1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:01,960 OK, hear me out. You know that feeling when you 2 00:00:01,960 --> 00:00:04,760 finally get home after a long day or if you work from home 3 00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:07,840 like me, you close your office door for the night and you just 4 00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:11,760 breathe and you exhale. Everyone breathe. 5 00:00:12,040 --> 00:00:15,840 That's what your space should feel like, like a sanctuary, a 6 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:19,280 place where you can truly unwind, let go of the stress and 7 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:21,800 just be. This is advice I'm giving to 8 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:24,960 myself because I've been taking on a lot at work. 9 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:29,600 And at the end of the day, if your bed is not the most 10 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:33,080 inviting, relaxing, luxurious part of your home, we need to 11 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:34,240 talk. Like, what are you doing? 12 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:38,120 So here's the thing. Your 5 to 9 is just as important 13 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:41,400 as your nine to five. You deserve rest that actually 14 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:44,080 restores you. And that starts with Cozy Earth. 15 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:48,120 And I'm so excited to be working with Cozy Earth because I have 16 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:51,040 used their products before even working with them. 17 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:54,280 Like I, this is a dream, OK? And you're going to have amazing 18 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:55,680 dreams when you hear the rest of this. 19 00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:00,160 I have the cozy Earth bamboo sheet set and let me tell you, I 20 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:02,600 even asked my husband for a review so I could talk to you 21 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:04,840 about this. These sheets are so breathable. 22 00:01:04,879 --> 00:01:07,840 You literally sleep cooler. And by the way, I run very warm, 23 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:12,640 like I cannot have a bed or like sheets or anything, a comforter 24 00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:16,040 that are warm or make me sweat because it's inevitable. 25 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:19,600 So having sheets like this bamboo sheet set that I have 26 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:21,480 from Cozy Earth is a game changer. 27 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:23,480 It's literally several degrees cooler. 28 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:26,560 There's no more overheating, no more tossing and turning, and 29 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:29,680 the fabric is next level in terms of softness. 30 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:32,680 Cozy Earth only uses the best materials, so you feel like 31 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:35,920 you're wrapped in pure comfort. Plus, their durable weave means 32 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:38,920 no Pilling ever. And I hate Pilling all of my 33 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:41,160 sweaters Pilling and I just can't stand it. 34 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:43,800 And then you end up having to do all this extra work to de pill. 35 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:47,360 But the good news, as I said, is that Cozy Earth's materials mean 36 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:50,200 that there's no Pilling ever. And it's guaranteed for 10 37 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:51,840 years. Let's also talk about their 38 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:54,640 bamboo pajamas because if you're still sleeping in that old 39 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:57,400 stretched out T-shirt, it is time for an upgrade. 40 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:00,920 These are lightweight but cozy, designed to help you fall asleep 41 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:03,600 faster and stay asleep longer types of pajamas. 42 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:06,080 It's the kind of comfort that makes you want to lounge all 43 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:09,400 day. And by the way, I don't know if 44 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:11,360 my mom is going to hear this, but this is what I'm going to 45 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:13,600 get her for Mother's Day. Mother's Day is coming up. 46 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:16,400 And I always, this is terrible, but I always end up being like, 47 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:20,880 Oh my gosh, that's Mother's Day. But now luckily I have a heads 48 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:24,040 up and I'm reminding myself and you that Mother's Day is coming 49 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:26,480 up. So by your mother, your spouse, 50 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:31,160 your, I don't know, dog mom, something amazing like these 51 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:35,160 bamboo pajamas or the sheet set to really make their Mother's 52 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:37,280 Day special. As a matter of fact, I'm going 53 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:40,840 to ask my husband to get me the bamboo pajamas because I am 54 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:44,200 sleeping in that old stretched out T-shirt and it is time for 55 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:46,600 an upgrade. So here's the thing. 56 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:49,600 What I really love about Cozy Earth is that they're committed 57 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:51,720 to quality in every way. Their products aren't just 58 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:54,160 luxurious, they're ethically made and responsibly produced. 59 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:56,720 So when you invest in better sleep, you're also investing in 60 00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:59,280 something good. And if you're not sure if it's 61 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:01,080 for you, totally fine, no worries. 62 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:04,600 Cozy Earth gives you 100 nights to decide 100. 63 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:06,680 And if you don't love it, you can send it back. 64 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:09,880 And with that, there's a 10 year warranty so you know that they 65 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:12,440 believe in their products. So if you're ready to turn your 66 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:16,560 bedroom into a true retreat, one that feels like a luxury hotel 67 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:22,160 but better, go to cozyearth.com and use my code human HR for 40% 68 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:25,120 off their best selling sheets, pajamas, towels and more. 69 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:28,440 That's 40% off. That is like the best deal ever. 70 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:31,960 And if you get a post purchase survey, by the way, please let 71 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:34,480 them know that you heard about Cozy Earth right here on the 72 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:38,000 Bringing the human back to Human Resources podcast, because it is 73 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:43,080 so helpful for them to know that my discussion with you about 74 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:48,200 having this most fabulous 5 to 9 after your nine to five impacted 75 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:50,760 you in some way. And by the way, like I said, the 76 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:54,520 first thing that I'm buying not only for my mother, but also for 77 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:59,040 the other mothers in my life are those cozy, fabulous bamboo 78 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:01,120 pajamas. So let's prioritize sleep, 79 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:03,640 prioritize. You sleep better with cozy 80 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:05,200 earth. Welcome to the Bringing the 81 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:07,240 human back to human Resources podcast. 82 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:10,400 I'm Tracy Chernoff, and I've spent my entire professional 83 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:13,360 career in HR. Each week we'll explore the 84 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:16,600 delicate balance between people and business with the aim to 85 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:19,079 reconnect the two and create meaningful outcomes. 