HR Battered by an Unstable Economy, Return to Workplace, Union Action in 2022

​An unstable economy, dialing back work-from-anywhere policies, and unionization of baristas and other workers made workplace headlines in 2022. SHRM Online reported on many of those and other issues that created headaches for HR professionals this year.

JUMP TO: Unstable Economy  |  Union, Union!  |  Return to Office or Continue Remote Work?
Well-Being  |  COVID-19 and Vaccinations  |  Roe v. Wade Overturned

Unstable Economy

Employers faced fierce competition for talent as workers continued to quit their jobs in record numbers this year and sought employment at organizations that offered greater flexibility, well-being and meaningful work, in addition to competitive pay, good working conditions, and the opportunities to gain new skills and advance their careers.

Stay interviews can be an effective strategy for helping HR reduce turnover by increasing production and satisfaction among workers … unless pay is the issue. Inflation's effect on annual pay raises for the remainder of 2022 concerned HR professionals. Salary budgets in the U.S. are projected to grow, on average, just over 4 percent for 2023, which is well under the current annual inflation rate of 7.1 percent.

Some organizations, with an eye toward a possible recession next year, started laying off workers and implementing hiring freezes this year. In preparing for layoffs, leadership teams should involve HR as soon as possible so there is ample time to properly prepare documents, system updates, payroll and severance calculations.

Union, Union!

Unionization gained traction this year. Election petitions rose 58 percent between Oct. 1, 2021, and June 30, according to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). By the end of May, union representation petitions filed in fiscal year 2022 had exceeded all fiscal year 2021 petitions.

Amazon workers at a warehouse in Staten Island, N.Y., last spring won a surprise unionization victory, despite intense anti-union pressure from the company. Amazon now must decide how to respond to the conditions that allegedly led to unionization, such as safety, wages, paid breaks and vacation time.

And an NLRB complaint filed in October alleged that Amazon CEO Andy Jassy violated labor law for comments he made. During an interview, he said employees represented by a union would be less empowered in the workplace, making it more difficult for them to have direct relationships with management and making things much slower and more bureaucratic. Amazon denied any wrongdoing.

Starbucks employees around the country also started unionizing, and the company has since faced claims that it engaged in unfair labor practices at several sites in response to those unionization efforts. An NLRB judge concluded the company violated the law in Michigan, but the company denied any wrongdoing.

Grocery chain Trader Joe's was another high-profile employer where workers at some of its stores voted to unionize; they started bargaining talks in November.

Employees at media giant Condé Nast won voluntary recognition of a union Sept. 9 when nearly 80 percent of eligible employees submitted union cards. Under current labor law, a union needs at least 30 percent of workers signing unionization cards to get an election scheduled with the NLRB.

In April, NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo called for employers to be required to recognize unions that organize through "card checks" rather than secret-ballot elections.
Given the uptick in workers' interest in union activity, HR leaders need to know that their employer generally has the right to require that they engage in lawful efforts to help the employer resist unionization.

Return to the Office or Continue Remote Work?

As COVID-19 became less of a threat, employees remained resistant about heading back to the office even as employers started dialing back work-from-anywhere policies. That disconnect has created friction.

A recent McKinsey study found that 29 percent of respondents would consider looking for a new job if their employers insisted they work onsite full time. This challenges employers to find ways to bring employees back without triggering mass resignations or damaging morale, but there are strategies HR can use to overcome pushback from workers.

One reason for employers' insistence to return to a brick-and-mortar workplace is their belief that workers are more productive onsite and that there is more collaboration and synergy. Numerous studies, though, have shown that employees are more productive when they have the option to work remotely. HR is caught in the middle, affecting attempts to recruit, retain and engage employees.

Hybrid work schedules became a compromise, but they present their own difficulties. An employee engagement survey found that employees rated hybrid work as being more exhausting than fully in-person or fully remote work.

Another challenge for organizations has been maintaining their culture when hiring employees who work remotely. Experts agree that virtual onboarding requires a more dedicated focus and more deliberate execution.

The work-schedule dilemma has created other headaches. Out-of-state remote workers, for example, increase employers' legal risks. Employees working from home in a state different from their assigned office could subject the employer to sales tax, income tax, and, in some cases, local or city gross receipts taxes that they were not subject to previously.

Organizations with remote workers also must be aware of existing statutes in many states and localities that extend beyond the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Then there's the issue of whether an employer is responsible for paying workers' business-related expenses, such as monthly Internet costs, phone and personal computer use, and office supplies. Some prominent U.S. companies are being sued by remote workers alleging that their employers had a legal obligation under state law to reimburse them for work-related expenses.

Well-Being

Mental well-being took center stage in 2022. Google searches for "burnout symptoms" hit an all-time high in May, Harvard Business Review reported. More employees are struggling with mental health conditions, and employers are fielding more requests for accommodations and dealing with increased absenteeism. Pandemic-related stress at work and at home was a significant part of this trend during the last two years.

HR professionals are feeling burned out, as well, as the pandemic stretched into its third year. During the SHRM Annual Conference & Expo 2022 in New Orleans, keynote speaker Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO of workplace behavior change tech company Thrive in New York City, extolled the benefits of microsteps for reducing stress.

She said taking 60- to 90-second breaks—to listen to a relaxing song, walk around a room, or look at photos of friends or family members that bring joy—have proved more beneficial than trying to take on a personal behavioral overhaul that might seem ideal but is ultimately overwhelming and then abandoned after a few weeks.

With more attention on mental well-being, expect to see employers expand mental health coverage in 2023 by bringing more high-quality providers into their networks and helping patients find mental health appointments.

COVID-19 and Vaccinations

Many employers required employees to receive vaccinations to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace while keeping directives from the U.S. Supreme Court in mind.

Employers with 100 or more employees got some relief when justices blocked an emergency temporary vaccine-or-testing rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that would have required businesses with at least 100 employees to ensure their workers were vaccinated against the coronavirus or undergo weekly testing.

Many businesses had to decide how to respond if workers refuse to get inoculated. Federal law allows employees to ask for an exemption for medical or religious reasons, and employers had to learn how to handle those requests for accommodation while keeping their workplace safe.

California enacted a new labor law, effective immediately, that obligated employers to provide 2022 COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave.

The use of fake vaccination cards also caused problems for employers. In New York, a state law made it a crime to falsify a vaccination record.

Roe v. Wade Overturned

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in June to uphold Mississippi's restrictions on abortion in effect found no constitutional right to abortion, thereby overturning the Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey (1992) decisions that pre-empted state restrictions on abortion.

The news resulted in protests for and against reproductive rights nationwide, as well as fiery discussions among co-workers. It underscored HR professionals' and people managers' responsibility for creating and maintaining a civil work environment, and organizations' need for guidance on how to have civil conversations about this and other political topics.

The court's decision also prompted employers to consider revisions to their employee health care benefits, including whether to cover the cost for employees who travel out of state for abortions. Other considerations included paid time off to access reproductive care; travel expense benefits outside of a health savings account to access reproductive services; and paid time off to attend marches, protests, demonstrations and similar events in support of reproductive rights.

In light of offering abortion-related benefits, employers now have to keep in mind compliance and liability considerations. Additionally, employers operating in multiple states need to navigate a patchwork of different rules depending on where covered employees and dependents live, work and receive health care.