In light of growing concerns surrounding coronavirus, many businesses are wondering if they will be faced with a decision to send employees home and/or close their doors for a period of time.
One popular idea to address these concerns is to offer remote work (or ‘telework’) options. If you don’t regularly have remote workers, this may not be something you’re prepared to do. That said, we recommend making a plan now so you’re ready when you need it.
The guidance we offer below is “perfect world” guidance. We realize that you may not be able to get all of these items in place on short-notice. In such cases, you will just have to do your best to meet your business’ needs during temporary remote-work scenarios.
In other words, you may have to forego some of the planning in order to make sure you can still operate.
Of course, remote work isn’t a way for every business to continue fully operating. If you’re a healthcare practice seeing patients, a brick-and-mortar retail store selling to directly to customers, or another customer-centric business, we know this is not a full solution for you. But you likely have functions that have to continue even if you close temporarily, including functions that could be performed remotely if someone is unable to come in.
Identify essential functions to ensure ongoing and future business operations and determine which can be performed remotely. Here are some examples of in-office work that can be handled by remote workers without excessive disruption to your business’ usual processes.
Due to the expense, this is potentially the biggest obstacle right off the bat for employers who want to start implementing a remote work policy. Employees working from home should be performing their work on a company-owned computer and, potentially, a company-owned phone, as well (this depends on your systems and whether the position requires the employee to spend a lot of time on the phone).
We understand that this could be a huge expense for your company and it may be a step that you are tempted to skip. You might be telling yourself that it’s not that big a deal to have employees use their personal laptops for work. But, before you make this decision, you should consider the following:
First, as an employer, you may want to monitor your employees’ activity on the computer during work hours to make sure they are being productive and not exposing the company to security risks. In fact, you may already be checking your employee’s user history on a regular basis for these purposes.
If the employee is using a personal computer, this standard business practice becomes legally risky due to privacy concerns. Standard monitoring practices are also made practically difficult because employees are not required to provide you access to their personal belongings. We do understand, however, that it may not be practical to purchase and put computers in place for everyone.
Second, if the employee is using their own computer, it makes it much more difficult to implement and enforce security precautions. For example, the following are standard remote work policies:
In order to effectively enforce these policies, you would have to start regulating what employees do with their personal computers outside of work hours. This means monitoring whether the employee takes their computer to Starbucks for coffee over the weekend or lets their kid do research for a school project. For obvious reasons, this is probably not something you want to get involved in. In addition, for employers subject to HIPAA or similar laws, a breach of confidential business information or client/patient information is more likely to occur on a non-business device.
Finally, if employees are using their own computers and phones, it is easy for the line between work-time and off-time to get blurred, which is particularly risky with non-exempt employees. If non-exempt employees start responding to work emails, making work-related phone calls, or otherwise working off the clock, it can get your business into a lot of legal trouble.
This leads us to our next topic.
Non-exempt employees need to be paid for any time they engage in a work activity, even if they willingly do so outside of their scheduled hours. This could include the employee checking email, making work-related phone calls, doing work-related research, or even creating the company holiday card over a cup of hot cocoa. The time and place don’t matter—if the employee is working, they are on the clock. This is true whether non-exempt employees are working in the office or from home, but it becomes particularly tricky to track with remote work.
Naturally, your next question is, ”How do I properly track my remote employees’ time?” The short answer is, the employee reports their time and you pay it. You can and should require non-exempt employees to clock in and out while working from home, and to keep track of all time worked. But what you cannot do, under any circumstance, is alter what the employee reports. The fastest way to a wage and hour lawyer’s heart is through altered timesheets.
However, use your common sense and investigate irregularities. For example, is it reasonable that the employee reported two hours of email response time when this task normally takes them half an hour? If an employee is “padding the clock,” then it’s likely time to implement your corrective action policy.
Also, to make this easier, CEDR members have access to our remote Time Tracking software if you have asked us to set that up for you. The software will help you and your employees track and categorize paid and unpaid time off, as well as remote work hours. It also offers team-wide communication options, which are especially important when employees are not physically working in the same building.
If you are looking for a good remote timekeeping system, we can help. Members of CEDR already have access to up to 5 seats included in their membership (use this link to schedule a time to set that system up for your office). If you are not a CEDR Member yet, you may want to check out our HR software. You can even get a free 90-day trial!
While it may not be as easy to monitor the work performance of remote employees, there are some effective ways of doing so, as long as you take a proactive approach:
If you are wondering what will happen if employees injure themselves while working from home, then you are asking the right questions. Just like regular in-office work, employee injuries during remote work are a risk that cannot be eliminated. But, there are precautions you can take to reduce this possibility and to show that you took reasonable steps to ensure the safety of your employees.
Inform your employees (in writing) that:
Keep in mind, workers’ compensation insurance does not apply unless the remote worker is injured while performing work-related activities. In the case of an injury, the insurance company would do an investigation to determine how the injury occurred and whether it was work related.
Given the ever-present risk of cyber attacks and human error, the prospect of having employees work from home might be ringing alarm bells, especially if your business is subject to HIPAA or other confidentiality rules.
You are probably asking yourself: “What if the employee fails to use a secure connection and your systems are hacked?” “What if the employee loses the laptop?” “What if the employee allows a family member to access or view confidential information?” Again, these risks cannot be eliminated, but they can be reduced with clearly articulated policies and a good tech guy/gal.
Depending on your industry, you should make sure that you are aware of any specific confidentiality laws (e.g. HIPAA) that apply to you and exactly what they require. There are tech companies out there that can help your company ensure compliance with these laws while also allowing employees to work remotely.
Even if your company is not subject to these laws, you most likely do not want your business information and trade secrets exposed to the world. Implementing a strategy that involves password protection, two-step verification, and a VPN can go a long way in protecting your company. Having said that, we are experts in HR, not IT. So, make sure you go over all of your security options with someone who really knows what they are talking about before you let your employees go remote.
Once you have the tech-side handled, the next step is to set clear expectations in a straightforward, written, remote work policy that specifically highlights confidentiality and security obligations. This will be even easier if you already have rules about the use of workplace computers, a privacy and confidentiality policy in your employee handbook, and a trusted HR partner. To help get you started, here is some important language that should be in your policy:
Providing remote-work options can be a great way to ensure that work for your business continues to move forward even when extreme circumstances force you to temporarily close your doors to the public.
Still, it is in your best interest as a business owner or manager do all you can to ensure that your business is protected and that your employees remain productive even when they aren’t physically in-office.
Follow the guidance in this blog (to whatever extent you are capable) before sending your workforce off to work from home. By doing so, you can rest easy knowing that your remote team is still striving to help you accomplish your business goals, regardless of where that work is getting done.
Practical Guidance for Employers Handling the Coronavirus Outbreak
CARES Act: SBA Loans and the Paycheck Protection Program
Unemployment Eligibility Expanded Under the CARES Act
Families First Coronavirus Response Act Guidance and FAQ
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Friendly Disclaimer: This information is general in nature and is not intended to provide legal advice or replace individual guidance about a specific issue with an attorney or HR expert. The information on this page is general human resources guidance based on applicable local, state, and/or federal U.S. employment law that is believed to be current as of the date of publication. Note that CEDR is not a law firm, and as the law is always changing, you should consult with a qualified attorney or HR expert who is familiar with all of the facts of your situation before making a decision about any human resources or employment law matter.
A Blog Written by CEDR, written by HR Experts to help you run your practice.
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