Welcome to the Human Resource Association of Palm Beach County

2019 HRPBC Annual Best in HR Awards

HRPBC’s Annual Best in HR Awards for 2019 has been designed as an annual event to celebrate and recognize Human Resources excellence for HRPBC professional members and their organizations who exemplify outstanding achievement within our membership. 

This year our Best in HR Awards event will take place at our Annual Holiday Party on Thursday, December 12th at 6:00 PM at the Kravis Center Cohen Pavilion.  Members and their guests will enjoy an elegant evening with friends, colleagues and guests as we celebrate the holidays, present the awards and reflect on our chapter successes for 2019.    

Nominations for 2019 HRPBC's Best in HR Awards are now being accepted. Nominate someone, yourself, or a HR department you know! 

- HR Professional of the Year
- Best in HR Department of the Year
- Best Volunteer Leader
- HR Lifetime Achievement (*This category will be nominated and voted on by the HRPBC Board of Directors )

Member Only Nominations will be accepted from September 1 through November 1.

Click the titles to download the form and submit today!

September 17 Dinner Event 

Title: “Understanding Obesity and the impact of workplace bias”
Speaker: Sarah Bramblette, MSHL

Sarah M. Bramblette, MSHL, serves on the Obesity Action Coalition National Board of Directors and co-chairs the OAC Access to Care Committee. She is also Chair of the Lymphedema Advocacy Group.

Living with both Lipedema and Lymphedema she shares her life experience to spread awareness about her conditions while advocating for improved diagnosis, treatment, and insurance coverage for obesity and fat disorders.  In addition to a BA in English, she earned a BS in Health Services Administration from Barry University in 2009, and completed her MS in Health Law from Nova Southeastern University in June 2015.  She combines her personal story and knowledge of policy and law to power her advocacy efforts.  Her advocacy earned her the honor of being 2014 OAC Member of the Year.  She has appeared on the syndicated daytime television show The Doctors, and gave a talk at TEDxNSU 2015 titled “Breaking Bias” about weight bias in healthcare.


Outline:

• Intro - My Story: Why I joined OAC
• Obesity as a Disease
• Weight Bias in the Workplace
• Obesity and Insurance Coverage
• Is Obesity covered by ADA?
• Additional Resources
• Q&A

 Applied for HRCI and SHRM Credits.

Pre-Meeting Workshop

Title: “Where are we 52 years after the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)? Do we need a Me Too Movement for older workers?”
Speaker:  Karen Roberts and Area Agency on Aging/Encore (Click here for Bio)

The ADEA is becoming more relevant as 10,000 baby boomers celebrate their 65th birthday daily until 2030. The oldest segment of the workforce (age 65+) is expected to grow the fastest through 2024.

What has been happening legislatively? What is the EEOC doing about age discrimination? Actually, they have been remarkably aggressive about pursuing it.

Seasons 52 paid almost $3M recently to settle ADEA claims it denied jobs to 40+ applicants. Part of the testimony included a statement by a Seasons 52 manager who indicated that "Seasons 52 girls are younger and fresh".

The EEOC also settled an ADEA claim recently for $12M with the Texas Roadhouse steakhouse Chain. 

So age discrimination in the workplace is alive and well in 2019.

In a new AARP survey, three in five workers aged 45 and older reported being victims of age discrimination or having witnessed it.

Older workers who lose a job have much more difficulty finding a new job than younger workers. 

It’s a fact that age discrimination remains a costly and significant problem for workers, their families and the economy. Today's experienced workers are healthier, more educated and working and living longer than previous generations.  

It’s also a fact that age-diverse teams and workforces are more engaged than homogenous counterparts. Experienced workers have talent our nation cannot afford to waste. 

What can pro-active HR professionals do to ensure their companies do not find themselves afoul of the ADEA and how can companies benefit from the demographic transition currently impacting the workforce?

How can HR professionals prepare for the aging workforce and leverage it as a strategic advantage? 

This workshop will answer the above questions and will 1) review the current legislative climate and 2) set the stage for building the business case and action steps to take to prepare for an aging workforce. The workshop will leverage the templates and tools outlined in SHRM's 2016 publication entitled "Preparing for an Aging Workforce: Strategies, Templates and Tools for HR Professionals".

Special attention will be paid to recruiting and maintaining a mature workforce as well as ways to leverage a generationally diverse workforce.