86 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:22,600 Listen in as I share my own experiences, challenge the 87 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:26,160 status quo, and chat with guests from various industries about 88 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:29,160 our mission to bring the human back to human resources. 89 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:31,680 Hi everyone, welcome back to the Bringing the Human back to human 90 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:34,400 Resources podcast. Thank you so much for tuning in 91 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:38,120 for another week. This is our next month of the 92 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:41,000 Policy Pulse segment, which I do with Brian Driscoll. 93 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:44,200 As you know, our resident non practicing attorney. 94 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:47,040 Is that right? Is that like the best way to 95 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:51,480 probably describe how you approach your JD? 96 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:56,480 I describe myself as a recovering lawyer, but that's 97 00:04:56,960 --> 00:04:58,280 the way you described it is fine too. 98 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:01,440 Okay, fair enough. As I said that am I spreading A 99 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:03,720 rumor? All right, amazing. 100 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:06,240 I love that our resident recovering attorney. 101 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:10,280 And so we're going to, you know, as if you listen to our Policy 102 00:05:10,280 --> 00:05:14,560 Pulse segment from last month, you know, we generally take a 103 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:17,480 pretty similar approach. We're going to talk about 104 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:22,600 various topics that are pretty relevant to the United States, 105 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:25,600 especially in the present moment. 106 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:30,600 We try to record these as close to the air date as possible for 107 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:33,360 that purpose. And then we'll talk a little bit 108 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:36,880 about how this these different things that we talk about impact 109 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:40,080 employers, any suggestions that we might have. 110 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:44,160 And then of course we'll look at what might be on the horizon. 111 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:49,720 So with that, our first topic is quite intense. 112 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:52,920 So everyone brace yourselves just a bit, but we're, you know, 113 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:56,400 we're not going to go through the full subject of it and that 114 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:59,720 is on this immigration enforcement, the heightened 115 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:01,760 immigration enforcement that we're seeing in the United 116 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:06,440 States. So of course Brian will explain 117 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:09,160 this way better than I can. But as we know, there's been an 118 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:12,360 increased government focus on work site enforcement of 119 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:15,400 immigration laws and auditing employer compliance with 120 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:18,680 employment eligibility verification such as the I9. 121 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:23,640 So Brian, I'll pass to you what is what are some of the impacts 122 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:26,600 of this heightened enforcement in immigration? 123 00:06:27,840 --> 00:06:33,400 So there are a lot and I guess I would want to start by by 124 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:39,480 reminding people that when it comes to potentially legally 125 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:45,080 hazardous issues like this or any other complex HR issues, if 126 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:49,560 your first instinct is not calling your employment lawyer, 127 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:53,520 ignore your first instinct because you should always call 128 00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:56,120 your lawyer when it comes to when it comes to issues like 129 00:06:56,120 --> 00:07:00,160 this. I mean, with, with the ICE raids 130 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:04,920 and, and the, the, the focus on immigration, it, it spans 131 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:09,440 everything from anxiety from not only business owners and HR 132 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:11,440 professionals, but also individual employees. 133 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:15,960 And not just those who, who may not have proper documentation, 134 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:23,880 but everyone all the way to, to worry about how you are 135 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:29,000 compliant with your I nines with any E-Verify that you're doing 136 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:32,760 with any other type of compliance. 137 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:39,800 Because who knows when and where ICE or an I9 audit team may show 138 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:44,120 up at your, at your business, regardless of, of what industry 139 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:46,560 you're in or what state you're in. 140 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:51,360 We are seeing some pushback in certain states, but I think that 141 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:54,680 the biggest take away here for for employers and for HR 142 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:57,840 professionals specifically, it's twofold really. 143 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:04,000 One, if ice shows up at your office door, you need to make 144 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:08,760 sure that you're being respectful and compliant, but 145 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:12,200 you can also ask for any documentation that they have 146 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:14,320 that that allows them to be there. 147 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:17,800 You could find yourself in trouble if you try to block 148 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:19,680 them. If if you don't think they're, 149 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:22,880 they're, they have jurisdiction to be there. 150 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:25,200 So be careful with doing things like that. 151 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:28,440 Again, refer back to my initial instinct to call your lawyer. 152 00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:37,159 But it also, it can also create, create difficulties for everyone 153 00:08:37,159 --> 00:08:39,400 involved. And that's where we go back to 154 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:42,799 sort of the, the I9 focus, making sure that your 155 00:08:42,799 --> 00:08:45,480 documentation is always in order, making sure that when you 156 00:08:45,480 --> 00:08:51,080 hire somebody new, you go through the I9 process, you have 157 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:53,240 to do it for every single employee that you hire. 158 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:56,600 And you have to keep that record on file recommendation is you 159 00:08:56,600 --> 00:08:59,400 keep it separate from all other employee files and medical 160 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:01,680 files. Like you just have an I9 folder 161 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:03,640 in a locked drawer in a locked room. 162 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:08,400 So that's sort of the, the, the, the big issues here, one 163 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:12,560 directly related to to ICE and immigration enforcement over the 164 00:09:12,560 --> 00:09:15,880 last couple of months and one sort of more broadly Speaking of 165 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:17,960 just generally good business practice. 166 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:20,840 Yeah, thank you for walking us through that. 167 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:24,440 And you know, compliance is always a good thing to have best 168 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:26,840 practices on. Compliance is always a good 169 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:29,200 thing to feel like you have a handle over. 170 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:32,920 And I nines had basically a facelift. 