ADVOCATING TO MAKE WORK, WORKERS AND THE WORKPLACE BETTER

"With Congress and many state houses addressing workplace issues, there is an opportunity to unite diverse voices on national policies that influence modern workplaces and impact the 115 million Americans represented by SHRM’s 300,000 plus members."

Emily M. Dickens,
SHRM Corporate Secretary and Chief of Staff

SHRM CEO Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. discusses the State of the Union and the importance of focusing on policy, not politics in an election year.

According to SHRM research, 1 in 5 American workers have left a job due to toxic culture. Learn how work can work for all.

At SHRM we are focusing on four key policy areas that will have a meaningful impact on the workplace:

Support effective workforce development strategies.

Enact modern paid leave and workplace flexibility solutions.

Advance healthy work cultures and
workplace equity.

Build a modern immigration system that fuels economic growth and protects U.S. workers.

Strengthen and improve the employer-based health care system.

More than 80% of HR professionals report challenges recruiting suitable job candidates in the past year.

To help close the skills gap and improve individual prosperity, employers should adopt practices and policies that support efforts to hire, educate and train individuals for the modern workplace.

SHRM supports:

• Work-based Learning: Policies that foster and expand work-based learning opportunities, including apprenticeships and skills-based hiring.

• Accessing Untapped Talent: Initiatives that promote hiring from under utilized talent pools, such as the formerly incarcerated, older workers, individuals with disabilities and veterans.

SHRM believes that the United States must have a 21st Century workplace flexibility policy that works for employers and employees alike, helping them meet work-life and organizational needs. 

SHRM supports:

• Voluntary Leave: Encouraging employers to voluntarily offer paid leave and flexible work options to their employees.

• No Mandates: Government mandates limit employer flexibility. Public Policy should accommodate varying work environments, employee representation, industries and organizational size.

• Federal Framework: Public policies that provide employers with certainty and predictability through a voluntary federal framework rather than a fragmented patchwork of state and local laws.

Harassment of any kind has no place at work and people deserve to be treated fairly. Positive workplace cultures discourage harassment and discrimination and promote pay decisions based on bona fide business factors. 

SHRM supports:

• Workplace Culture: Urging employers to foster healthy workplace cultures. Strong anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies are important, but culture is key to prevention.

• Transparency: Encouraging employers to have discussions about pay expectations and to share with their employees information on how pay decisions are made.

• Pay Audits: Public policies that incentivize employers to proactively conduct self-evaluations of pay and correct improper disparities in compensation.

The U.S. needs a modern workplace immigration system that allows employers to access top global talent while protecting workers.

SHRM advocates for:

• Access to Talent: Policies that ensure employers have access to visas to recruit, hire, transfer and retain top talent, especially those educated and trained in the US.

• Employment Verification: One reliable, entirely electronic employment verification system that integrates the Form I-9, provides users a good faith defense and is only for new hires.

• Pre-Certified Employers: A “Trusted Employer” program to create efficiencies for employees, employers and government.

SHRM believes any approach to health care reform in the United States must preserve the option for employers to provide employer-sponsored health insurance and lower costs for employers and employees. 

SHRM advocates for:

• The Employer-Based System: SHRM believes public policy should strengthen and improve the employer-based health care system, including preservation of the current tax treatment of employer-sponsored health plans. 
  

• 40 Hour Work Week: SHRM believes the definition of full-time employment for purposes of health care coverage should be 40 hours per week, consistent with the Fair Labor Standards Act overtime requirement.

• Wellness Programs: SHRM supports adoption of employer wellness programs to encourage healthy behavior and to lower costs for employers and employees.

What do policymakers need to focus on to create better workplaces for 

a better world?

Let us know: #WeAreWork

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