Human Resources: Helping Your Employees in Transition

By Wendy Nice Barnes, Vice President, Human Resources, eHealth, Inc.

With American unemployment rates at an historical high, chances are that at some point in the future you will need to help your company manage a workforce reduction. This period can be a difficult, emotional and overwhelming process for the employees involved. And, as an HR professional, you’re sure to encounter a number of questions from exiting employees as they assess their next steps and search for resources to help them.

How do I apply for unemployment benefits? Where can I turn for job search assistance? Are there any networking resources I can tap into? Do I have health insurance options?

As you know, managing a layoff is much more than simply handing an employee a packet of complicated forms. It’s an opportunity to counsel a valuable employee, treat them with respect, and represent the company in a positive manner. Your approach can influence whether employees come through the transition period stronger and more prepared to take on the new challenges they face. After all, former employees may return to your company or become a future business partner or client.

Following are some tips to help you prepare for what most consider a difficult and undesirable HR responsibility. With careful advanced preparation and knowledge about the variety of resources available for transitioning employees, you can play an instrumental role in helping your employees embark on the next phase of their career.

Advanced Planning

It’s an unfortunate fact that workforce reductions often come with little advanced warning. This is especially true with the volatility of our current economy. So, even if your company is stable and profitable, it is advisable to prepare a solid management plan that you can pull out in the event of a workforce reduction.

When you begin your planning process, carefully consider what the employee needs to survive this typically unwelcome transition. What questions will they have? And possibly even more important, what questions might they not know to ask?

Knowing when and how to apply for unemployment benefits is one of the primary areas of confusion for an employee suddenly facing job loss. Each state administers a separate unemployment insurance program within the guidelines established by Federal law. It is important that you understand any differences in the state requirements for all states in which your company has employees. Eligibility for unemployment insurance, benefit amounts and the length of time benefits are available are determined by the state law under which unemployment insurance claims are applied for.

In general, benefits are based on a percentage of an individual’s earnings over a recent 52-week period and can be paid for a maximum of 26 weeks in most states. Benefits are subject to Federal income taxes – something many employees don’t know. Also, they must be reported on the employee’s Federal income tax return. Employees can elect to have the tax withheld by the State Unemployment Insurance agency when they file for benefits.

Another one of the most critical decisions employees will need to make is about their health insurance coverage. Health coverage is very important to Americans. In fact, according to a recent national study commissioned by eHealthInsurance.com, Americans are about as unlikely to pay their health insurance premium late as they are to be late paying their mortgage.1 So information on post-employment health care options, including COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) and COBRA alternatives, should play an important part in any exit interview.

COBRA education is especially important because, according to the survey, four in 10 adults know little or nothing about COBRA. Sixty percent of adults surveyed did not know that individually purchased health insurance can be less expensive than COBRA. Additionally, only 45 percent of respondents were aware that individually purchased health insurance can provide similar benefits to a COBRA plan.1

By researching critical areas such as these in advance of a possible layoff, you will be better prepared to help your employees navigate through the sea of forms and requirements that face them and identify those resources that may also help them most.

Available Resources

Thankfully, there is no shortage of excellent resources available to help you inform your transitioning employees. From resources that help answer critical questions about health insurance and unemployment benefits, to outplacement and job search organizations, resume assistance and career networks, there are many places employees can go for assistance. Below are some of the many places available for information and help.
Unemployment Benefits and Resources
How will I pay my bills? Naturally, this is often the first question that is often raised during a layoff meeting. There are a number of sites available to help employees understand how their unemployment benefits work, including:
· Federal Department of Labor: http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/unemployment-insurance/
· CareerOneStop: www.servicelocator.org/owslinks.asp
· Directory of state unemployment offices: http://employeeissues.com/unemployment_offices.htm
· About.com article on how to apply for unemployment insurance: http://jobsearch.about.com/od/unemployment/a/fileunemploy.htm

COBRA, Private and Public Health Insurance Information
How do I maintain my health insurance coverage? This is typically the next question most employees will ask; to which most HR departments traditionally reply with information about COBRA. Indeed, COBRA coverage is an important option for many employees – especially those with pre-existing health conditions – because individuals cannot be denied coverage based on their medical history. However, since consumers may pay up to 102 percent of the premium that was partially covered by their employer under that plan, COBRA can be very expensive. By comparing rates and purchasing individual insurance through a resource such as eHealthInsurance.com, consumers can save potentially as much as 60 percent over COBRA premiums. 1
There are online resources available to help employees learn more about their COBRA option and the variety of available COBRA alternatives, which may help them to save money during a time when reducing expenses is especially critical. A few include:
· Federal Department of Labor COBRA Summary: http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/health-plans/cobra.htm
· Your Ultimate Health Coverage Guide (COBRA): http://www.coverageforall.org/pdf/FHCECOBRABooklet.pdf
· Information on private health insurance (COBRA Alternatives): http://www.COBRAlearning.com
· Information on public health insurance programs: http://www.coverageforall.org;
Outplacement, job search and resume information
How do I find a new job? This is usually the next concern once unemployment benefits and health coverage have been addressed. Below are some useful resources for outplacement services, job search websites, salary comparisons and resume help:
Outplacement Services:
· Yahoo directory of outplacement firms: http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Business_to_Business/Corporate_Services/Human_Resources/Outplacement_Services/