171 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:36,200 What was it a couple years ago when they were like, oh, hey, 172 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:41,480 like from, you know, COVID and onward, we kind of allowed a lot 173 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:44,440 of flexibility and we're going to take that back. 174 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:48,240 So there was this need and I even talked about it in an 175 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:50,440 episode. It feels like it was forever 176 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:52,200 ago, but it was probably only like a year or so ago. 177 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:56,440 I talked about in an episode how you really like that was an 178 00:09:56,440 --> 00:10:02,840 opportunity to really like scrub your data and scrub not meaning 179 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:05,840 to get rid of, but to actually ensure that it's clean and that 180 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:08,000 you're compliant and that your processes are good. 181 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:11,880 And so I think this is very good advice that, you know, go back 182 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:16,840 to your I-9 process, make sure that you, whether it's you or 183 00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:20,720 another operator or someone, someone has to own this process 184 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:24,720 and has to own it with a, a very clear best practice. 185 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:29,400 And beyond that, also, I think the other good piece of advice 186 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:31,840 that you shared is like, call your attorney. 187 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:34,720 And actually that's good advice anytime you're in doubt of 188 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:38,320 something because your attorney is going to be able to support 189 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:40,600 with that. And you know, there are, I know 190 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:43,640 there are listeners, a lot of listeners who work for smaller 191 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:49,120 businesses, maybe moms and pops. And that that might lend to them 192 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:51,760 saying, well, I don't, I don't have an attorney. 193 00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:54,040 Like what? What does someone do in that 194 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:58,880 event if they are confronted with a government response in 195 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:03,560 this type of situation and they don't have someone like an 196 00:11:03,560 --> 00:11:07,480 employment attorney to call? So I think there's 2 answers to 197 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:10,920 that. One is that in my view, and I 198 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:14,080 may be biased in this view, you should always have a lawyer, 199 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:17,880 whether it's somebody that you know you're paying every month 200 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:21,160 on retainer to help you with certain things as a, as your 201 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:25,960 business grows or you're a true like really small business, 202 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:30,840 5/10/20 employees and you just have somebody that you pay 203 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:34,080 hourly and they just bill you as you pick up the phone and call 204 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:36,960 them for issues. Always have a contact. 205 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:40,360 You can pick up the phone and call that I think is, is is an 206 00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:43,920 important point. If you don't have that and and 207 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:48,280 you don't have the ability to do that right now, then you do need 208 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:51,160 somebody that you can trust. Whether that's somebody internal 209 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:57,280 on your HR team who has the background and the education and 210 00:11:57,280 --> 00:12:02,920 the experience to navigate these complexities or someone like me 211 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:07,280 who is a vendor for you, a consultant for you who, who may 212 00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:09,920 have a little bit more experience than somebody in 213 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:12,800 house. And again, with someone like me 214 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:15,160 who has that legal background anyway, that's, that's always 215 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:18,600 helpful as well. But that, that is sort of the, 216 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:23,680 the, the, the advice is to not do it alone. 217 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:29,600 You, you have to with, these are super complex issues and, and 218 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:31,960 you need to have somebody who knows what they're talking 219 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:34,600 about, not somebody who's just going to give you an answer 220 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:36,120 because you're looking for an answer. 221 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:38,880 You need somebody who can give you the right answer and 222 00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:41,200 quickly. Yeah, I totally agree. 223 00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:44,880 And I agree it's, it's a good idea to always have an attorney, 224 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:47,840 not necessarily in your corner, but like on speed dial. 225 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:52,880 I mean, I am fortunate I have some attorneys in the family, 226 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:56,680 but I also have attorneys that I've worked with either in the 227 00:12:56,680 --> 00:12:59,360 businesses that I've worked for or within my own business. 228 00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:03,240 And it's, it is definitely really important to know that 229 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:08,520 you have someone who can protect not just your interests, but 230 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:15,040 your, your business and mitigate whatever risk you might have 231 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:19,480 when you operate in such a way that isn't compliant or lawful 232 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:23,560 or thoughtful, depending on what the circumstance is. 233 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:28,280 And you know, I think just to kind of round this out, these 234 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:33,280 are, I mean, I, I've been in like the corporate world for 235 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:35,240 like over 10 years. Let's say. 236 00:13:35,560 --> 00:13:37,960 I've never had to experience this. 237 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:41,160 I have worked with immigration attorneys to support with like 238 00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:44,400 visa transfers and petitions and green cards and all that stuff, 239 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:48,160 which is awesome. And while I've never experienced 240 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:49,920 this, it doesn't mean that it doesn't happen. 241 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:53,960 But the the best case scenario is that you're prepared. 242 00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:56,400 So anyone listening who's like, ah, that'll never happen to me. 243 00:13:56,600 --> 00:13:58,920 That's fine. I, I hope it never happens to 244 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:03,680 you or someone at your workplace because it is so complex and 245 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:06,960 sounds like a lot of work and a lot of legal fees. 246 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:11,440 But at the end of the day, it is a good idea to it's, it's kind 247 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:13,360 of like, you know what it's like, it's like when you take 248 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:16,240 ACPR class and you're like, I'm never going to need that, but 249 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:18,280 you've taken it. And so it's like in the back of 250 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:20,480 your brain. So God forbid you need that. 251 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:23,800 You know how to do CPR. Hopefully you actually, you 252 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:26,400 know, use those skills so you keep them fresh. 