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HR STRATEGY

Bye, bye, RTO?

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The return-to-office debate is heating up once again…

Conflict in the Middle East has disrupted the global oil supply chain, causing gas prices to soar. In the US, the average price for a gallon of gas hit $3.59 earlier this month, according to AAA, up $0.65 from last month and $0.51 from last year.

Gas prices are rising at a time when companies have been pushing for more in-office attendance, and employees have been largely dissatisfied with their commutes. If the trend continues, it may create recruitment and retention issues for HR pros, Ron Porter, a senior partner at consulting firm Korn Ferry, told HR Brew.

“If you’re an employer, and you’ve got people who are on the edge of, let’s say, ’Is this job affordable? Are there other things I could be doing instead of this?’ You could have some risk of some turnover,” Porter said. “This may have been a problem that existed before. It’s just being exacerbated now with the oil crisis.”

For more on what HR should consider about rising gas prices, keep reading here.—MC

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More small businesses are getting their employees ready for their golden years.

Nearly one-third (30%) of US small businesses (those with between two and 99 employees) offered their employees a retirement plan in 2025, up from 19% in 2019, according to a recent report from payroll platform Gusto. That means 21.1 million small-business employees had access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan last year, up from 15.5 million six years prior.

“It’s always been considered kind of a big-company benefit, even though it is [one of the] most-requested benefits of all employers,” Kevin Busque, Gusto’s head of retirement, told HR Brew.

For more on the proliferation of retirement benefits among small businesses, keep reading here.—MC

HR STRATEGY

Still waiting

A Zero Tolerance sign with a piece of paper taped over it reading 'Draft'

Illustration: Brittany Holloway-Brown, Photos: Adobe Stock

Ever wonder why airport security has signs that discourage violence against its workers, but some emergency departments don’t? Healthcare leaders say that’s because they aren’t sure how to phrase the signs without getting in trouble with regulators.

“The most basic element of prevention is often out of reach—that is, signage that sets expectations for respectful behavior and emphasizes that violence toward staff, patients, or visitors is unacceptable and could have consequences,” reads a Jan. 20 letter from medical societies and trade groups to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Forty-eight states have laws that outline penalties for violence against healthcare workers, ranging from fines to felony charges, as of June 2024.

The letter asked for clear written guidance with guardrails and examples of appropriate signage. As of publication the groups haven’t heard back from CMS, Laura Wooster, one of the letter’s leaders and the associate executive director of advocacy and practice affairs at medical society the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), told Healthcare Brew over email.

For more on violence against healthcare workers, keep reading on Healthcare Brew.—CC

WORK PERKS

A desktop computer plugged into a green couch.

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: Less than one-third of workers (28%) feel safe from layoffs. (Yahoo Finance)

Quote: “There’s very little follow up, a lot more game playing, you know, rope-a-dope type of politics…A lot of people aren’t paying attention at all.”—JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon on why he thinks remote work isn’t the best for most workers (Fortune)

Read: Burnout, childcare costs, and living expenses are crushing TSA workers while they’re working without pay. (Business Insider)

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Written by Mikaela Cohen and Caroline Catherman

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☕️ Rising gas prices may create retention challenges