time employees only, or to office workers instead of field workers.

Q: What happens if a holiday falls on an employee’s regular day off or on a non-business day?

A: No legal requirement governs this area; however, a popular practice is to allow employees to take another day off during that pay period.  This is typically seen when holidays like Christmas fall on a Sunday and employees are given the following Monday off.

When it comes to managing your company’s payroll services, GHRO can help!  Our seasoned professionals have years of experience in Human Resources and can help you develop the best policies for you and your employees.  For more information about how GHRO can meet your business needs, visit our website.

Brandon Carl, our Business Development Manager, chatting about Human Resources outsourcing and GHRO with Ciaran Foley on LookSee.TV!

2010-08-10 Brandon Carl and GHRO Discuss Outsourced HR from Ciaran Foley on Vimeo.

Our society is becoming so inundated with tasks and work-related duties that unhappiness at the office is encroaching on employee health. We all know that having happy workers limits turn-over and the higher the job satisfaction, the more likely employees are to put forth their best effort. By creating a fun and home-like working atmosphere, you’ll make work fun, enjoyable, and ease stress at the same time!

Google was voted the number one company to work for in 2007. It’s no surprise considering life at the search engine giant is very relaxed and stress free; employee benefits abound. While some companies stress time lines and attire, Google emphasizes recreating the home experience at work. Employees can do laundry, work out at the gym, receive a massage and learn a new language. Feeling a little under the weather? Visit Google’s on-site doctor. Buying a hybrid? Google will give you $5,000 towards the purchase price. Expecting a child? They’ll reimburse you up to $500 in take-out food. If you ask any employee what they do at Google they’ll typically respond a personal embodiment of the company’s mission statement- “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” This kind of motivation by employees is rarely seen, but envied by most.

Google’s goal, as often recited by employees, is ambitious (to say the least). Thankfully, Google just happened to find the right people to take it on. By creating a comfortable work environment, employees are not burdened with stress. Instead, employees are motivated to collectively achieve a similar goal; indexing information and making it useful. Google wouldn’t be the tech giant it is today without its bevy of happy employees. The appeal of a work environment that mimics their homes stimulates productivity and increases employee moral, making Google one of the most sought-after employers in the world.

Even if you don’t have the resources of a Silicon Valley titan, you can easily follow Google’s ideology, making your employees happy too. The first step may just be rethinking how you see your company. Simply making the mission statement more accessible and personal will help employees insert more of themselves in to their work and ease stress levels. Extend the home experience to work and rethink the office; would you want to live in it? If you wouldn’t mind spending an evening or weekend at the office because it’s hospitable and welcoming, you’re on the right track. Make the office a place your employees love to be, rather than the place they dread to go.

Employees need to come first in a company, as they are the heart and soul of your business. Creating a comfortable work environment that mimics a home eases stress, raises morale and increases productivity. Even simple changes can greatly affect employee health and happiness in a positive way, which will certainly lead to long-term growth for your business.

Being the little guy on the block is never much fun. However, small businesses are discovering finding that competitive edge has become easier with the help of a (PEO) professional employer organization.

Trying to establish and maintain a business presence in today’s marketplace is difficult enough for large companies but even more difficult for the smaller ones. This is why the little guys on the block are getting big help by choosing to take advantage of human resources outsourcing for recruitment services, HR management, government compliance, employee/labor relations as well as other HR functions.

The current economic climate is making it harder for small businesses to thrive. The high costs of employee benefits and government compliance are forcing organizations to explore new strategies to lower their operating costs to remain competitive. Human resources outsourcing provides the HR consulting and HR management that relieves employers of the many pressures of hiring, training and maintaining their staff.

Small businesses are cutting costs and increasing their efficiency by having an administrative services organization take over the responsibilities of payroll services, safety and worker’s compensation, employee leasing and other HR services.

Whether you have 2 employees or 2,000, utilizing a PEO can help businesses find talented employees as well as offer their management expertise to train and maintain them while lowering costs and saving the employer both time and energy.

A company’s goal is to succeed and become profitable. In many cases this means growth and expansion. A PEO understands the needs of both employer and employee. Their sole focus is to minimize costs while implementing an HR management structure to maximize efficiency.

Taking advantage of the cumulative experience of a PEO provider will help manage everything from employee relations to interpersonal communications between employees and customers.

Regardless of the competition, small business owners do not have to compromise on productivity or profitability. Small business owners can take advantage of the many opportunities for growth and success by using a professional employee organization to achieve the competent HR management that will give them the competitive edge.

A growing number of companies are choosing to incorporate human resources outsourcing into their business model. However, to be successful it takes professionals who are capable of implementing successful HR outsourcing strategies:

Top 5 HR Outsourcing Strategies:

1.    Recruiting Qualified Employees – With the evolution of technology, finding experienced employees who have the skills required to make a business successful in today’s marketplace is an integral part of the hiring process. Human resources outsourcing provides professional recruitment services that will focus on connecting the most qualified employees with the right employers. By utilizing the services of an HRO, PEO or ASO, companies gain access to a diverse workforce with a wide variety of expertise and skill sets. Bad hiring practices are a common mistake companies are finding very costly, resulting in substantial losses to their production and deeply impacting their bottom line.

2. Superior Training Techniques – Adequately training a workforce is time consuming and can drain a company’s resources without the critical input of human resources experts to establish well organized and successful training techniques. When neglecting to sufficiently train employees job performance and employee retention suffer and will ultimately reflect a company’s profits as well as their credibility. Training and development requires a company to be proactive. Relying on professional HR management for guidance and structure has proven to be vital for any business model.

3.  Employee Relations – Maintaining employees is complex and involves clear-cut policies that need to continually be communicated. Employee benefits, an employee handbook and employee/labor relations are all important business practices that are designed to cultivate a working relationship between business owners and employees. Avoiding potential problems and litigation is a critical aspect of HR that is significantly facilitated by a professional employer organization.

4. Observance of Government Regulations – Companies who do not comply with the mounting amount of changing local, state and federal regulations are subject to huge fines and must pay thousands of dollars per employee to comply.  While compliance is costly the penalties for not complying is more expensive. Keeping organizations up-to-date with these regulations takes the support of HR consulting services that specialize in government compliance.

5.   Employee Incentives – The key element to effective employee relations is to reinforce an employee’s value on a continual basis. Companies must motivate their employees to retain them. A management system designed to improve retention and employee/labor relations will reward the employee for their hard work and boosting job performance and output.