253 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:28,520 But you get what I'm saying? It's like, oh, if you have some 254 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:30,800 of that information, you have some of that knowledge, then 255 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:35,160 maybe when the the time comes where you need to kind of like 256 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:38,680 tap into that knowledge or tap into those skills, you're going 257 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:41,400 with the right gut instinct, which is call your attorney. 258 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:44,640 Exactly. And it, it's helpful too, when 259 00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:46,880 you develop a relationship with someone, even if you're not 260 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:49,680 talking to them every week, every month, they know your 261 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:52,040 business. They, they don't need all the 262 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:54,920 background. So it can, it can speed up the, 263 00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:56,640 the process to get to the answer. 264 00:14:56,960 --> 00:15:01,360 Because even though, even though there is some, there is some 265 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:05,440 commonality amongst all of these different situations, whether 266 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:09,800 you're an office, you're a farm or whatever, like there's some 267 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:13,560 commonality about the process and what happens when, when 268 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:15,600 immigration shows up at your business. 269 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:19,960 But there are some unique nuances to each of those 270 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:22,400 situations as well. And that's where having an 271 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:25,520 employment lawyer on speed dial that at least knows the 272 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:28,200 background of your business, you can get to the answer more 273 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:29,640 quickly. You don't have to provide all 274 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:32,160 the background and talk about when certain employees were 275 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:35,560 hired and the documentation process that you have in place 276 00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:38,000 and all this like the the the lawyer is going to know that 277 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:39,160 already. Right. 278 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:41,000 That's a great point, such a great point. 279 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:44,320 And it's really nice. It's kind of like I always bring 280 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:47,960 it back to something that's like not related to HR or law or 281 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:51,000 whatever, but it's like, you know, you have that best friend 282 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:54,240 from high school or childhood and like you don't have to tell 283 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:55,960 them who you are. They just know who you are. 284 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:57,600 They know exactly how you grew up. 285 00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:00,720 And that's like your attorney who gets to know your business. 286 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:03,480 They know exactly what all the insurance and outs look like. 287 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:07,840 And some businesses do have in house counsel, which maybe would 288 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:10,640 make this a bit easier, even though they're not always 289 00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:14,960 employment attorneys and most often are not immigration 290 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:17,760 attorneys either. But at least there's someone 291 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:19,920 who's like, Oh yeah, don't touch this. 292 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:22,760 We will. We will figure out the next best 293 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:24,120 step. I have a contact for that. 294 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:28,040 That's your one of your better cases of the scenario. 295 00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:31,680 So thank you, Brian for walking us through that. 296 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:34,640 And and of course, if anyone has questions specific to that, 297 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:38,240 please, you know, let us know. The second topic here, which 298 00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:42,160 actually I thought about it, I'm like, do you think that they 299 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:45,560 didn't announce it on April first because it was April 300 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:47,400 Fool's Day? Because these, this has to do 301 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:50,960 with the sweeping new tariffs on imports and they were announced 302 00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:54,760 on April 2nd. And I'm like, there's got to be 303 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:57,480 a reason it wasn't April 1st. And I think it's probably 304 00:16:57,480 --> 00:16:59,400 because everyone would be like April Fools, right? 305 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:03,120 Well, no. He actually, yeah, no, Trump 306 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:05,200 actually said that a couple weeks ago that he he was going 307 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:07,680 to announce this on April 2nd because he didn't want people to 308 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:08,400 think. Really. 309 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:11,079 Fools joke, Yeah. Oh my God, you know, see, I 310 00:17:11,079 --> 00:17:13,520 tried to like avoid the news at all costs these days. 311 00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:17,520 So you, you are my news resource at this point. 312 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:20,319 That's so funny. I mean, it's not funny, but it 313 00:17:20,319 --> 00:17:24,040 is funny in a way that I'm like, do you think well debunked 314 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:28,079 there, everybody, it's true. All right, so let's talk about 315 00:17:28,079 --> 00:17:30,320 what this is. Broad new tariffs, which are 316 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:35,000 effectively a 10% baseline plus some higher rates were announced 317 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:39,040 as Brian said, April 2nd, making most imported goods more 318 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:42,080 expensive for U.S. companies there. 319 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:47,280 There happens to be quite a bit of information related to 320 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:50,680 tariffs that we probably can also clarify because I think 321 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:54,360 generally people see tariffs either one way or another and 322 00:17:54,360 --> 00:17:56,840 they don't necessarily understand that there's this, 323 00:17:57,320 --> 00:18:01,680 you know, impact on cost of goods for the US for the the 324 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:05,520 importer, so to speak, just as much as there is necessarily for 325 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:08,680 the exporter, but especially on the importer. 326 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:13,560 So in plain language here, the higher cost of imported goods 327 00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:17,880 certainly squeezes the businesses financially and this 328 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:20,720 is intended to boost the domestic industry. 329 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:23,280 So especially we're talking about the US here, it's intended 330 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:30,120 to to drive our our industry locally and it also often forces 331 00:18:30,120 --> 00:18:34,520 companies to cut costs elsewhere because of those increased costs 332 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:37,400 for domestic products. My understanding of tariffs is 333 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:40,160 that it's kind of like a, a long term thing that you don't really 334 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:47,320 see anything in terms of savings or more exports from the US for 335 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:51,040 example, which I believe is what tariffs are trying to do is that 336 00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:54,320 they're trying to get US businesses to do more U.S. 337 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:57,560 business. This is a very like, when I 338 00:18:57,560 --> 00:19:01,440 think back to my micro, like AP micro class that I took in high 339 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:03,960 school, like this is what I remember. 