January
2021 

HR InTouch

The Monthly Newsletter of the Greater Madison Area SHRM

In This Edition

President's Message

By Brittany Hanson, MBA, PHR

COVID-19 Resources 

Information for Madison Area HR Professionals
 

Government Affairs & Legal Updates

Reminders for Employers About January 1 and FMLA Leave

WISHRM (Virtual) Day on the Hill and the Government Affairs Committee

Professional Development


January 19th PDS - Focus on Diversity & Inclusion

March 9th PDS - Focus on Retaining Top Talent

Virtual Roundtables Extended Into 2021!
 

Compensation & Benefits

Wisconsin College Savings Plan – Financial Wellness!
 

Workforce Readiness, Diversity & Inclusion


Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Resource Page - Coming Soon!
 

GMA SHRM Media Relations


Newsletter Updates


GMA SHRM News & Upcoming Events


Introducting Madison HR Chat!

GMA SHRM Virtual Student Night Out was a Success!

January 19th PDS - Focus on Diversity and Inclusion

 

GMA SHRM Member News

Welcome New Members!

Member Awards and Recognition

In Transition

 


 

 

President's Message

GMA SHRM
2021 Corporate Partners

Platinum Level

Boardman & Clark Law Firm
Delta Dental
Hausmann-Johnson Insurance Group
The Payroll Company
The QTI Group
UW Credit Union
UW Center for Professional &
  Executive Development

Paylocity

Gold Level

Career Momentum
Group Health Cooperative of
  South Central Wisconsin

The Alliance

Silver Level

Cottingham Butler
Edvest Wisconsin
Littler
Reynolds Transfer

Bronze Level

Connect Search LLC
Edgewood College
Madison Capitols Hockey
Madison Metro
M3 Insurance
Quartz
Restaino & Associates Relocation
Workforce Solutions

Thank you!

 


Click to view video message from GMA SHRM President, 
Brittany Hanson, MBA, PHR
 

Hi GMA SHRM Members, 

 

Happy New Year GMA SHRM Members!  2021 is here – yes!  You make GMA SHRM such a thriving local SHRM chapter and we are so excited for what’s to come this year.  With pandemic uncertainty still lingering, most (if not all) programming in 2021 will be virtual.  We want to make sure you get the quality continuing education you want and need in 2021. 
 
Our first PDS is right around the corner!  Join us on January 19th via Zoom for a PDS focusing on Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion – a great way to kick off 2021.  And speaking of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, our amazing volunteers & chapter admin are putting together an HR DE&I Resource Page just for you – it’s coming soon.  In the meantime, log into the Madison HR Chat to ask questions and share your best practices on all things DE&I in the workplace.
 
One perk of being virtual is that you don’t have to scrape your car or bundle up to attend a GMA SHRM HR Roundtable – they’re all still virtual.  Be sure to stay connected with your HR Community and attend a virtual HR Round Table.  Thanks to Dawn Koopman, Melissa Chadwick, & Tracy Niesen-Bruenig (and their subs!) for keeping these going. 
 
This month your GMA SHRM Board of Directors are meeting for our mid-year strategic planning retreat and volunteers are welcome!  If you are a volunteer interested in being on the Board of Directors someday, or just interested in how things work behind the scenes for our chapter, this is a great event to attend. 
 
The WI-SHRM Day on the Hill is still happening in February virtually – this is a really popular event. If you want to learn more about this event, or register, visit the website online for details. 
 
We want to officially welcome our 2021 Corporate Partners!  And thank our volunteers Chris Storlie, Brittany Gill, Sam Raddle, & Laura Bermudo for supporting our Corporate Partnership Program.
 
I’ll hopefully see you soon at our PDS, the Strategic Planning Retreat, or a Virtual Roundtable.  If you ever have any questions about being a GMA SHRM member, feel free to ask me.  Take care! 

