Bring your dog to work! Drop your toddler off at the company’s on-site daycare. Get mindful with meditation apps and practice your downward-facing dog at daily yoga. Do your laundry on the company’s dime! Freeze your eggs, or analyze your sperm, before icing in state-of-the-art cryostorage. Get a reprieve from Zoom on Fridays with no scheduled meetings (or just take every Friday off!).

These are just a few of the perks that some job candidates might expect to see in an offer letter in 2022 as companies beef up their total-rewards packages to attract and retain talent. These packages include the monetary and non-monetary benefits and perks an employer offers, including the conventional benefits (like medical benefits), plus “voluntary benefits” (like financial counseling), and perks or extras (like unlimited PTO, career development training, and wellness programs).

Reaping rewards. In the early-2010s, “perk wars”' became widespread across Silicon Valley, as tech companies rapidly expanded their total-rewards packages to recruit the best and brightest. Some companies offered unique perks: Genentech helped employees find a babysitter in a pinch; Evernote offered house-cleaning services; Facebook boasted an on-site barbershop, and Google opened an office dog park dubbed “the Doogleplex.”

For years, the perks offered in other sectors of the economy remained comparatively basic: In 2016, SHRM’s employeee benefits report found that 84% of employers offered free on-site parking, 78% provided free coffee, and 20% kept the break room stocked with free snacks, but only 26% of employers offered paid maternity leave beyond what was legally required (21% offered paternity leave). The perks that made waves in Silicon Valley, like dry-cleaning and on-site haircuts, were infrequently offered by employers in other industries. The gap between tech offerings and those in other industries may be closing, at least in part due to the Great Resignation.

There’s a new emphasis on voluntary benefits, like tuition reimbursement, financial planning, and childcare. That’s according to a spring 2021 survey from consultancy Willis Towers Watson, which found 94% of employers surveyed viewed voluntary benefits as an important part of their “Total Rewards strategy” over the next three years—a nearly 60% increase since WTW asked in 2018.

Research from SHRM suggests that high turnover as part of a “resignation tsunami” may be a particularly motivating factor in giving total rewards a makeover. In a July 2021 survey, SHRM found 42% of companies plagued by higher turnover in the previous six months increased remote-work options in a bid to retain employees, 32% added or upped employee referral bonuses, and 28% increased merit increase offerings.

But…some are a bust. Read on.—SV

If you have suggestions for perks or benefits we should investigate further, email Susanna Vogel at [email protected].

It’s rare that those who spy on others—whether it’s by camping out in the bushes with a pair of binoculars, or by deploying sophisticated technology to hack a personal device—let the targets of their surveillance know they’re being watched, for obvious reasons. But in New York State, a new law will soon compel employers to do just that, by requiring them to inform employees of certain forms of digital surveillance.

New York will be the third state in the US with such a law when it goes into effect on May 7, joining Delaware and Connecticut, both of which already require employers to disclose how they electronically monitor their employees, according to the National Law Review.

Consent for the monitored. The law applies to any business with employees in New York, regardless of size. As the National Law Review explains:

“Employers subject to the Law must provide notice to employees upon hiring. The notice must be in writing, in an electronic record or other electronic form, and must be acknowledged by the employee in writing or electronically. Employers must also conspicuously post the notice.”

The law also requires employers to specifically state what employee data is being collected and by what means.

There are some limits to the law’s scope. For example, it doesn’t apply to: processes that are designed to manage the type and volume of email, internet usage, or voicemail; processes not targeted to monitor or intercept the communications of specific individuals; and those performed solely for computer system maintenance and/or protection.

The state attorney general’s office will have the authority to enforce the law, and employers found to be in violation could face fines of up to $3,000.

Does it do enough? As HR Brew reported last month, the remote work boom catalyzed by the pandemic prompted a surge in the monitoring of remote employees. “Employers must be more transparent and proactive about notifying workers when their communications and workplace activities are being monitored, tracked, or collected,” said Wilneida Negrón, director of policy and research at the worker advocacy organization Coworker.org.—SB

Do you work in HR or have information about your HR department we should know? Email [email protected] or DM @SammBlum on Twitter. For confidential conversations, ask Sam for his number on Signal.

On Wednesdays, we schedule our weekly 1:1 with HR Brew’s readers. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.

Sarah Villano works for Refersion, a New York–based tech company that helps online merchants track affiliate sales. The company’s HR function is only about three months old, according to Villano, who was hired just as the department was forming. Villano, 28, told HR Brew her career path began with an internship in the HR department at Amnesty International, and says that her interest in the field arises from a desire to ensure people have ethical workplaces.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

How would you describe your specific job to someone who doesn’t work in HR? One-third office manager, one-third event planner, one-third onboarding/welcome committee.

What is the best change you’ve made at a place you’ve worked? I started a DE&I committee and grew it to 20 members. We ran monthly newsletters and programs and had an active employee participation base for all events and offerings.

What’s the biggest misconception people might have about your job? HR discourages employee connection and authenticity, and that we’re more focused on promoting adherence to rigid structures. In reality, a good HR department encourages individuals to show up authentically and ensures that employees know they’re valued for their whole self.

What’s the most fulfilling aspect of your job? Hearing feedback about how our programs and efforts directly translate to individuals feeling welcomed, accepted, and that they experience a strong sense of belonging and worth in our company/field.

How did you get interested in this career path in HR? Growing up, my dad ran a recruiting firm, and so I always had some level of interest in it. But at the beginning, I was less interested in the corporate aspect, and more in helping people improve themselves. That was [my dad’s] main way of doing recruiting, actually; he kind of helped tailor to the whole person and make sure they were comfortable so they could get great roles for themselves and improve their career…So I saw that aspect of it, and that kind of pushed me toward psych, and I realized as I was doing psychology, I was really more interested in ensuring people had ethical workplaces, because that seemed to be a big point of stress for individuals. I’m kind of a people-first HR person, which in 2022, I hope most people are by now.

What trend in HR are you most optimistic about? Why? Step right this way for Villano’s answer to this and more.—JDS

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: US union membership dropped to 10.3% in 2021, tying a record low, and despite an overall decline in the national unemployment rate, the total number of union members decreased by 241,000. (JD Supra via the US Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Quote: “As new virus variants inevitably force us back to remote work and many corporate leaders finally see the writing on the wall, look for the ‘Head of Remote’ to become a C-Suite role with large budgets and great responsibility. After all, the entire company’s future is likely riding on its success.”—Yuri Kruman, author and corporate trainer, making the case for hiring a “head of remote” in an op-ed for Fast Company

Read: The temporary staffing industry has boomed during the pandemic, but many low-wage temp workers say they’ve been mistreated or misled about the potential for being hired permanently. (The Guardian)

Catch up on the top HR Brew stories from the recent past:

• Recruiters are ghosting candidates (and vice versa), surveys show
• ERGs take extra work. Should employees be paid extra for participating?
• Looking for remote jobs in HR? This website could be your bridge to nowhere