340 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:06,160 So please don't quote me on all of this. 341 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:09,080 So, but at the same time, I think this is where sometimes 342 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:11,960 the misconception is, is that it does increase prices like 343 00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:15,440 significantly in the interim until that because you can't 344 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:20,480 just like flip a switch and then start to create your product in 345 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:23,720 the US if you've had a, a plant or a warehouse or a 346 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:27,240 manufacturing site overseas. So I don't know, Brian, you're, 347 00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:30,520 you're probably a good person to pass to at this point to walk us 348 00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:31,960 through some of that. Yeah. 349 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:35,440 And I think I think that's, that's, that's a good analysis, 350 00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:40,280 Tracy, because it, it essentially it raises prices 351 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:42,360 across the board. And unfortunately, when 352 00:19:42,360 --> 00:19:46,120 companies raise prices, they usually don't lower them later 353 00:19:46,120 --> 00:19:48,800 on. So, you know, this is kind of 354 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:51,800 the new normal and it will only get worse from here. 355 00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:55,400 And here's an here's an example to your point about, you know, 356 00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:57,040 trying to increase domestic production. 357 00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:02,360 Let's take one of my favorite subjects, Wine, I'm sure. 358 00:20:02,360 --> 00:20:08,960 You're going with that? So wine obviously is made all 359 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:12,240 over the world. And so there are imports that 360 00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:15,800 are coming from Europe that we are already seeing even before 361 00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:17,600 yesterday's April 2nd's announcement. 362 00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:23,000 The the price has gone up, but the price has also gone up 363 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:25,680 domestically. And that's because the world 364 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:27,840 isn't. The last time we had a real 365 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:33,320 major, like tariff standoff like this was about 100 years ago. 366 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:36,280 And the world is very different than obviously than what it was 367 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:38,240 100 years ago, much more interconnected. 368 00:20:39,120 --> 00:20:41,560 And so using wine as an example, you'd think, hey, if we buy 369 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:43,400 California wine, the prices will be the same. 370 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:48,440 Well, their production costs have also gone up because most 371 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:51,840 cork on earth comes from 1 country, Portugal. 372 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:57,800 So the cork imported to Napa wineries is going to cost them 373 00:20:57,800 --> 00:20:59,480 more than what it cost them two months ago. 374 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:02,320 So that's going to increase their production costs. 375 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:05,920 And so even if we do focus more on domestic production, and even 376 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:09,640 if consumers do buy more domestic products, the prices 377 00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:14,240 are still going to go up #1 because the market will allow 378 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:17,760 those prices to go up because international products will be 379 00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:21,880 raising their prices, but #2 because nothing is made entirely 380 00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:23,840 within the confines of the United States. 381 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:28,080 Interesting. I love that we're using wine to 382 00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:30,640 think about that and it's a really good point. 383 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:34,800 I had no idea that cork was only in found in Portugal, made in 384 00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:38,120 Portugal. I have a pair of cork heels 385 00:21:38,120 --> 00:21:40,680 actually that I really love. So I guess they're Portuguese or 386 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:43,240 they were imported. Wow, that's kind of cool. 387 00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:45,680 This is a cool fact. I did not I did not know that. 388 00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:50,320 But nevertheless, it, it's a good point that which was one of 389 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:54,040 your original points that once prices go up, they generally are 390 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:57,800 not going to come down. If if like for example, eggs, I 391 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:02,640 go to Costco, go to BJ's and if I wanted to get five dozen eggs, 392 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:07,280 which I don't, they're $30. Fortunately, I don't need five 393 00:22:07,280 --> 00:22:10,120 dozen eggs. And and the other, you know, two 394 00:22:10,120 --> 00:22:13,360 dozen or however many eggs is still more economical. 395 00:22:13,360 --> 00:22:18,520 However, when I think about the people like I, I recently bought 396 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:21,120 a minivan, the, the listeners know this. 397 00:22:21,120 --> 00:22:24,120 I've become a full minivan mom and I love it. 398 00:22:24,120 --> 00:22:27,000 I'm never looking back, but I talked about how I was going to 399 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:28,280 buy a minivan. I don't remember. 400 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:30,480 Maybe it was with you. I think it was with I I can't 401 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:31,960 remember. Maybe it was with you actually 402 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:38,120 on one of our on one of our episodes and I was speaking with 403 00:22:38,360 --> 00:22:41,480 the salesperson because we were just waiting for the 404 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:44,160 registration. Come on, New York, be faster. 405 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:50,640 And he was like, we just went to Costco or BJ's wherever and eggs 406 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:55,680 were $30 and we bought them and we put them in our fridge. 407 00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:59,160 And the next morning our toddler opened the fridge and cracked 408 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:02,960 all the eggs. When I tell you I was like, do 409 00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:05,920 you want my $30? Like I literally, I was like, we 410 00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:08,920 should write him a check. I mean, I felt terrible for him. 411 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:11,880 And then I was like, why did you buy those eggs? 412 00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:14,920 My husband and I both asked him, why did you buy those eggs? 413 00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:18,080 Like why the $30 eggs? He was like, they were the only 414 00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:21,560 eggs there. And so I share this a so that 415 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:24,680 you also feel the pain that I felt when I imagined his toddler 416 00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:27,440 cracking every single, I mean, five dozen eggs. 417 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:28,600 Can you imagine cleaning that up? 418 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:35,200 Every single egg, but also because he bought those eggs, 419 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:38,520 someone who effectively earns a living on a Commission. 