 
Brittany Hanson, MBA, PHR
President
GMA SHRM

Click here to view the full GMA SHRM Board of Directors


 

COVID-19 Resources

Information for Madison Area HR Professionals

GMA SHRM HR COVID-19 Resource Page

This page has direct links to:

  • SHRM HR Specific Resources
  • Government Agency Websites
  • Partner Pages with HR specific COVID-19 resources representing:
    • HR Law
    • Best Practices
    • Managing a suddenly remote workforce
    • Finance
    • More... 

Our informal HR Roundtables are going virtual!  

These less formal gatherings will be getting together 3 times in April and you are welcome to join.  Learn more about the Roundtables and check out the online times here.




 

Government Affairs & Legal Updates

Reminders for Employers About January 1 and FMLA Leave

Submitted from Brian P. Goodman, GMA SHRM Programming Member, and Sarah J. Horner, both Attorneys at Boardman & Clark LLP

 

Brian P. Goodman
Sarah J. Horner

The beginning of 2021 is a great time for employers to review their obligations under Wisconsin’s Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Wisconsin FMLA always uses the calendar year (January 1st to December 31st) for calculating employee leave allotments, so regardless of your organization’s chosen federal FMLA year, be prepared for some employees to be entitled to more protected leave as the year begins.
 
Generally, all employers with 50 or more employees are subject to both Wisconsin and federal FMLA. Each law has slightly different hour and pay requirements for employees to qualify for the leave. Specifically, employees have to have worked a certain continuous amount of time and worked or been paid for sufficient hours with the employer to qualify for each type of FMLA leave. However, this brief article focuses on FMLA allotments for employees that have met the qualification requirements for both leaves.
 
Wisconsin FMLA leave is divided into three specific buckets. Within a calendar year, an employee may take: 6 weeks of leave for birth or adoption; 2 weeks of leave to help care for the serious health condition of qualifying family member; and, 2 weeks of leave for an employee's own serious health condition. By contrast, federal FMLA provides one 12-week bucket of leave for birth, adoption, and the serious health conditions of the employee and the employee’s qualifying family.
 
The interplay between these two laws can create significant confusion. When an employee's leave qualifies for both federal and Wisconsin FMLA, the leave runs concurrently. However, certain leave will reduce the leave allotment for only one or the other.
 
Scenario: An employee has a spouse with a serious health condition which requires the employee to provide care for the spouse. The employer elected the 12-month “rolling backwards” calendar for federal FMLA leave. The employee began leave on October 12, 2020. For the first 2 weeks of leave, the employee depleted both their federal and Wisconsin FMLA allotments. The remaining 10 weeks of leave continues to deplete the employee's remaining federal FMLA allotment. However, the employee gets 2 more weeks of Wisconsin FMLA at the start of 2021. This effectively gives the employee 14 weeks of protected leave, rather than 12 weeks. The employee won’t be eligible for federal FMLA leave again until October 12, 2021.
 
Another complicating factor in calculating FMLA leave is the application of Expanded FMLA under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which allowed employees to take paid leave due to certain instances of childcare unavailability and school closure. This form of FFCRA leave counted against employees’ federal FMLA leave allotment but not their Wisconsin FMLA leave allotments.
 
This article just skims the surface of the complexities of FMLA leave. As we begin a new year, you should take this opportunity to review your FMLA policies and practices to ensure you are properly providing both state and federal FMLA leave to your employees when required by law.
 

Return to Top


 


WISHRM (Virtual) Day on the Hill and the Government Affairs Committee

Submitted by Hilary Stone, GMA SHRM Director of Government Affairs and HR Generalist at UW Madison Engineering Professional Development

Anything happen recently in politics? Any changes to be aware of?  Maybe a few!

The WISHRM Virtual Day on the Hill event on February 18th will provide you with a half-day of education, legal updates, advocacy, and networking opportunities with your HR colleagues and legislators.

WISHRM is planning for a legal update, legislative and advocacy updates from National SHRM Government Affairs, multiple Networking Roundtables facilitated by industry professionals, and a panel discussion with legislators and/or staff from the Wisconsin State Legislature.

