Searching Workplace Equity on page 64

The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption recently released its latest 100 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces list.

It also recorded a small uptick in workplace arguments and altercations over politics, with 45% of workers reporting they have experienced political disagreements in the workplace, up three percentage points from 2019.

While I hadn’t come across the Invisible Backpack as a term until after I wrote The Whole-Person Workplace: Building Better Workplaces Through Work-Life, Wellness, and Employee Support , I now realize that the research for my book elicited numerous examples of employers who took on the responsibility for helping their employees with their invisible backpacks, supporting employees as whole people and building winning workplace cultures in the process.

Sample Findings: ;86% of organizations made pay equity adjustments in 2021, which was up from 80% in 2020.; ;75% of organizations offered unpaid, job-protected time off to care for or bond with a new child (beyond legal requirements, if applicable, and beyond any paid parental leave an organization may offer), which was up significantly from 56% in 2020.; ;46% of organizations offered identify theft insurance to their employees in 2021, up from 34% in 2020.; ;Emerging leadership programs were less common in 2021, as 52% of organizations offered them compared to 59% in 2020.; ;70% of organizations offer relocation upon employer request while 19% of organizations offer relocation upon employee request.; ;74% of organizations offer civic duty pay (e.g., voting, jury duty beyond any legal requirements) while 47% of organizations offer unpaid civic duty leave (e.g., voting, jury duty).;

Support for new parents in the workplace was limited and inconsistent.

Examples of these upskilling opportunities included diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (55%), performance (48%), workforce engagement (44%), rewards (43%) and compensation (43%).

; Access a bonus Workspan Daily Plus+ article on this subject: ;The Equity Alternative: Rewarding Employees Without Traditional Stock; The EBSA proposal implements a Congressional directive in the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 and responds to requests from ESOP stakeholders for guidance.ESOPs are federally regulated retirement plans that primarily invest in stock that is issued by the employer that sponsors the plan.

Workforce Planning in the Great Resignation This report summarizes the results of a May 2022 WorldatWork survey conducted with uFlexReward and that examines how much turnover organizations are experiencing and the steps they are taking to respond to this workplace challenge.

For example, representation goals lend themselves to quantitative measurement, which can be achieved without advancing the broader goals of inclusion and equity — especially in the short term.

Even as some diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs come under fire, employee resource groups (ERGs) remain a staple at large companies.