Biggest HR Challenges for 2018

The leading Human Resource challenges employers need to face for 2018 are abuse, workplace harassment, usage of medicinal weed, and the Affordable Care Act, based on a study conducted in 2007 with more than 1,000 Human Resource expert subjects.

The barriers and challenges employers have to face are the product of important adjustments in the working environment, public policies, and legal frameworks.

Abuse in the Workplace
Abuse/harassment in the working place doesn’t appear to make any discriminations—it can happen from fortune 500 firms to governmental bodies such as the White House and the Congress. Unsolicited sexual advances in the workplace have became a bigger threat now, more than ever. For this reason, both employers and their workers should be extra cautious. The employer specifically may be subject to EEOC charges, penalties, and fines or the victim of bad name press and damages to the company’s image together with the asserted harasser.

Violence in the Workplace
We are dwelling in the unpleasant times of mass shooting attacks and acts of terrorism and therefore, workplace security and preparation for possible acts of violence is essential. Training procedures and early discovery of security threats as well as emergency response measures can help restore your employees’ confidence.

Use of Marijuana
Given the current depenalization of marijuana, acknowledging and controlling substance usage as well as drug evaluating is still one of the top challenges employers have to face. 35% of study participants reported that they felt very to extremely challenged when they supervising employees that were active marijuana users (for medical or recreational reasons). Additionally, 32% of the participants have considered the influence of drug abuse on the workplace to be largely challenging. A solid legal framework and on-point company policies and measures concerning the usage of marijuana are needed combined with the training of executives and managers on spotting and validating drug usage.

Data Violations
In the modern digital era with so much data kept online, data violations can bear exorbitant costs in the aspects of time, cashm and resources and may also damage the reputation and image of the company.

Recruitment
As the workforce and demographics are constantly shifting today, workforce strategy is another leading challenge to be handled by employers. In the current worldwide and ever-changing landscape, employers have to deal with vital issues like for example, the expansion of the gig economy, induced usage of new technologies and automation systems and the ways to tackle the training and management of five generations in the workforce. Furthermore, the current White House’s strict approach and limiting immigration policies as well as travel embargos can hinder an employer’s freedom to hire a culturally diverse workforce.

Affordable Care Act
Trump’s government has sparked so far a good amount of uneasiness, stress, and chaos in the working environment. ACA (Affordable Care Act) and the dubious fate of healthcare keeps on bothering many employers. 46% of the study participants considered ACA as either very or extremely challenging close to 40% of the study subjects considered ACA stating as very or extremely challenging.

Public and Regional Laws
Considering the blockage and lack of action on a national level, states and regional administrations have initiated in tackling workplace challenges with the application of laws and legislations concerning the workplace. Well-known fresh laws enacted the present year are focusing on treating problems like leave e.g paid sick leave and family leave, equal pay, forecasted plans and appropriate spaces for pregnant and breastfeeding females.

The delegation of Neil Gorsuch to the U.S Supreme Court is expected to have a certain effect on workplace and recruiting legal cases,having a more conservative part that’s more on the side of employers and the management-perspective problems.

The falling of agency power and the more limiting legislations of NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) and EEOC are expected to benefit the employers who will have to face less strict policies.