When Cinthia Shields’s first granddaughter, Kora, was born in 2020, she wasn’t able to be there due to Covid-19 shutdowns. Last year, when her daughter, Krystal, was pregnant again, this time with twins, she knew she wanted to be there. Shields, who works on strategic technology partnerships for cybersecurity firm SentinelOne, decided to use the company’s five-day grandparent leave, which rolled out in March 2022.

She had to use that leave three weeks earlier than expected, though, when the babies’ heart beats began to show signs of stress. “I don’t know how to describe how relieving it was to be able to just jump on a flight that same day,” said Shields, who flew to Phoenix from her home in Golden, Colorado, to take care of Kora while Krystal gave birth.

SentinelOne is one of several companies now offering “grandternity” leave to support an older workforce.

The company made the case for the new benefit after securing buy-in for expanded parental leave, according to Chief People Officer Divya Ghatak. “The workforce is shifting in a way that you do have grandparents working…people are living longer, healthier lives, and you still have people who are quite engaged with their professions,” Ghatak said.

Keep reading here.—CV

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More 401(k) participants are withdrawing from their retirement plans due to financial hardship, a recent Bank of America report found. In Q2, the number of participants taking hardship distributions increased by 36% year over year, according to a survey of employee benefits programs with more than 4 million participants conducted by the bank.

There are often penalties associated with hardship withdrawals, and participants incur additional income tax when they make the decision to withdraw. Employers can play a role in helping their workforce avoid early retirement withdrawals by keeping an open line of communication with investment partners, as well as expanding their suite of financial wellness benefits, experts told HR Brew.

HR financial advisors. Hardship withdrawals tend to happen when employees aren’t engaged in their own financial planning, said Joe Allaria, a partner and advisor with CarsonAllaria Wealth Management. An employee might open up a 401(k) account even though they have $20,000 in credit card debt, for example.

To ensure that employees are better engaged with their retirement plans, he advised HR departments to keep an open line of communication with the investment firms they partner with so workers understand the resources that are available to them. “There’s no excuse… for an employer or employees to not know who the advisor is on their retirement plan,” Allaria said.

Keep reading here.—CV

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is set to focus more intensely on systemic discrimination and better monitor the conciliation agreements it establishes with employers after it finds discrimination at a worksite. The agency also plans to better use technology and other strategies to reach out to vulnerable workers and underserved populations.

The new priorities are part of the EEOC’s new strategic plan, which the agency announced it adopted Tuesday, and replaces the previous strategic plan adopted in 2018.

Wait, two plans? It’s a separate guiding document from the EEOC’s Strategic Enforcement Plan, a draft of which was released earlier this year, but which commissioners have not yet adopted. HR pros should familiarize themselves with both documents to stave off any potential issues as the commission looks to focus on new priorities.

Keep reading here.—AD

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Calling all HR enthusiasts! Let’s cut through the HR buzzword clutter and unlock the keys to successful recruitment and retention. Join us on Aug. 28 for a conversation with Christina Janzer, SVP of research and analytics at Slack, to uncover what’s working—and what isn’t—in the rapidly changing world of recruitment and retention. RSVP now!