420 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:42,080 I mean, as much as I love my minivan, I don't know how many 421 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:44,840 people are, I mean, actually a lot of people buy minivans, but 422 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:48,760 still, I don't know necessarily that he's like, you know, 423 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:52,120 affording or able to afford $30 eggs. 424 00:23:52,120 --> 00:23:57,040 I, I certainly find that to be an extreme premium, but he paid 425 00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:59,520 for them. And so as long as there's 426 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:03,560 demand, then that price, why, why? 427 00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:09,360 What would incentivize that supplier to make less if like 428 00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:14,080 eventually, even if their costs reduce over time, if they're 429 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:18,120 making $30 on five dozen eggs, why wouldn't they continue to 430 00:24:18,120 --> 00:24:21,720 make $30, charge $30? Doesn't mean that's their full 431 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:23,840 profit, obviously, but why wouldn't they continue to do 432 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:25,920 that? And then to me, like this is 433 00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:29,000 really why I was not excited but glad that we were talking about 434 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:34,080 this, is that we have to like as HR leaders, we have to do, we 435 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:38,920 have to work harder, I think to really understand the business 436 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:42,760 impact because that's how we're taken more seriously as business 437 00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:47,120 partners when we really understand industry and micro 438 00:24:47,120 --> 00:24:49,480 and macro impacts and things like that. 439 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:52,520 And it's not to say that you have to go and get your MBA, but 440 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:57,440 if you can understand like supply, demand, cost savings and 441 00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:00,560 all of that, then you can do a better job of understanding and 442 00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:05,040 articulating where cost savings are coming from. 443 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:10,840 Because generally payroll and people cost, so to speak, are 444 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:13,480 the most expensive parts of businesses. 445 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:17,560 And so if we understand that costs are going to go up for 446 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:22,360 businesses, then the only way for them to either continue to 447 00:25:22,360 --> 00:25:27,720 drive a profit or reduce their losses is either to make more, 448 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:30,640 sell more, drive more profit, whatever that looks like, which 449 00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:36,280 is much harder to do, or to cut their costs, starting with 450 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:38,600 people. And so that's where, you know, 451 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:41,280 like we have to take it home for our purposes. 452 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:44,840 Like how do we, how do we support our, the businesses that 453 00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:49,960 we work for to to stretch their runway as far as possible, be as 454 00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:54,440 fiscally responsible as much as possible in order not to see 455 00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:58,480 this fallout impacting people? Yeah. 456 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:00,520 And I think that's a, that's a great way to sort of combine 457 00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:03,440 these two, these two parts of this discussion that one, prices 458 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:06,120 are going up and not coming down and they won't. 459 00:26:06,120 --> 00:26:11,720 And two, the impact on people, which I, I think is, is an 460 00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:14,880 important discussion to have because it, it is the people 461 00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:19,520 that provide the profit in the end for the business, but 462 00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:23,760 they're often the 1st to go when the business is looking to hoard 463 00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:31,560 cash or cut costs. And, and yeah, I mean, I, that's 464 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:36,200 probably one of the most common subjects I've, I've been talking 465 00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:39,080 with clients about over the last couple of months is not 466 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:41,640 necessarily doing layoffs, though there have been a couple, 467 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:47,960 but sort of evaluating the options about what's the best 468 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:51,440 way to go about this. If we need to, again, being 469 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:54,200 compliant, you know, do what notices do we need to provide 470 00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:57,680 all that fun stuff? But also just from from a purely 471 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:01,480 human perspective of like, how do we do this with empathy? 472 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:04,320 If this is, if this is what we end up needing to do as a 473 00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:07,160 business, how do we go about this process and treat these 474 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:11,200 people like humans? And my answer to that, you know, 475 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:13,480 we don't need to go down this down this rabbit hole too far. 476 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:16,040 But like, my answer to that is transparency. 477 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:18,720 Tell your employees, especially when you're a small business, 478 00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:22,320 people know, tell your employees what what's going on. 479 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:25,160 That doesn't mean that they're going to jump ship immediately. 480 00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:28,160 Job market's hard right now, so they may not even be able to if 481 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:30,600 they wanted to, but just be transparent. 482 00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:35,160 Keep those conversations open. Have those discussions. 483 00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:38,200 And if you do have to do layoffs, gives people as much 484 00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:41,400 notice as possible. Be kind, be human, be empathetic 485 00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:44,520 and treat people the way that that that you would want to be 486 00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:45,960 treated, that you would expect to be treated. 487 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:48,800 Because I think that I think we're going to see a lot more of 488 00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:50,480 that over the next couple of months. 489 00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:56,040 Even even if you know, like like a couple of weeks ago, these 490 00:27:56,040 --> 00:28:00,280 tariffs sort of evaporate in the next couple of days, we're still 491 00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:04,400 going to see it because there's, there's a ton of uncertainty in 492 00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:08,720 the job market, in the economy, in business generally right now. 493 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:14,000 And, and businesses tend to get protectionist when, when there's 494 00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:16,600 uncertainty. And so I think we're, we're 495 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:18,560 going to see more layoffs. We're going to see more of this, 496 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:22,320 unfortunately, which to your point about eggs then makes it 497 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:25,040 harder for people to go buy eggs, not only because the 498 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:27,400 prices are high, but now because they've lost their their source 499 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:30,680 of income. Yeah, it's, it's a really, it's 500 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:35,800 a really tough spot to be in and to reconcile with because we 501 00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:40,320 we've already been experiencing obviously difficult economic 502 00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:43,760 conditions. I mean, even I think I've 503 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:48,160 probably mentioned it on the podcast, like you go in and look 504 00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:52,800 at the housing market and I don't know if you remember that 505 00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:57,680 viral, that viral video back in the 20 tens. 506 00:28:57,680 --> 00:28:59,320 I was like, the rent is too damn high. 507 00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:01,720 Like the, the rent is too damn high. 508 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:04,480 I mean, like we're talking about. 