S05E14 - HR Rescue: Remote Working During the Coronavirus Pandemic

As the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak becomes more acute, employers must consider remote working options and implement emergency communications plans. While an organization already may have been offering flexible work options to certain teams or job classifications, a public health crisis may propel an employer to scale those options to most, if not all, of its workforce. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has stated that remote work is one strategy to control transmission of the coronavirus. Federal, state and local labor agencies are following Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations for social distancing and limiting face-to-face contact. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) enforces an employer's legal requirement to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards. Based on these recommendations and compliance requirements, an employer should strongly consider making remote working options available to as many workers as possible. Even if an employee is not generally allowed to work remotely due to particular job duties or the employer's industry (e.g., healthcare), employees with disabilities that put them at high risk for complications associated with COVID-19, or employees who may be pregnant, may request to work remotely as a reasonable accommodation to reduce chances of infection. Thank you for listening to this podcast. We will continue to keep you updated on the changing landscape of Human Resources and address any topic area you wish to learn more about regarding HR and HR Compliance. Please leave a comment below as we value your feedback or if you have an HR question ask and we just might make your question our next podcast! Follow HR Shield Online Here: YouTube: http://youtube.com/TheHRShield Instagram: http://instagram.com/HRShield Facebook: http://facebook.com/HRShield Twitter: http://twitter.com/HR_Shield Podcast: http://hrrescue.libsyn.com Website: http://HR-Shield.com Enable our Alexa Skill!!! About HR Shield Do you own a small business? Are you considering starting a business? Does hiring an HR professional not fit your budget and current cash flow? Whether you are a newly certified HR professional, business owner, office manager, student or a general curious person HR Shield are certified HR specialists that provide quick, accurate and simple answers to common HR and business questions. Our mission at HR Shield is to impact those small and midsize companies that don’t yet understand the value or can’t yet afford to hire a full-time certified HR professional. Our goal is to educate the small business owner and help them understand the importance and impact an HR professional can have on their company and one day hire a full time certified professional. In addition to working with the small to mid-size business owner we provide a full white label HR portal and HR hotline for payroll companies, PEOs and staffing companies and support their small business owner clients.