Follow the rules even in a Pandemic<\/p>\n
Companies are scrambling to respond as the coronavirus spreads across the country.\u00a0 My team and I are responding to workplace situations and incidents on a daily basis.\u00a0 We meet regularly to discuss various coronavirus-related questions posed by employers.\u00a0 The team that provides outsourced HR must be ready to respond to employee concerns and incidents too.<\/p>\n
We were reflecting on the different situations that have occurred over the\u00a0past few months and I thought it fitting to provide a compilation of Do\u2019s and\u00a0Don\u2019ts\u00a0for employers and their employees.<\/p>\n
Employers:<\/p>\n
Do admit\u00a0some managers need to be trained- If your managers were ineffective or poorly trained when dealing with employees face-to-face, there is a\u00a0really\u00a0good chance they will be even worse\u00a0managing\u00a0remote workers.\u00a0\u00a0We have seen a greater need for managerial training.<\/p>\n
Do set clear expectations- Being\u00a0flexible\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0mean employers are off the hook when it comes to giving clear direction, assessing performance measures and\u00a0communicating\u00a0desired outcomes.<\/p>\n
Do listen to employee concerns-We have seen employers who\u00a0listen to employees. They\u00a0were\u00a0able to adjust, react and put correction actions into place.<\/p>\n
Do keep your worksites \u201ccorona-clean\u201d.\u00a0 I know\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0a pain.\u00a0 I know\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0expensive.\u00a0 Deal with it.\u00a0 Everyone is watching.<\/p>\n
Do keep employees accountable-\u00a0Unfortunately, we have dealt with employees, who have abused sick leave polices, avoid work and enter extra hours not worked.\u00a0 Some employees have used childcare as an excuse not to work\u00a0even though\u00a0they had coverage.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t\u00a0forget to record and report illness and deaths-Yes, we have seen employers not\u00a0report.\u00a0\u00a0They are also testing inconsistently.\u00a0\u00a0Not good.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t\u00a0try to prevent employees from receiving leave benefits- We\u00a0have\u00a0had to educate employers on\u00a0how to administer\u00a0FFCRA\u00a0and\u00a0we\u00a0have seen\u00a0companies\u00a0not comply with\u00a0FMLA.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t\u00a0use\u00a0Covid-19\u00a0as an excuse to discriminate or harass someone-\u00a0Abusers beware!\u00a0 We are still investigating you, even in a pandemic.<\/p>\n
Employees:<\/p>\n
Do enter your hours truthfully- We have seen employees take advantage of\u00a0their employer\u2019s flexibility.\u00a0 Bad form!<\/p>\n
Do follow all the rules you would normally follow-\u00a0We\u2019ve\u00a0had to remind employees of\u00a0their\u00a0assigned\u00a0schedules,\u00a0to\u00a0update systems, enter\u00a0time worked,\u00a0and to follow procedures.\u00a0 Come on people!<\/p>\n
Do speak up if your employer is not adhering to all the disinfecting protocols- We\u2019ve\u00a0brought\u00a0employee concerns to management because\u00a0we\u2019re trying to avoid\u00a0them\u00a0reading it on Instagram.<\/p>\n
Do get tested if you think you have been in contact with\u00a0the coronavirus-\u00a0Some workers\u00a0see\u00a0getting\u00a0tested\u00a0as a hassle they would rather avoid.\u00a0 Stop the spread!<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t\u00a0fake you have\u00a0the coronavirus- Yes.\u00a0 We actually had a few employees,\u00a0who\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0prove\u00a0they tested positive.\u00a0 We even had one employee say\u00a0she\u00a0had the coronavirus\u00a0to win a political argument!<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t abuse sick\/family leave-\u00a0My team is\u00a0very good at\u00a0approving\u00a0leave requests\u00a0only\u00a0based on the advice of a health care practitioner.\u00a0Gotcha!<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t refuse to keep the people around you safe-\u00a0You\u00a0know the\u00a0sign in every public restroom,\u00a0\u201cEmployees\u00a0must\u00a0wash their hands\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Wonder if\u00a0an employee\u00a0said, \u201cNo one\u2019s going to tell me\u00a0to wash my hands.\u00a0 It\u2019s\u00a0my right\u00a0to wash my hands or not!\u201d\u00a0 Refusing to wear a mask, take a daily test,\u00a0or stay a distance is just as ridiculous.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t\u00a0use\u00a0Covid-19\u00a0as an excuse to discriminate or harass someone- Abusers beware!\u00a0 We are still\u00a0investigating you, even in a pandemic.<\/p>\n
These are only some of the ongoing issues occurring in the workplace and they underscore the complexities of living and working through a pandemic.\u00a0And\u00a0here\u2019s what\u00a0we\u00a0try to convey\u00a0in our counseling sessions with managers and employees, we are all in this together.\u00a0 We must\u00a0all\u00a0remain truthful, respectful,\u00a0and thoughtful of one another in order to get to the other side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Follow the rules even in a Pandemic Companies are scrambling to respond as the coronavirus spreads across the country.\u00a0 My team and I are responding to workplace situations and incidents on a daily basis.\u00a0 We meet regularly to discuss various coronavirus-related questions posed by employers.\u00a0 The team that provides outsourced HR must be ready to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":10844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[266],"tags":[],"post_folder":[268],"class_list":["post-11152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-consulting-services"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11152"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11153,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11152\/revisions\/11153"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11152"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=11152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}