From Girl Scout cookie drives to workplace birthday clubs, non-work fundraisers have become a part of many company cultures. Should management be concerned?

There are no simple answers to this question. Most employers want to encourage a family-friendly company culture, but employee (and supervisor) solicitations often have a way of spinning out of control. 

Left unchecked, onsite “selling” can go from a harmless activity to an unwelcomed one that causes tension and can actually hurt morale.

No-soliciting policy?

In one recent survey, 22% percent of employers said they have a policy against soliciting. In most cases, the policy limits the times and places (e.g., break rooms only) where employees can engage in the activity.

Some employers have created bulletin boards where workers can post their fundraisers for interested co-workers.  According to the survey, about one employer in 10 has banned unapproved fundraisers entirely.

Another thorny issue: In some cases, the one doing the selling is a supervisor or an executive, even if the company bans rank-and-file employees from doing it. 

Unfortunately, this leaves HR/benefits in a real tough position. How can you be expected to enforce a policy that managers themselves ignore? It sets you up to be the bad guy, and also shows employees that the powers-that-be either don’t take the policy seriously or don’t think they need to follow the same rules.

Office sports pools: Harmless or harmful?

Odds are pretty high (pun intended) that your employees and/or supervisors have an office football pool going right about now and/or a March Madness pool during the college basketball tournament. If not, they’ve probably worked somewhere in the past where such activities have had the tacit — or open — approval of the top brass.

Is that a good or bad thing for your company culture?

Never mind the fact that the pools are rarely used for “entertainment purposes only.” Although wagering in office pools (and fantasy sports leagues) is technically an illegal activity in some states, the laws are rarely — if ever — enforced. In most states, the typical $5 to $20 office pool is legal.

A bigger, more practical concern: presenteeism.

Easy to spot, hard to stop

If you were to take a random walk around your office and glance at people’s computer screens, chances are you’d find more than a few folks who have game reports open in one Window and their work in another. Want to guess which screen the employee pays more attention to? Yup.

One estimate says March Madness costs employers nationwide $1.7 billion each year in lost productivity. During that time of year, many employees (and supervisors) are paid to do little more than check on how the teams in their office pool are doing in the NCAA basketball tournament.

Truth be told, even if your organization bans office pools, many employees will sneak glances at the scores, anyway. But people are more open about goofing off — and spend longer doing it — when they participate in a pool at work. Many supervisors simply look the other way.

Morale builder?

The typical reason given for allowing office fund-raising solicitation or sports pools is that the activity boosts morale and employee bonding. In reality, the morale-building advantages depend on your company culture and the demographics of your workforce.

One survey found that 30% of professional and business service employees eagerly look forward to participating in an annual March Madness pool at work. On the flip side, only 13% of employees in the hospitality industry expressed interest in the activity.

Gender also comes into play. Roughly 24% of male employees said they’re likely to participate in an office pool, while 11% of women do.

Bottom line: Some workplaces wouldn’t miss such activities if they disappeared. In others, the long-term morale boost cancels out the short-term productivity hit.

If you are in business long enough, chances are that you’ll eventually be involved in at least one benefits-related legal dispute with an ex-employee.

The good news: There are ways to avoid common mistakes that get in the way of resolving disputes quickly. Even if you are sued, taking these three steps can keep things from going from bad to worse:

1. Focus on a narrow time period

Companies open the door for trouble when a poor-performing employee is given a raise or bonus – and then fired shortly thereafter.  Huge red flag: Employees who are terminated shortly after a dispute over paid leave or disability.

In many cases, the employers can’t fall back on a history of poor performance reviews. The problems are often more recent in nature.

Best practice: In performance reviews, supervisors should focus the documentation only on the time period the review covers – and not anything earlier. If an issue’s taken to court it may look like the employer’s retaliating against the employee for taking leave or claiming a disability.

2. Follow up promptly

It’s dangerous to terminate someone shortly after he or she has filed a complaint.  If an employee’s made a written or verbal complaint shortly before being fired, the employer is vulnerable to retaliation lawsuits.