509 00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:07,280 And for anyone who's like Gen. Z, you might not know, but I 510 00:29:07,280 --> 00:29:09,200 really hope you do because that was a great, that was a great 511 00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:12,040 time. But you know, you, you look at 512 00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:16,520 like the cost of the, the cost of living, especially in a high 513 00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:20,760 cost of living area like where I am in New York, the, the between 514 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:24,760 the mortgages and the rents and then also groceries and gas. 515 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:27,920 And to top it all off, having higher taxes. 516 00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:33,560 You, it's the, the pressure that is put on the, you know, like 517 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:38,720 the a nuclear family and individual, a couple is quite 518 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:41,520 insurmountable. Sometimes like you, you really 519 00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:43,520 feel that. And then, you know, sometimes I 520 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:47,880 get questions from actually I get questions sometimes from 521 00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:50,720 like employees, new hires, candidates. 522 00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:54,000 And then also even through my podcast where people are like, 523 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:57,840 well, how do raises work? Like do they take into 524 00:29:57,840 --> 00:30:01,760 consideration inflation? And I think we've probably 525 00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:04,880 talked about it at some point like the answer is kind of no 526 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:11,120 because how do you like it when there is inflation and there's a 527 00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:15,000 an increase that let's say takes that into consideration, it 528 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:17,560 works into the recipients benefit in that case. 529 00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:21,640 But when inflation goes down, if someone's relying on that, you 530 00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:24,320 don't want less of a budget increase or less of a pay 531 00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:27,280 increase, right? Like, so generally speaking, I 532 00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:30,960 feel like in the experience that I've had finance teams, 533 00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:34,160 companies in general will kind of say, OK, we can't really 534 00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:36,800 compete with inflation, but like let's look at what our overall 535 00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:41,040 budget is, make sure it's fair and consistent and and adequate 536 00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:45,040 in order to support all of these increases that need to happen 537 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:48,760 across a year. But people don't love that 538 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:52,600 because when you have like 5-6, seven percent inflation 539 00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:55,920 depending on where you are, even in the world, it's stifling. 540 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:00,280 Yeah. And it's and it it that I've 541 00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:03,120 seen a lot of companies, especially over the past couple 542 00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:07,520 of years sort of do a A2 fold approach when it comes to when 543 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:12,480 it comes to annual increases. 1 is doing a cost of living a COLA 544 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:15,200 increase annually just across the board. 545 00:31:15,280 --> 00:31:18,320 Everybody, January 1st, everybody whatever the 546 00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:21,720 government said the cost of living increase was last year, 547 00:31:22,360 --> 00:31:25,040 you automatically get that and then there's performance on top 548 00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:26,560 of that. And I think that I think that's 549 00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:30,440 a great way to go about it because it sure, if inflation, 550 00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:33,640 you know, hits hard in January or February, then you don't get 551 00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:36,240 that cost of living increase for 10 more months. 552 00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:40,240 So that kind of can, can be a hurt. 553 00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:44,040 But at least businesses in my view are doing the right thing. 554 00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:48,440 They're covering, they're covering what it costs to live 555 00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:53,960 in wherever you are and they're separating that from your 556 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:58,200 performance and from your your traditional raise annually. 557 00:31:58,560 --> 00:31:59,840 Yeah. No, I agree. 558 00:31:59,840 --> 00:32:02,480 That's a a great point to make too. 559 00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:05,800 And again, for those listening who are part of smaller 560 00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:08,520 businesses, you might not have even received an increase in the 561 00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:13,960 last two years and that's hard. At the same time, I think when I 562 00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:17,080 put all of this into perspective, the job market is 563 00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:19,120 hard, things are really expensive. 564 00:32:20,640 --> 00:32:25,080 There is, I think that we'll we will probably see more people 565 00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:30,080 not even wanting to ask for more, like maybe being a little 566 00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:34,840 bit more trepidatious when it comes to saying I want to get 567 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:36,640 paid more, I want to get paid more, I want to get paid more. 568 00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:41,280 Because again, when we think about like all of the macro 569 00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:44,520 elements here, it's like the higher the cost of the business, 570 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:50,440 like fully, you know, 360, let's say all around, the more 571 00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:53,840 pressure it puts on the business to either outperform what they 572 00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:58,160 were performing or to cut costs. So I wouldn't be surprised if we 573 00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:01,480 see less of that like strong armed approach that we saw in 574 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:04,400 the last few years, which I, I think is great that people were 575 00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:05,720 really advocating for themselves. 576 00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:09,840 And I'm certainly not suggesting to stop that, but I, I have, 577 00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:14,800 I've even seen fewer people just like complaining. 578 00:33:14,840 --> 00:33:18,720 And it's not to say that people like always complain to me at 579 00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:22,640 work or on the podcast, but I generally will hear like, I'm, I 580 00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:24,920 want to look for a new job because I don't like this 581 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:28,000 environment or I don't want this or I want to get paid more or my 582 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:30,240 title is not right. And I'm not really hearing that 583 00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:32,480 as much. And I just, I think that there 584 00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:38,520 is a, a correlation between that and not wanting to rock the 585 00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:40,840 boat, so to speak. Again, not right or wrong. 586 00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:42,280 It's just something I'm noticing. 587 00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:44,520 Yeah, And, and I would agree with that. 588 00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:47,040 I've had conversations, I, I partnered with some individuals 589 00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:51,040 as well, help them navigate, you know, complex situations, career 590 00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:53,320 transitions, stuff like that. And and I've had some 591 00:33:53,320 --> 00:33:56,440 discussions with folks who who come to me basically with what 592 00:33:56,440 --> 00:34:02,080 you just said about, you know, I should be making more like I 593 00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:07,280 have the market data to show that like, but I also don't want 594 00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:09,520 to rock the boat. Like how, how do I have this 595 00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:12,679 discussion? And you know, my, my perspective 596 00:34:12,679 --> 00:34:15,840 is yes, you should be making more period, end of story like 597 00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:18,000 that. That would, in a utopia, that's, 598 00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:21,199 that's how it would work. But in this, in this world that 599 00:34:21,199 --> 00:34:23,760 we're in right now, to your point, you need to make a 600 00:34:23,760 --> 00:34:25,800 business case for it. Sometimes in real small 601 00:34:25,800 --> 00:34:28,320 businesses, sometimes there just isn't money for, for raises. 