How to Hand Work Off Before a Break
Taking an extended holiday soon? It’s a good idea to start planning now. A recent Harvard Business Review article suggested the ideal time to plan is four to six week ahead. Ideally, employees should find a colleague to act as a backup at least one month before.
Once the backup employee is found that person should be provided with a detailed handover document, listing any current projects, pending tasks, and instructions. Setting up a meeting before your departure to discuss the document with your colleague is also key. Additionally, be sure to include your backup in any important meetings and emails leading up to your break so your colleague is clued in on all tasks.
Lastly, it’s best to write a clear out-of-office message providing contact details for your backup.
Looking for a quick guide for a stress-free break:
- Find a backup.
- Determine what needs to be done while you are away.
- Create a handover document for your backup.
- Meet with your backup to discuss the handover document.
- Include your backup in important emails and meetings.
- Write a clear out-of-office message.
Happy holidays!
Highest State Minimum Wage Fails to Pass in California
This marks the first time a ballot measure in any state that proposed raising the minimum wage has failed since 1996.
In a rare loss for minimum wage backers, California voters narrowly rejected Proposition 32, a measure to raise the state’s minimum wage to US$18 an hour by 2026. The proposed rate would have been the highest state minimum wage in the county. With 96% of the vote in, voters rejected the measure by a margin of slightly more than 1.5% or about 244,000 votes.
This marks the first time a ballot measure in any state that proposed raising the minimum wage has failed since 1996, NBC News reported.
Current minimum wage rates in California are $16 per hour for most workers and $20 in the fast-food sector. The healthcare sector will eventually see its minimum wage reach $25 per hour under a law that Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed last year and took effect in October, the Associated Press reported.
Washington state’s minimum wage of $16.28 an hour is currently the highest state minimum wage. However, Hawaii’s minimum wage is set to gradually increase to $18 an hour in 2028 under a law passed in 2022.
About 40 California cities and counties already have minimum wages higher than the statewide rate, and six of them require minimums above $18 per hour as of this year, according to the Associated Press.
And while California’s increase was unsuccessful, voters in Alaska and Missouri readily approved ballot measures this month to raise their state minimum wages gradually to $15 an hour by 2026, according to NBC News projections, with increases after 2026 attached to economic data.