Timing’s of the essence when it comes to following up on complaints. An investigation that’s started within a day or two of a complaint shows that the firm took the issue seriously.

3. Abide by plan documents

Sometimes the first time you’ll hear about a benefits or pay-related complaint is after the employ files a claim with the DOL or EEOC.

Emotions usually run high when this happens. But it’s crucial to follow to the letter the investigation and dispute-resolution procedures spelled out in your plan documents.  Failure to do so almost always puts the company in legal jeopardy.

The result is almost always a court case or an expensive settlement – even if the company was in the right. Reason: Under ERISA, the only thing that’s worse than deviating from plan documents is not having written dispute-resolution procedures at all.

If not, you’ve probably worked somewhere where such activities have had the tacit — or open — approval of the top brass. Is that a good or bad thing for company culture?

Never mind the fact that the pools are rarely used for “entertainment purposes only.”  Although wagering in office pools (and fantasy sports leagues) is technically an illegal activity in some states, the laws are rarely — if ever – enforced.  In most states, the typical $5 to $20 office pool is legal.

A bigger, more practical concern: presenteeism. 

Easy to spot, hard to stop

If you were to take a random walk around your office and glance at people’s computer screens, chances are you’d find more than a few folks who have game reports open in one Window and their work in another. Want to guess which screen the employee pays more attention to?  Yup.

One estimate says March Madness will cost employers nationwide $1.7 billion in lost productivity. This time of year, many employees (and supervisors) are paid to do little more than check on how the teams in their office pool are doing in the NCAA basketball tournament.

Truth be told, even if your organization bans office pools, many employees will  sneak glances at the scores, anyway. But people are more open about goofing off — and spend longer doing it — when they participate in a pool at work. Many supervisors simply look the other way.

Morale builder?

The typical reason given for allowing office pools is that the activity boosts morale and employee bonding.  In reality, the morale-building advantages depend on your company culture and the demographics of your workforce.

One recent survey found that 30% of professional and business service employees eagerly look forward to participating in an annual March Madness pool at work. On the flip side,  only 13% of employees in the hospitality industry expressed interest in the activity.

Gender also comes into play. Roughly 24% of male employees said they’re likely to participate in an office pool, while 11% of women do.

Bottom line: Some workplaces wouldn’t miss the pool if it disappeared. In others, the long-term morale boost of employees looking forward to the yearly pool cancels out the short-term productivity hit.

The most common characteristics of high-ROI recognition programs — regardless of their monentary value — are their spontaneity and perceived value by employees themselves. 

In reality, the cost of some of most effective spot awards and bonuses often amount to less than 1% of base pay — and the awards don’t even have to be given in cash. 

Less sense of entitlement

Part of the problem with traditional end-of-year or quarterly bonuses (apart from the fact that they cost employers an average of 10% of base pay) is that employees expect to receive them for reaching certain goals.

Sometimes employees simply expect it no matter what. For example, at many firms, an annual holiday bonus is viewed as an entitlement and people inevitably grumble that it’s not high enough. On the flip side, with spontaneous awards and bonuses, workers are often pleasantly surprised.

Benefits consultant Ken Stahlmann spells out four keys to making the latter type of awards work, even if they’re lower in cost:

1. Creativity is crucial

The most effective programs typically give out awards weekly or monthly. To avoid over-stretching the budget – and avoid a ho-hum attitude setting in – creativity is a must.

One way that never gets old: combining time off with a second, non-cash award. Example: One firm gives a half-day off in combo with movie passes once a month.

Another, at weekly staff meetings, holds a random drawing for a dinner gift certificate, plus permission to leave work early once.

2. Make it personal

Rewards have more lasting impact when they’re geared to people’s personal needs or interests. Two examples:

• one firm with many foreign-born, low-wage employees awards a $20 pre-paid phone card after 90 days of service, and a $100 card for outstanding work, and
• another company with a lot of sports nuts took a few top-performers to a ball game. Managers said it was the best $200 they’ve ever spent in terms of creating ongoing enthusiasm.

3. Add structure

The awards may seem spur of the moment, but top programs have a fixed budget and structure set before anything is handed out. Example: One retail firm awards “points” for good work. Folks can then trade in their points for store merchandise.