Title: “Connecting people over 50 with new work”
Speaker:  Rosemary Nixon, Encore Palm Beach County (Click here for Bio)

The impetus for the creation of Encore initially was my work as a financial advisor working with people to plan for retirement.  Our focus was financial as most retirement planning was in 1996 and as it is now.  However, I saw most people had no idea of what they wanted for their life in retirement.  There are some people who have a plan, but most do not.  I was inspired to create Encore PBC after reading Marc Freedman’s book “Encore” in which he pointed out that the retiring Boomer generation, 10,000 of whom retire every day at 65, is the largest generation of retirees in our history, the best educated, healthiest, experienced in many careers with the gift of a longevity that has never been seen before in human history.  This is a vast reservoir of experience, wisdom and talent we can’t afford to waste, and yet we are:  because of discrimination and because people get little or no help in planning for retirement.  Encore PBC is now part of a national network of Encore programs all over the U.S. and other countries.  49 years ago I created the Retired Senior Volunteer Program for Hartford, Conn. and did workshops in corporations with people planning to retire to recruit them into volunteer service.  But little or nothing is being done like that now.  It is the rare company that helps retiring employees transition into new work or volunteer service.

Encore PBC initially focused on tapping into the talent of people retiring to PBC to be volunteers, but as we held programs, people 55 to 76 coming to us were looking for work, full-time, part-time, contract work.  Many needed the income because of the financial havoc from having lost jobs because of age discrimination and the loss of income working longer would have brought, losses from the Great Recession and the housing debacle.  Financial insecurity for the older person can lead to health issues and the need for social services that are a cost to our economy.  Job seekers were also frustrated with online job boards that discriminate against older workers.  Two years ago, I spoke to this group and at that time there were very few programs locally to help older workers find jobs.  Since then we have identified and developed relationships with a number of programs and people we can now refer the job seeker to, because people need personal connection.  Twenty-five of these resources that we refer people to,  have been gathered on our website.  However, as a volunteer organization with no funding we are limited in our ability to reach even a small percent of the 530,000 people over 50 in PBC (and growing).

Despite the challenges, Encore PBC seeks to address these problems through alliances with employers, non-profit organizations and educational programs.  Our future initiatives will include development of a program to encourage and recognize age-friendly employers, those who are committed to retaining, re-training and hiring mature workers.  We are also planning focus groups with local employers in several Chambers of Commerce to discuss the realities of our aging workforce, the benefits mature workers bring, the challenges in creating intergenerational workforces, and the economic contribution mature workers make to our economy.

Because we receive requests for help from various employers, we are considering the posting of opportunities on our website, along with a data base of skills people have to offer; connection to programs that offer the soft-skill training that employers, in a Survey done by Careersource Florida, stated is needed; as well as a focus on the 50+ entrepreneur.  We would like to work with employers to provide programs to encourage voluntarism and non-financial retirement planning to aid employees in a staged transition to retirement.

Applied for HRCI and SHRM Credits.

BREAKFAST Event @ Lynn University - September 26 

Let Lynn University Breakfast Forums Hone Your Strategic Business Skills!

More information to come soon!

Join us on Thursday, September 26, 2019 presented in partnership with the business and HR faculty of Lynn University:

Where: Elaine's, ground floor of the new University Center Building, Lynn University, 3601 N Military Trail, Boca Raton, FL 33444

Agenda:  

• 7:30 am – 8:00 am - Registration and Networking
• 8:00 am – 9:00 am - Breakfast, Announcements, Presentation & Q&A

Cost: $25

Registration is limited to 50 attendees, so register now!

This program has been applied for SHRM PDC and HRCI recert credit. 

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2019 Competitive Edge Series: Happy Hour for HR in Transition

Happy Hour Monday: Click here for more info & to register!    

When: 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM; Free Video Conference Call
What: 2019 Competitive Edge Series: Happy Hour for HR in Transition

Click here to view September, October & November 2019 offerings!

This blog has been established by Mike Powers, in partnership with the Panelists of the Competitive Edge Series.  Our blog’s purpose is to function as an interactive guide that will contribute toward upward mobility and career advancement for the progressive HR professional. All levels of HR Professionals are encouraged to participate as an anonymous or publicly seen HR Business Leader and or Contributing Writer.

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Follow us on Twitter, Like-us on Facebook, Connect with us on LinkedIn, and Watch us on YouTube. Simply click on the hyperlinks to view HRPBC pages. 

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