WISHRM Day on the Hill Recap
By Karla Dickson, CVSHRM interim Director of Member Communications
This past Valentine’s Day, HR professionals from around the state had the opportunity to show state legislators a little bit of love as we advocated for HR issues. This was WISHRM’s 5th annual Day on the Hill in Madison.
Before going to the capitol, we had a variety of educational sessions including a legal update, an update on what’s going on in the state capitol, and information on SHRM’s advocacy efforts through the SHRM A-Team. Once we got to the capitol, we focused on 3 issues to discuss with the legislatures.
I had the opportunity to meet with Sen. Smith and a staffer for Rep. Emerson to discuss these issues.
- Conflicts between state and federal family and medical leave provisions
Our position was that Wisconsin needs to align its family and medical leave provisions with the federal FMLA. As a result, administrative issues will decrease, the threat of costly penalties will decrease, and Wisconsin employers will be better aligned with neighboring states.
- Worker’s Compensation Cost Containment Reform
Wisconsin’s worker’s compensation system is an outlier, with some of the highest prices paid for medical care in the nation. We proposed utilizing a fee schedule (used by many other states) to control employer health care costs in the worker’s compensation system. This would limit what providers can charge for medical care for worker’s compensation claims.
- Exploring Legislative Strategies for Recruitment and Retention
We specifically focused on student loan repayment assistance as a strategy for recruitment and retention. We proposed that there should be tax incentives for employers to offer student loan repayment assistance, much like they receive incentives for tuition reimbursement, making Wisconsin an attractive state to live and work. This would especially be helpful in the Eau Claire area where we are often struggling to keep talent from leaving to work in the Twin Cities.