By letting people bank points for more valuable rewards, the employer saw a solid jump in retention.

Other organizations prefer to let employees reward each other. For instance, a small healthcare provider keeps a “goodies box” onsite – paid for in petty cash and stocked by employees themselves.

When someone spots a co-worker going the extra mile, he or she pulls out a prize and awards it. The program is a huge hit: It’s immediate and personal, yet structured.

You’re not alone. Unfortunately, when employees’ supervisors and the decision-makers in Finance fail to recognize how these two equally important business needs bisect, the inevitable collisions often wind up as court cases. 

As you well know, HR and benefits administration isn’t just shuffling papers, working within budgetary constraints for your department and ensuring compliance with a host of state of federal laws. While these are all critical tasks, there’s a human element as well.

HR and benefits managers have to deal daily with departmental friction (not just within your own organization but also with TPAs and insurers). Apart from the dry, legal language of matching administrative practices to procedures spelled out in benefit plan documents, your job is a constant battle to prevent human-conflict issues from derailing benefits and pay practices.  

As much as dollars and cents, employees’ unrealistic expectations, managerial egos, hurt feelings, and personality clashes are what really lay at the root of most benefits and pay disputes.

The truth of the matter: YOU understand these issues. While there are some extraordinary CFO and Finance managers who understand just how important — and complicated — your role is in maximizing the return on benefits and compensation investments, many don’t see the whole picture.

HR Magazine recently published an outstanding article on the problem of CFOs who lack people skills, and what you can do to improve the situation.

In times like these, it’s crucial for colleagues to share their concerns, experiences suggestions. A few weeks ago, HRBenefitsAlert.com ran a special report on calming employees’ 401(k) fears. The reader comments revealed that many benefits pros were just as afraid as employees, and people’s frustration led to some unfortunate carping back and forth between several readers.

The purpose of the comments section, apart from giving people the opportunity to react to the story, is to provide a forum for benefits managers to interact. It’s my hope that we can generate an exchange ideas that have (and have not) been working at readers’ companies during the current situation. Specifically:

• What are you doing to manage health benefits costs as budgets are either frozen or shrink?
• Have you noticed a dip in morale or productivity with all the doom-and-gloom in the news?
• How is your company trying to calm employees’ fears about salary freezes or layoffs, 401(k) losses, health cost shifting and other issues that get a lot of mainstream media focus?
• What are you saying to employees to deliver the news they need to know but also keep morale high?

Thank you in advance for your willingness to share your expertise and personal experiences. Everyone benefits in the long run.

But evidence suggests that eating at work stations is only a short-term productivity booster and can do more harm than good if it’s a regular habit.

One report found that people who routinely eat meals at their desks at work are twice as likely to be exposed to germs that can cause serious illnesses. Long-term result: Higher absenteeism costs.

Roughly 70% of Americans with desk jobs say they take working lunches at least three days a week. Most employees – and their supervisors – mistakenly believe that eating at their desks makes people more productive during the work day. In the short term, it may. But it the long run, the behavior often leads to higher absenteeism and lower productivity via preventable illnesses.

Unappetizing facts

A study conducted in 2006 found that the typical office workspace contains 400 times more germs than a toilet seat. The biggest bacteria colonies are usually found on telephones, computer keyboards and desktop surfaces.

In the real-life workplace, it’s a losing battle to try to convince most supervisors and employees not to eat at their desks. But the study says employers have seen lower absenteeism/presenteeism by taking three simple steps:

1. Give employees mini-bottles of instant hand sanitizer to keep at their desks.
2. Provide people sanitizing wipes for their work spaces (damp napkins and cloths just spread the germs around the surface).
3. Educate employees about the need for frequent hand washing with warm water – not hot or cold. Even in healthcare settings, this message often takes awhile to set in anding and requires frequent repetition. But the end results are worth it.

Increased obesity risk

There’s a second hidden danger that can affect your company’s costs: higher risks of overweight and obese employees.

People who frequently eat at their desks are less likely to be careful about the portions they consume, less likely to choose healthy foods and somewhat less likely to exercise during the day.