Looking to stay connected year around?  The goal of the Government Affairs Committee is to share legislative information with our fellow GMA SHRM members through newsletter articles, events, and other resources in an objective and non-partisan manner. 
 
Our committee is always looking for new volunteers who are interested in legal updates, employment law, and human resources legislation. Some ways to get involved on our committee include:   

  • Meeting as a group (usually during happy hour) to discuss current legislative topics and events four to six times per year.
  • Assisting with programming such as the annual Legal Update/Professional Development Summit and volunteering at the annual WI SHRM Day on the Hill event held at the Wisconsin State Capitol.
  • Connecting with the national SHRM Advocacy A-Team as an HR Advocate to learn more about federal issues and if you choose, personally advocating on HR-related issues with your elected officials on behalf of yourself or your employer. 
For more information about the GMA SHRM Government Affairs Committee, please contact Director of Government Affairs Hilary Stone or Committee Chair Wanda Manning.
 

 Return to Top
 
 

Professional Development

January 19th PDS - Focus on Diversity & Inclusion

Session 1:  Inclusive Hiring

 

Session 2:  3 Strategies to Improve Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Practices!

Presented By:   Gautam Jayanthi and Amy Kesling, Step Up for Equity
•8:00am-10:00am

 

Presented by:  Lisa Koenecke
•10:15am-12:15pm

Participants will learn to:   

  • Identify how bias influences each stage of the recruitment cycle.
  • Define the role of the hiring team in advancing equity in the organization.
  • Identify practices that will keep the hiring team committed to making equity a priority in the organization.

 

Participants will learn:

  • Learn how to SHOW DEI efforts
  • Define how to SHIFT from a small a ally to a capital A Ally
  • SHAPE policies and procedures to promote an Inclusive and Belonging Culture







 
  
 
Return to Top

March 9 PDS - Focus on Retaining Top Talent

Session 1:  HR Trends: The New World of Work

 

Session 2:  Staying Positive During Change & Uncertainty   

Presented By:   Summer Rector, The QTI Group
•8:00am-10:00am

 

Presented by:  Tina Hallis, Ph.D.
•10:15am-12:15pm

Participants will learn to:    

  • Learn about the top HR challenges and what high performing organizations are doing to attract, retain, and engage talent
  • Learn how your organization can make forward progress in diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments and actions
  • Learn about the compensation, benefits, well-being, and career trends to optimize your total rewards investment

 

Participants will learn:

  • Gain a deeper understanding of the meaning and importance of positivity in people’s lives and in your organization
  • Leave with ideas on how to increase and promote positivity in your people and organization based on Positive Psychology
  • Discover a new appreciation for the power of our thoughts and how to tap into that power for more success

 
 






 
 
 

Virtual Roundtables Extended Into 2021!


Thanks to some amazing GMA SHRM volunteers, our popular virtual roundtables are continuing into 2021!  These less formal virtual gatherings are held 3 times per month on Zoom.   

More information about our Roundtables and registration can be found here!


Return to Top

Compensation & Benefits

Wisconsin College Savings Plan – Financial Wellness!

Submitted by Khalil Ali, Edvest at Work - Wisconsin's 529 College Savings Plan 

Did you know Edvest is now available as an employee benefit?  Edvest is the tax-advantaged 529 savings plan sponsored by the State of Wisconsin. Edvest at Work is a financial wellness solution to help your employees save for their children’s or grandchildren’s higher education, moderate student debt and build a skilled Wisconsin workforce.

By offering Edvest at Work, you can educate your employees on the importance of saving for their children’s or grandchildren’s future higher education costs, and encourage them to save directly from their paychecks

Plus, employers that contribute to employees’ Edvest accounts may be eligible for a state tax credit equal to 25 percent of the total contribution.


 

Workforce Readiness, Diversity & Inclusion

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Resource Page - Coming Soon!

