🎉 Rising Pay & ADA

July 20, 2023

Read time: 2.74 minutes

Good Morning Party People! 🎉

It’s Barbenheimer day. Or is it Oppenbarbie? Today is expected to be one of the biggest box office days in history.

Which side are you on?

Barbie or Oppenheimer

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Don’t forget! We’re doing a $50 Amazon gift card giveaway. Refer people below for an entry.

Here’s what we got today:

đź’° Pay is FINALLY outpacing inflation

đź“Ť Fifth Circuit weights in on remote work

đź‘ľ Generative AI & career advancement

🏦 JPMorgan CEO throws shade at remote work

And, of course, MEMES!

MOTD (Meme of The Day)

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Pay is Outpacing Inflation (LFG)

For a while, inflation was increasing faster than wages. And it was leaving a ton of people struggling to make ends meet.

Gas was expensive. A carton of eggs would cost you your firstborn child. And lumber? You would’ve needed to take out a loan to buy some a few years ago.

Prices are still high. But they’re cooling off. And wage increases are outpacing that of inflation. Average hourly pay increased by an annual rate of 4.4% over the past 3 months. The CPI (Consumer Price Index) rose at 4% in May and 3% in June.

“It increases the likelihood that the Fed will be able to pause rate hikes after one final July increase, and gradually lower rates through 2024, encouraging private sector investment to pick up again. It also increases the likelihood that U.S. workers will finally receive real wage increases and see their purchasing power expand”

ZipRecruiter Chief Economist, Julia Pollack

Let’s hope wages keep outpacing inflation.

Read more here.

Fifth Circuit Weighs in on ADA and Remote Work

Background:

The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) is being utilized by more and more employees that want to work from home rather than return to the office.

Montague v. United States Postal Service is a famous case in which a USPS employee asked USPS if she could work from home due to a medical condition. USPS refused.

Decision:

The Fifth Circuit's recent decision in Montague v. United States Postal Service stated that the reasonableness of an employee's request to work remotely depends on the specific circumstances of the job and the individual.

They emphasized that evidence of other employees successfully working remotely could be relevant in evaluating the reasonableness of such a request.

Takeaways:

  • Evidence of other employees successfully working remotely can be important in determining the reasonableness of an accommodation request

  • Employers may need to review job descriptions to ensure they accurately reflect whether in-person attendance is essential for the job

  • Obtaining summary judgment (a quick resolution without a trial) on remote work accommodation requests may be more challenging for employers in the Fifth Circuit

  • The court reaffirmed that some regular, in-person component may still be required for any accommodation request under the ADA

Overall, this case highlights the importance of considering individual circumstances and job requirements when dealing with requests for remote work accommodations.

Get yo’ job descriptions right.

Party Snacks (Weekly Resources)

15 Resources for Chief Human Resources Officers - This curated list of resources has tons of useful clickable links for those working in HR.

Talent Edge Weekly - Join thousands of HR and business professionals who get smarter, faster each week about the world of work, the workplace, and the workforce in just 10 minutes, every Sunday, 6 PM EST!

We Work Remotely - WWR is the largest remote work community in the world. The site has over 4.5M visitors, and thousands of remote jobs listed

Generative AI & Career Advancement

Workers are excited about AI (and maybe a little scared too). Salesforce surveyed 4,135 full-time workers across sales, service, marketing, and commerce. They found that 40% don’t know how to effectively use AI at work.

Is AI here to stay? Business leaders sure think so…

  • 82% of business leaders say generative AI will lower overall business costs

  • 80% of business leaders say generative AI will increase revenue

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AI has the potential to transform jobs across every industry and specialty

Brent Hyder, President and Chief People Officer, Salesforce

Recently, Goldman Sachs predicted that 300 million jobs will be replaced by AI. Seems a little dramatic, but it probably does make sense to familiarize yourself with AI tools.

If you’re feeling left behind with AI, Salesforce offers a free AI course.

JPMorgan CEO Hates Remote Work

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, is the latest executive to speak out against remote work. Here’s what he had to say…

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It doesn’t work for younger kids in apprenticeships. It doesn’t really work for creativity and spontaneity. It doesn’t really work for management teams

Sure, there are plenty of benefits to working in close proximity to your managers and peers. But the binary approach to remote work is exhausting. It’s either “remote work is the future, everyone needs to work remotely” or “remote work will never work”.

Remote work is effective for some organizations. For others, it’s not.

Read the full story here.

Party Favors (extra reading)

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PS - Check out PartAI’s (part-ay) latest creation (our AI meme machine)

(Your coworker microwaving stinky fish in the office)