Some of us have been predicting this.

Once the hourly wage reached a certain point, companies would have to augment their offer with other forms of:

• Rewards

• Compensation

• Remuneration

Whatever you want to label it, that day is here.

A recent Forbes article suggested that there are four things that employers should be considering to augment whatever they are currently paying their employees:

• Reimbursement for work-from-home expenses

• Increased focus on employee financial health

• Student Loan Benefits

• Sick time and personal leave for remote workers  

The article stresses that it is important to understand the value these benefits have for YOUR cohort of employees, if they will have a bang for your buck. The statistics on productivity gains from reducing employees’ stress about financial worries certainly seem to be worth the investment. 

A recent article in Bloomberg reported that Apple stores will start offering

“Part-time employees … as many as six paid vacation days for the first time. Another first: They’ll get paid parental leave. That benefit will cover up to six weeks and will include the ability to gradually ramp up work time for the first four weeks back.”

Joseph B. Fuller and Manjari Raman of Harvard Business School have just released a study called: Building from the Bottom Up:  What business can do to strengthen the bottom line by investing in front-line workers.  The executive summary of their work, which started prior to the pandemic, was that few in the Executive Suite

“…do little to understand or address the reasons why low-wage jobs are hard to fill and low-wage workers hard to retain. Most employers show little engagement in workers’ lives …”

Based on the changes Apple is now making in their stores, and other employers are crafting or contemplating, perhaps upper management may now be starting to understand.