Election season is upon us. With the Iowa Republican caucus and New Hampshire primary in the rearview mirror, the rest of the country is gearing up for a series of contests that will dominate our national attention until November.

HR pros are no exception, and can plan for election day(s) to make sure employees are able to exercise their civic duty in a way that minimizes any disruption to the business and ensures the company remains compliant with disparate leave laws across the country.

“It is to ensure as much access as possible to allow people to vote,” said Debbie Birndorf-Zeiler, a California labor and employment attorney, of the Golden State’s paid leave for voting law. “This is certainly not the case everywhere in California, but certainly in the metropolitan areas, that is an issue because even if you get off at six o’clock, getting to [your polling location] can be over an hour because the commutes are long.”

While there is no federal law requiring employers to provide employees any time off to vote, 30 states and the District of Columbia require employers provide some leave.
Keep reading.—AD

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Welcome to HR 101. Class is now in session. Today’s discussion will focus on the history of napping at work—but remember, there’s no napping in class.

The history. Remember that episode of Seinfeld when George refurbished the underside of his desk so he could sneak in a midday nap? When that episode dropped in 1997, the writers probably didn’t know that napping at work would one day be considered by some to be normal.

While some of the world’s greatest thinkers (Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein, and Salvador Dali, to name a few) were proud on-the-job power nappers, according to the Guardian, it wasn’t until the late 1990s and early 2000s that workplace napping started to catch on. It was around this time that publications such as the New York Times and NPR noted how some forward-thinking employers were encouraging a midday snooze, citing improved productivity among the benefits.

Keep reading.—AS

Got a case of RTO regret? You’re not alone.

Over the summer, 80% of executives said they would have RTO’d differently had they had more data, according to a survey by workplace platform Envoy.

Paulo Pisano suspects some companies may have made the move too soon. The CHRO at Booking Holdings, parent company of travel sites Booking.com, Priceline.com, and Kayak, told HR Brew that he’s taken a slow and steady approach to RTO for his over 20,000 employees.

He shared what he thinks is missing from RTO conversation, and how HR leaders can manage unpredictability.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What are your thoughts on the state of RTO?

We’re still very early in the process of truly understanding, what are the implications of the choices that companies are making, and there’s…a strong misalignment between what leaders and managers want versus what the workforce in general wants…A lot of the discussion around should we be in the office or not, it’s triggered conversations around a couple of things that were not discussed enough before.

One of the big conversations is, “I can be as productive at home as I can be in the office.” But what do you mean by productivity? Is it individual productivity? Is it team and company productivity? Is it short-term productivity versus long-term productivity?

Keep reading.—MC

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: 32,000. That’s how many tech industry jobs were eliminated in January through downsizing “involuntary career events.” (Bloomberg)

Quote: “Since the student loan repayment moratorium ended in September, we’ve seen a real spike in customers looking to add support for student loan repayment to their benefits package…Many of those customers have been eager to find a way to marry their student loan benefits more naturally with their 401(k) plan.”—Edward Gottfried, senior director of product management at Betterment at Work, on a new benefit option that can match employer 401(k) contributions with student loan repayment (the Seattle Times)

Read: Younger employees are openly sharing their stories of being laid off—something that used to be a more private experience. (the Washington Post)

Smooth sailing: About 60% of the hiring process for corporate roles (marketing, finance) can be automated. Wanna get started? Paradox's new guide has all the deets. Say bye to hiring headaches.*

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