Job Search Websites/Job Boards:
· Monster.com: http://www.monster.com/
· HotJobs: http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/
· Glassdoor: http://www.glassdoor.com/ (free career and workplace community where users can find and anonymously share reviews, ratings and salary details about specific jobs for specific employers)
· Indeed: http://www.indeed.com/ (job search engine)
· Career Builder: http://www.careerbuilder.com
· CraigsList: www.craigslist.com
· “Job Hunter’s Bible” website published by author of “What Color is Your Parachute”: http://www.jobhuntersbible.com/jobhunting/
· Job hunting tips: http://www.resumania.com/careertipsindex.html
· Online job search guide: http://www.job-hunt.org/

Resume Help:
· Resume writing and other job search tools: http://www.resume-help.org/
· How to write an effective resume: http://rockportinstitute.com/resumes.html
· Resume search optimization tool and job search blog: http://recareered.blogspot.com/

Career Search Networks
How do I reach and network with other laid off workers? When facing a career change, people may feel alone, and connecting with others in their same situation can be comforting and helpful. Career search networks can be a great way for newly unemployed workers to find others that are facing the same challenges and difficult questions. Following are some great career search network sources:
· New York Times Shifting Careers Blog: http://shiftingcareers.blogs.nytimes.com/
· Career Transition Blog – A Day in the Life: http://jimrowland.blogspot.com/
· Secrets of the Job Hunt Blog, Information and Networking Tool: http://www.secretsofthejobhunt.com/

Stress Management Resources
How do I deal with the stress and emotions associated with being laid off? A layoff can be an exceptionally stressful and overwhelming experience. Stress management resources like those below can help individuals get back on track following this major life change.
· Managing the stress of layoff and unemployment: http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/layoff/stress.htm
· Unemployment and job loss support: http://job-search.suite101.com/article.cfm/unemployment_job_loss_advice
· Surviving a layoff: http://www.jobs.state.ak.us/TAA/survive.htm

Miscellaneous Links to Articles that Help Employees in Transition
What should I do first? There are so many resources available for employees facing a job or career change – sometimes it’s difficult to know where to start. Following are some valuable resources that can help set workers down the path in the right direction and answer a number of other questions along the way:
· The Layoff Survival Guide: http://www.layoffsurvivalguide.com
· What to do before plunging into the job search: http://www.wisebread.com/laid-off-what-to-do-before-plunging-into-the-job-search
· What to do if you’re laid off in the 2008 recession: http://scobleizer.com/2008/01/23/what-to-do-if-youre-laid-off-in-2008-recession

Ensure a Positive Transition Experience through “Follow Up”

For the exiting employee, the initial layoff meeting can be an emotional event – one where they may not be focused on the practical and thoughtful advice that an HR manager is there to provide. To assure that your guidance and advice is most effective, follow up after the meeting to check in with the employee and offer additional information. This can be the most effective way to create a positive exit experience, as the employee will have had time to distill the news and think with a clear head.

It’s during a follow up session when employees are more able to review and absorb the resources and advice you are providing to them. A follow up session is also a productive way to ensure that the departure is as gracious possible for the employee and your company.

Helping employees manage through a transition in their employment is not an easy job. Providing comprehensive information and resources is the best way to minimize the pain and uncertainty of a transition. To assist you in passing this information along to employees in need, you can find all of these tips, with clickable links, by visiting www.ehealth.com/transition and clicking on the link near the bottom of the page entitled “Resources for Employees in Transition.”

Source:

(1) According to an eHealthInsurance commissioned nationwide survey of over 1,000 respondents to understand consumer awareness of COBRA and other health insurance alternatives. Survey conducted on the telephone September 5-8, 2008 among a random national sample of 1,004 adults 18 years and older. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2% among the total sample of 1004 adults. Certain questions did not apply to all of the respondents due to their responses to other survey questions. As a result, the sample size was smaller for those questions, which causes the margin of error to be greater. Opinion Research Corporation of Princeton, NJ, conducted the fieldwork.