ALC - edenred

It’s the holiday season, and it’s time to reward your excellent staff of engaged employees.

Are companies getting more targeted and personalized in their approach to benefits during open enrollment?
A new survey sheds some positive light on how employees feel about the open enrollment communication from their employers.

Recent news from the Department of Employment Services in DC stated that beginning November 14th, D.C. employers who are not in compliance with the law will be subject to fines.

A major shift continues to develop in whether the workforce will tolerate long commutes to work anymore.

Rising living expenses have priced workers out of living near where they work in many parts of the United States.
Generation Z workers, those born in the mid-1990s to mid-2000s, are one of the most age groups most affected by this trend. More than 40 percent of all Generation Z workers cannot afford to live near their jobs, according to Randstad US and Apartment Guide survey.
The survey explored how rising living expenses influence where and how people live and work in the US. And the survey looked at the impact those trends are having on their quality of life. Younger workers were most impacted.

Longer commutes spell trouble for anyone who has to do them daily. But researchers are now finding that these long commutes are keeping some residents from gaining employment and employers from filling jobs.

Have you had a lot of turnover in the office in the last couple of years?
We have a good guess as to why — actually seven of them.
PayScale conducted a survey of Millennials, Gen Xers and Baby Boomers to see why they quit. Here are the Top 7 reasons employees quit their jobs:

Are you a super commuter or do you read your morning work emails in your pajamas while having breakfast in your home office?
It might not be long before those situations define our work life. The trends in the commuting landscape are pointing that workers will be at opposite ends of the commuting spectrum in the years ahead. There very well could come a day when we either have a long commute to work or never leave “the office.”

With commute times increasing across the country, the negative impact on commuters is getting worse. But there are several creative ways government and business can help commuters.
Here are 3 ways to help relieve the stress of commuters.

Heavy commuting can lead to more social isolation, less exercise and unhealthy eating habits. It’s a lifestyle that can have a severe impact on a commuter, and therefore, less productivity at work.
If your employees have long commutes, there’s a good chance some of them will quit. No one likes commuting, and as much as people like work, it’s becoming a significant problem in this country for people to get there without stress.
LinkedIn reports that 85 percent of people would take a pay cut to shorten their commutes.
Staffing firm Robert Half found almost 25 percent of workers quit a job because they don’t like the commute. The rates were highest in New York City, San Francisco, Miami and Chicago, all cities with some of the highest commuting time in the country. The survey also found that 60 percent don’t feel their employers are doing something to help them with commutes.
Those feelings also create a divide between having happy and productive employees and those who are just miserable about how long it takes them to get to work every day.
>> Is Commuting the Next Health Care? Read more <<
For example, a Harvard social scientist found that for every 10 minutes someone commutes, it leads to 10 percent less social interactions during the day. That type of commuter will realistically be less likely to be an engaged employee in your workplace.
So what can your company do to help your workers bad commute? Here are 3 ideas on what some companies are doing to improve the commute for their employees.