602 00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:31,560 And you know, right or wrong, people have to understand that. 603 00:34:31,880 --> 00:34:36,800 But if there is and you can make a business case for it, why you 604 00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:40,719 should be making more, whether it's because you're in sales and 605 00:34:40,719 --> 00:34:44,040 you've brought in X percent more, 2550% more than you did 606 00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:47,880 last year or the market has changed and, and your position, 607 00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:51,920 whatever it is, you are sufficiently underpaid for, for 608 00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:56,159 your geographic region and, and your industry, it's never a 609 00:34:56,159 --> 00:34:59,800 guarantee, but present your case. 610 00:34:59,920 --> 00:35:03,200 Think almost like like a lawyer. Make your argument. 611 00:35:03,240 --> 00:35:07,000 Why should why should the employer give you give you a 612 00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:12,000 raise beyond a cost of living or or something more traditional? 613 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:12,920 Why? Why should they give you a 614 00:35:12,920 --> 00:35:14,600 larger a larger piece of the pie? 615 00:35:14,920 --> 00:35:17,720 Right. This is a big a big thing on 616 00:35:17,720 --> 00:35:20,160 this podcast. Everyone is like having the 617 00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:24,280 data, knowing how to articulate your data and really being able 618 00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:27,880 to create a story around what you, what you do, what you've 619 00:35:27,880 --> 00:35:30,880 done. It's probably one of the hardest 620 00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:36,560 things that someone can like upskill for themselves in their 621 00:35:36,560 --> 00:35:38,160 careers. And it's also the most 622 00:35:38,160 --> 00:35:41,600 important. Like if you can really qualify 623 00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:45,680 and quantify data that you have, you're, you're totally set 624 00:35:46,080 --> 00:35:49,960 because it's a personal skill, it's a professional skill, it's 625 00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:53,840 going to help you when it comes to presenting on like regular HR 626 00:35:53,840 --> 00:35:57,280 things and also your own personal individual goals. 627 00:35:57,280 --> 00:36:01,280 So I think that's great advice. And I know we're, I mean, like I 628 00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:03,320 said, we'd probably hit our 30 minute mark. 629 00:36:04,520 --> 00:36:08,760 So we're, we're closing, closing in on the end of our segment. 630 00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:11,920 But I know we, we have something that we're kind of looking ahead 631 00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:12,960 to. It's still pending. 632 00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:14,840 Do you want to share a little bit about that? 633 00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:17,600 Yeah. And I think I'll, I'll loop it 634 00:36:17,600 --> 00:36:20,800 in with a a couple of sort of pending cases that that we see. 635 00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:24,120 There's again, as we talked about last time, there's just so 636 00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:28,880 much that is yet to be settled, whether it comes from executive 637 00:36:28,880 --> 00:36:32,280 orders or it comes from administrative agencies changing 638 00:36:32,280 --> 00:36:34,240 their their policies and their tactics. 639 00:36:34,520 --> 00:36:37,400 There's just a lot of legal challenges happening right now 640 00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:39,080 and there's a lot still to be settled. 641 00:36:40,440 --> 00:36:42,280 But there's a few things that that we're keeping an eye on. 642 00:36:42,280 --> 00:36:45,840 One of them we mentioned last time and that was the the into 643 00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:50,200 it and higher view case with AI discriminating against an 644 00:36:50,200 --> 00:36:51,720 employee. So that's something to 645 00:36:51,720 --> 00:36:54,640 definitely keep an eye on as people and companies use more 646 00:36:54,640 --> 00:37:01,080 and more AI in in HR. There's also a case, Stanley V 647 00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:06,480 City of Sanford, Sanford, FL, about post employment benefits 648 00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:12,440 and how the ADA applies in in those situations for employees 649 00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:15,560 who may have been disabled in some fashion either at work or 650 00:37:15,560 --> 00:37:19,200 or outside of work and what what they're eligible for. 651 00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:23,600 There's also a religious case that the Supreme Court heard 652 00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:27,800 just a couple of days ago, Catholic Charities versus 653 00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:33,480 Wisconsin, that that it talks about the religious exemptions, 654 00:37:34,040 --> 00:37:38,280 whether religious nonprofits need to pay unemployment tax, 655 00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:41,080 how they're taxed. And it sounds like the court is 656 00:37:41,080 --> 00:37:43,840 probably going to broaden what is considered a religious 657 00:37:43,840 --> 00:37:46,120 business. So more companies might fall 658 00:37:46,120 --> 00:37:50,480 under more nonprofits might fall under this, this umbrella of 659 00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:53,640 avoiding unemployment taxes and and some other taxes. 660 00:37:53,640 --> 00:37:56,440 So those are those are some again, still waiting to be 661 00:37:56,440 --> 00:37:59,600 settled, but those are some of the some of the key ones that 662 00:37:59,600 --> 00:38:00,840 that I'm sort of keeping an eye on. 663 00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:03,280 Awesome. Thank you so much, Brian. 664 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:07,680 I mean, every policy segment seems to policy pulse segment 665 00:38:07,880 --> 00:38:13,760 seems to offer more and more insight into just how important 666 00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:17,960 it is to, to kind of keep an eye on what's going on that has some 667 00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:21,720 sort of impact on businesses and individuals. 668 00:38:21,720 --> 00:38:25,120 And it, it honestly really I think further validates why 669 00:38:25,120 --> 00:38:31,240 having HR support, whether it's in house or via consultants or 670 00:38:31,240 --> 00:38:35,120 contractors is so, so, so important for businesses. 671 00:38:35,120 --> 00:38:38,040 And then obviously with that also an attorney, have an 672 00:38:38,040 --> 00:38:41,800 attorney that you could call. So thank you so much. 673 00:38:41,800 --> 00:38:44,960 And for everyone listening, don't forget to rate review and 674 00:38:44,960 --> 00:38:46,880 subscribe. And if you have a question about 675 00:38:46,880 --> 00:38:49,160 anything that we've talked about or if you want us to talk about 676 00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:53,000 something specific, just leave a comment on the Spotify or the 677 00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:55,880 YouTube episode or send us an e-mail. 678 00:38:55,880 --> 00:38:58,280 You can send me an e-mail at contact at hrtracy.com. 679 00:38:58,280 --> 00:39:00,840 You can reach out to either myself or Brian on LinkedIn. 680 00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:03,720 All of our contact info is always in the show notes. 681 00:39:03,720 --> 00:39:07,400 So Brian, thank you so much for another month of the Policy 682 00:39:07,400 --> 00:39:08,960 Polls segment. I'm sure we'll have a lot to 683 00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:13,560 discuss next month also, but appreciate it always. 684 00:39:14,320 --> 00:39:15,320 Absolutely. Thank you, Tracy. 685 00:39:15,600 --> 00:39:17,800 Thanks. Hey, just before you go, don't 686 00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:20,560 forget to subscribe to the show so that you are the first to 687 00:39:20,560 --> 00:39:24,320 hear when an episode drops each week and maybe leave a five star 688 00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:26,920 review and a comment about how much you love this episode. 689 00:39:27,080 --> 00:39:29,720 Plus, if you have someone in mind who would really enjoy this 690 00:39:29,720 --> 00:39:31,320 episode, make sure you share it with them. 691 00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:34,280 Thank you so much for tuning in and I'll see you next week.