Submitted by Mary Vesely (Moua), Employee Engagement & Inclusion Manager at Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation and GMA SHRM Director of Diversity

As we try to put 2020 behind us and start the new year fresh, we have not forgotten the importance of what we learned and will continue to work toward. Our committee is working hard on creating a DEI resource page to provide our members with the necessary resources around creating a more diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace. The focus will not only be on the workplace, but also on ourselves. Inclusion truly does start with “I”, and you can’t have inclusion without diversity. It starts on an individual level and flows into our daily interactions with family, friends, co-workers, and our community.
Here is a preview to our DEI page:
  • Learning Resource Center
    • National SHRM Resources
    • Training Materials: Intro to DEI, Training resources for individual contributors and managers/leadership, mental health resources, policy writing, webinars/recordings, events, and more!
  • How Organizations can support DEI
  • How to Get Started with a DEI Program in your workplace
GMA SHRM members, this page is for YOU! We welcome any/all contributions as we continue to build this page. This may include additional learning materials to add to our existing or a new section, recommendations on books/movies/documentaries/TedTalks, stories or experiences that impacted you/helped you gain perspective, authentic recipes for a diversity recipe book, diversity observances to add to a calendar section, etc. Contact Mary Vesely, Director of the Diversity Committee at mary.vesely@fairwaymc.com if you are interested in joining our committee, or simply sharing thoughts/suggestions for this page.
 
Return to Top


 

GMA SHRM Media Relations

Newsletter Updates

 

Newsletter Coordinator: We welcome any feedback regarding topics of interests, suggestions or general comments of what you’d like to see in future newsletters.  After all, this is meant for YOU!  Please feel free to reach out to me, Sarah Hart, at sarah.hart@infosecinstitute.com with any ideas or suggestions.


Return to Top

GMA SHRM News & Upcoming Events

Introducing Madison HR Chat!
 

Are you aware of the Madison HR Chat function on our website? This is a great way for members to share information and ask questions of others.

Please check out this short video which shows you how to use the chat function, which is free with your membership!


 



GMA SHRM Virtual Student Night Out was a SUCCESS!

Submitted by Arlette Kambwa-Gitau, Human Resources Advisor Manager at American Family Insurance and GMA SHRM Director of College Relations
 
Student Night Out is a premier event hosted by GMA SHRM for students that are pursuing a career in Human Resources to learn more about the field from local HR professionals. There were over 25 students from various colleges throughout Southern Wisconsin who attended the first virtual event in November 2020.
 
Emily Bradley, Director of Talent Acquisition at First Business Bank, kicked-off the event as the keynote speaker sharing her professional experience and advice on HR in the World of COVID-19. The event included a four-person panel with Fisnik Lumani, Talent Acquisition Manager at UW Credit Union, Diego Campoverde-Cisneros, Manager of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Quartz, Rae Johannessen, UW Madison Student majoring in HR, and Jennifer Day, HR Business Partner at Zendesk. The panelists answered a lot of great questions posed by the students. 
 
Students also learned about the benefits of SHRM and our student scholarship program. 
If you are looking to get more involved in the HR profession while also giving back to the community, please consider joining the GMA SHRM College Relations Committee or any of the other GMA SHRM Committees.

The GMA SHRM college relations committee consists of Alicia Genin, Andrea Wyant, Kayla Lubenow, Erin Faella and Arlette Kambwa-Gitau.



Return to Top

January 19th PDS - Focus on Diversity & Inclusion

Session 1:  Inclusive Hiring

 

Session 2:  3 Strategies to Improve Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Practices!

Presented By:   Gautam Jayanthi and Amy Kesling, Step Up for Equity
•8:00am-10:00am

 

Presented by:  Lisa Koenecke
•10:15am-12:15pm

Participants will learn to:   

  • Identify how bias influences each stage of the recruitment cycle.
  • Define the role of the hiring team in advancing equity in the organization.
  • Identify practices that will keep the hiring team committed to making equity a priority in the organization.