Wellness programs can help employers cut these risks, but it all starts with workplace culture and employee education.

Workers at the North Dakota-based company complained about their share of monthly health plan premiums being raised while salaries were frozen. While this situation is common nationwide, workers only cared about their own situation.

Grass wasn’t greener on the other side

Management hadn’t increased the cost shares for the sake of being stingy. A lot of time had been spent crunching numbers to minimize the pain for employees without cutting benefits. A key focus point: How much did other employers in the area deduct from employees’ paychecks for similar coverage?The research proved useful not only for setting employees’ contributions for the plan year. It also came in handy as an employee education tool. Workers saw that the grass wasn’t greener in other local organizations.

Despite the cost increase, employees’ cost shares remained lower than those at many other companies. Once they were confronted with the facts, there were few complaints about paying a few dollars more each pay period and an extra buck or two for co-pays.

Shifted education focus to area of company strength

Because raises weren’t the cards for most employees, and the firm’s base salaries were neither exceptionally high nor abnormally low for the industry and region, management looked focus on the areas of its benefits package where it was markedly superior to competitors.In this case, the company found that its retirement benefits were the strongest part of the benefits package. The firm was one of the few employers to offer its workers both a 401(k) and a traditional pension plan. To help employees realize that these benefits were just as important as base salary, the HR/Benefits manager took two key steps:

1. The company’s employee newsletter regularly focused on ways to plan for a comfortable retirement. Specifically, it looked at ways employees could take advantage of both plans to be able to retire without fear of financial hardship.

2. The company offered its employees access to third party retirement-planning counselors.

While nothing could totally erase employees’ concerns about their health benefits and salaries, people also saw that management hadn’t forgotten about their needs and they’d be taken care of.

One sure sign the message struck home: 401(k) participation increased significantly even before the company adopted automatic enrollment.

It depends on the steps you take to support employees trying to kick the habit, finds a recent study.
The Journal of Tobacco Policy & Research found that smokers do, in fact, take more sick days than their non-smoking colleagues.

And even if the smoker is in relatively good overall health (i.e., isn’t obese, doesn’t have chronic health conditions), he or she is still likely to have higher medical costs than a comparable non-smoker over the last three years.

How does a smoking ban fit into the cost equation? If the smoker quits, health costs even out.

But if the person only refrains from smoking on the job – but continues puffing away at home – the employer sees little to no health cost decrease. The study found similar patterns for absenteeism.

Bottom line: A workplace smoking ban in combo with a smoking cessation program gets results. A smoking ban alone usually doesn’t.

Here’s how one small company in Arizona cleverly tied 401(k) education to employees’ other financial concerns. Rather than simply holding its usual 401(k) open enrollment education meeting, it held a “financial wellness fair.”

Stressed 401(k) importance

How it worked: On the same day the company’s 401(k) vendor sent a plan rep to discuss the retirement plan, the company also arranged for a certified financial planner to speak to employees.

The financial planner went first. She started the session by pointing out that she wasn’t affiliated in any way with the management of the 401(k) plan. That was crucial both for the company’s legal protection under ERISA and for building trust with employees. She then discussed why it’s vital for people to participate in the 401(k) plan, and offered attendees budgeting tips and basic strategies for cutting their debt.

The financial planner’s talk cut to the heart of several major issues that hurt both employee salary satisfaction and 401(k) participation. Numerous studies show that the No. 1 reason many people avoid 401(k) participation is that they feel they can’t sacrifice any part of their entire paycheck and still survive financially.

The second part of the session was the standard 401(k) enrollment presentation from the vendor. End result: Employees were more attentive and there was a noticeable uptick in both new 401(k) enrollments and salary contributions from already-enrolled workers.

The event was such a smash that the company plans to make the Financial Wellness Fair a regular part of 401(k) enrollment. While the financial planning advice is generic (the company may add third-party personal finance planning as a voluntary benefit in the future), it’s also timely.

The 401(k) signup appeal comes while the financial planning tips are still fresh in employees’ minds and they’re motivated to do something to help themselves.