In March of 2020, working from home became the new normal for many people. Organizations may not have been prepared for this new normal, but ready or not, the transition needed to be made. Some employers went with the Band-Aid approach of doing what they needed to do to get by temporarily, while others fully embraced the challenge and sought the potential long-term advantages that it offered to employer and employees alike. Most employers did not expect this new normal to last as long as it has, or for it to bring so many unforeseen challenges.
Do you feel like you still don’t know what you don’t know in this new normal world of working from home, even if it seems from the outside like you have a handle on things? Since it appears that we could be in this situation for a while longer, we would like to offer you a valuable resource for consideration to kick off your year in the right direction. Please feel free to download a complimentary copy of our Remote Work Guide, which offers insight into Compliance Requirements, Logistical Considerations, and Culture Matters.
Also, have you considered what technology can do to help create a people-centric workplace, even in today's remote work environment? Let’s summarize some scenarios that the Remote Work Guide explores in detail as examples of how technology can contribute to a unified workforce, even when the employees who make up that workforce are operating from home.
Compliance Requirements
Logging Hours and Preparing Paychecks – With a cloud-based system that integrates Time and Labor Management (TLM) and payroll, making sure people aren’t logging too many overtime hours, that they are taking their breaks and lunches, and that they are being paid for all hours worked easily become an automated process that does not feel invasive or like big brother is watching.
Workplace Posters – The days of employees seeing the bulletin board in the lunchroom or by the water cooler have passed. That doesn’t mean that the requirements to make workplace posters available and visible are not still in effect. With a Human Capital Management (HCM) system, posters can be made available along with all company documents for employees to reference electronically at any time.
FMLA and Other Leave Eligibility – Who is having fun tracking all of the FMLA, EFMLA, EPSLA, and other state leave requirements? If you answered no, you may want to consider an automated system that will do this for you. Rules can be set up to pay employees correctly based on leave type and/or company policy. For example, you may want to automate a policy that says employees do or don’t need to exhaust other leave types, like PTO or vacation, in order to receive pay from the programs. Entitlement time is also tracked and documented, so when leaves are exhausted there is no confusion.
Logistical Considerations
Remote Work Policy – It is important that everyone working away from the physical workplace understand the expectations and be on the same page. Therefore, it is a really strong recommendation to have a Remote Work Policy. Policies can be distributed through an HCM system, and electronic signatures can be obtained, and acknowledged documents stored, in the employee’s electronic employee record...all automated and seamless.
Culture Matters
Rethink Your Future Workplace – Using the contact features of an HCM system, you can easily survey your employees through electronic means to see whether they like working from home, what kind of arrangement they want going forward, or any other areas you would like their feedback on.
Cloud-based HCM systems were built to support a wide range of workforces, wherever they might be doing their work. If you would like additional information on how a fully integrated HCM system can enhance and automate your new normal, please reach out to us today so we can show you!
For additional information on work from home compliance, trust, boundaries, and community, please plan to join us as we kick-off our 2021 HR webinar series in January.
Please join us for our complementary webinar Thursday, January 21st at 10:00am PT
Make Working From Home Work
When registering for this webinar, please ensure that you put Bennett/Porter & Associates in the “referred by” registration field.