 

Participants will learn:

  • Learn how to SHOW DEI efforts
  • Define how to SHIFT from a small a ally to a capital A Ally
  • SHAPE policies and procedures to promote an Inclusive and Belonging Culture







 
 




 

 


Return to Top
 

March 9 PDS - Focus on Retaining Top Talent

Session 1:  HR Trends: The New World of Work

 

Session 2:  Staying Positive During Change & Uncertainty   

Presented By:   Summer Rector, The QTI Group
•8:00am-10:00am

 

Presented by:  Tina Hallis, Ph.D.
•10:15am-12:15pm

Participants will learn to:    

  • Learn about the top HR challenges and what high performing organizations are doing to attract, retain, and engage talent
  • Learn how your organization can make forward progress in diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments and actions
  • Learn about the compensation, benefits, well-being, and career trends to optimize your total rewards investment

 

Participants will learn:

  • Gain a deeper understanding of the meaning and importance of positivity in people’s lives and in your organization
  • Leave with ideas on how to increase and promote positivity in your people and organization based on Positive Psychology
  • Discover a new appreciation for the power of our thoughts and how to tap into that power for more success


 
 






 
 
 
 


 

GMA SHRM Member News

Welcome New Members!

GMA SHRM welcomes the following members who joined our chapter in November 2020!

Aubree Alexander Bluetree Network
Khaleel Ali Edvest Wisconsin - TIAA
Mary Corcoran Cottingham & Butler
Alicia Kiser M3 Insurance Solutions
Laura Kitoi Edgewood College
Missy Mael Rape Crisis Center
Jeremy Mason TeamLogicIT
Chezney Phelps  
Kevin Pytleski Edvest Wisconsin - TIAA


Return to Top


 

Member Awards and Recognition

Gail Johnson, Corporate Relocation Manager and Concierge Director for Restaino & Associates Realtors, and GMA SHRM member and volunteer, was recently interviewed by Vicky Franchino with CaffeineClariity.com. Read the full article here.




Have you recently earned a professional achievement award? If so, we want to hear about it. 
If so, we want to hear about it. Send us an e-mail, and we’ll publish your good news in the next HR InTouch!  

Return to Top




 


In Transition


If you are a member who is in between jobs, or who is currently employed but seeking new positions or career paths, write us a brief description of your skill set, areas of expertise, what you’re looking for, etc. Send us an e-mail. We’ll publish your information in the next HR InTouch.

Return to Top 


 


HR InTouch Guidelines

Article Writing:

Do you have an interest in writing for the HR InTouch? We have an interest in learning more about your area of expertise!

Why should you volunteer? Top three reasons: 1) to share your knowledge and experiences to educate others; 2) to become more connected in the HR and Dane County communities; and 3) to contribute towards the advancement of GMA SHRM and the HR profession.

The first step is for you to choose a submission option: you can pre-submit an article to GMA SHRM at any time for us to use in any of the upcoming newsletters, you can sign up to write for a particular month, or we can put you on a list of people to contact in future months whenever we need articles.

Article length:

Because the HR InTouch is now in an online format, the size is flexible. The article should be engaging and hold readers’ attention. Include the core information in your article, and we will advise if it is too lengthy.

Solicitation:

GMA SHRM is conscious not to allow solicitation through the articles, in an effort to protect the interests of our partners and members. The nature of the article should be educational (i.e., what are the business advantages of having a product like yours) or informational. Otherwise, if you truly are interested in advertising through the HR InTouch, you can work with our Marketing Committee. As a rule of thumb for article writing, if the submission relates to a for-profit event, or specifically markets your company (vs. your industry), it is an advertisement, and should be purchased. If it is a not-for-profit event that your company is hosting, or an announcement (i.e., a SHRM member recently joined your company), it is an acceptable addition to the HR InTouch content. If you have any questions related to the appropriateness of your submission, please contact us.

If you have questions, or to submit an article, contact GMA SHRM at chapteradmin@gmashrm.org .

 

 Amended

 

 
Return to Top