The Higher Ed Workplace Blog

Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of some labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira.

What does it take to be successful as a leader? By following a simple four-step process, you can greatly increase your leadership capability and earn the trust and respect of those on your team as well as others on campus.

For the first time since 2005, the number of colleges and universities offering healthcare benefits for employees’ domestic partners has decreased. According to CUPA-HR’s 2019 Healthcare Benefits for Higher Education Employees Survey, in just the past two years, the number of higher education institutions offering healthcare benefits for same-sex domestic partners has fallen 10 percentage points, and the number offering these benefits for opposite-sex domestic partners has fallen 6 percentage points.

On June 20, the House Science Committee passed Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson’s (D-TX) bill, H.R. 36, the Combating Sexual Harassment in Science Act of 2019, out of committee. This comes after a June 12 hearing which evaluated higher ed’s response to sexual harassment in STEM jobs on and off campuses, offered feedback on the bill, and gave an early look at an upcoming Government Accountability Office study commissioned by the committee on this topic.

University of Pennsylvania is urging an appeals court to review the case, which alleges breaches of fiduciary duties in connection with the structure and administration of institutionally-sponsored faculty and staff retirement plans.

Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of some labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira.

Fifteen states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation raising the minimum wage to a specific amount over the next several years, and many workers at the staff level in higher education institutions in those states will be impacted. According to just-released findings from CUPA-HR’s Staff in Higher Education Survey, around one in four higher ed staff employees currently earn less than $15 per hour — a key threshold since at least six states and D.C. have targeted a $15 minimum wage.

CUPA-HR has long been supportive of a full repeal of the tax and has joined efforts over the years to repeal and delay the provision from taking effect. In the latest effort, CUPA-HR joined a June 4 letter signed by 665 organizations including businesses, nonprofits, chambers of commerce, insurers, brokers, unions and patient advocacy groups urging the Senate to repeal the Cadillac tax and to co-sponsor S. 684, the Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act of 2019.

Telework is growing increasingly popular in the United States. In fact, for more than 4 million American workers, “the office” can be anywhere they want it to be. If the trends over the past decade are any indication, telework will continue to grow as a viable working arrangement for many employees and employers. Here are four reasons to consider telework for your employees.

When it comes to organizational change, managing the change process itself oftentimes is the hardest part. When the University of California, Irvine’s HR team implemented a new HR model, they made sure to have a process in place to help usher in the change. Here are the steps they followed.