Employers have been warned that the Omicron Covid-19 variant could exacerbate ongoing staffing shortages into the new year, with experts urging firms to continue to communicate with and support their staff. Several rail operators have already been forced to cancel services and issue reduced timetables because of staffing shortages caused by the virus, while on Sunday (2 January) the government asked public sector bodies to create plans preparing for “worst-case scenario” absence rates of 25 per cent...

Working parents are far more susceptible to stress and burnout than their childless counterparts. In fact, full-time working mothers experience 40% more chronic stress than working women with no children, and it was recently reported that 9.8 million working mothers in the U.S. are suffering from burnout. There’s no question that women are disproportionately impacted by the stresses of balancing parenthood and work, but men are also greatly affected. One survey of working dads revealed that 72% feel emotionally...

Good news, employers. If you have an employee who tested positive for COVID-19 but isn’t showing symptoms, they can come back to work sooner now, according to updated guidance from the CDC. The recommended isolation time for COVID-19-positive people used to be 10 days, regardless of whether the person had symptoms or not. But in a recent update, the CDC reduced the isolation period for these individuals to five days. For those who test positive, the CDC made this decision after gathering more information on COVID-19...

Over the past several months, American employees have been resigning in record-high droves for what economists have aptly titled The Great Resignation. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, around 11.5 million workers resigned from their jobs between April and June 2021 and this number has only continued to grow. With issues such as limited staffing and burned out employees, companies can’t perform at their peak. The pandemic placed workers in a position to reevaluate many aspects of their lives, specifically...

There was evidence to support both sides. Here’s why the scales tipped in favor of an employee seeking long-term disability benefits. A maintenance supervisor had long-term disability insurance. His employer provided the insurance. The policy provided two years of benefits for claimants who could not perform their current jobs. Benefits continued beyond two years for claimants who could not perform any job. The employee left his job in July of 2016 due to lower back pain. He had back surgery two months later...