Rick Bell – Page 17

June 15, 2020June 29, 2023

Ease compliance concerns with workforce management software

compliance; workforce management software

Ask an HR pro how to reduce compliance risk and you’re likely to get one of two responses: a long, silent stare from beneath a furrowed brow or a finger pointing directly to a floor-to-ceiling shelf of thick binders and the two-word utterance of, “Start there.”

In other words, addressing how to reduce compliance risk is complicated. It can’t be digested over a bagel and coffee or assimilated during a five-minute confab in the conference room.

Many workplace laws, regulations and guidance governing compliance risk date back to the early 20th century. Sorting through federal, state and local workplace regulations is a skill that develops over a career through a variety of sources. A key tool among those sources is workforce management solutions designed to navigate and track the daunting web of regulatory compliance issues that employers face on a daily basis.

Configured for national, state and county labor laws, Workforce.com’s workforce management software integrates with existing human capital management and payroll systems to help reduce compliance risk through seamless workforce automation. To remain compliant and stay protected from unnecessary and costly litigation, there are several issues that employers should be aware of.

Employee classifications

Accurately classifying workers continually draws the attention of state and federal agencies that are laser-focused on enforcement. The risks of worker misclassification can be costly and subject companies to fines and back taxes that can total as much as 100 percent of the employment tax due.

When some employees work more than 40 hours per week, labor laws state that based on that worker’s classification employers are responsible for paying overtime.

Workforce management software helps employers determine who is eligible for overtime and track employees’ hours, as the federal Fair Labor Standards Act divides workers into exempt and non-exempt status.

Exempt workers: Typically receive a salary and employers are not obligated to pay exempt workers overtime.
Non-exempt workers: Typically receive hourly pay and are eligible for overtime if they work past 40 hours in a week.

Employee leave

Sorting through the specific types of paid leave that are required by law and those provided voluntarily by employers can be confusing. The Family and Medical Leave Act regulates reasonable amounts of unpaid, job-protected leave such as the birth of a child or to care for a sick family member.

The FMLA and the Fair Labor Standards Act, however, does not regulate sick pay, vacations and paid time off. That time away is voluntarily provided by the employer yet still must be tracked.

Employee safety

You know those safety kits scattered through the office? Virtually all employers must follow the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s regulations preventing and responding to emergencies in the workplace. Employers must have a first-aid kit on site, and they also must let employees know about hazardous materials in the workplace, although Phil from accounting’s syrup-thick coffee is exempt. Though it probably shouldn’t be.

Employee pay

Payroll is one of the most regulated functions in an organization that must meet federal, state and local requirements, according to the American Payroll Association.

Government agencies require:

Tax withholding and reporting.
Timely pay of employees to meet wage and hour law requirements.
Withholding child support and garnishments from wages.
Ensuring new employees are eligible to work in the U.S.

Wage and hour settlements continue to be a costly compliance issue for businesses. Investing now in workforce management solutions beats spending more money later should a lawsuit arise. Technology can help HR professionals and executives solve the vexing problem of how to reduce compliance risk.

With increased government scrutiny and potential for fines and penalties, it is more important than ever to ensure workforce compliance. Workforce.com tracks compliance and regulatory obligations, ensures accurate pay and maintains a detailed audit trail.

June 10, 2020June 29, 2023

President extends PPP loan forgiveness, signs Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020

The Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020, which President Trump signed into law on June 5, makes several key business-friendly changes to the small business loans made under the CARES Act’s Paycheck Protection Program.

Specifically, this Act:

Extends the “covered period” borrowers have to use PPP loans and qualify for loan forgiveness from the original eight weeks to the earlier of 24 weeks from loan disbursement or Dec. 31, 2020.

Extends until Dec. 31, 2020, the CARES Act’s June 30, 2020, deadline to rehire employees and reverse salary cuts of more than 25 percent.

Exempts borrowers from the reduction in loan fordeadline to rehire employees and reverse salary cuts of more than 25 percent. giveness because of a reduction in employee headcount if the borrower is able to document in good faith that from Feb. 15 through Dec. 31, 2020, the borrower: (a) was unable to rehire employees who had been employed on Feb. 15 or hire similarly qualiﬁed employees for unﬁlled positions by December 31, 2020; (b) was unable to return to the same level of business activity at which the borrower was operating pre-Feb. 15 as the result of compliance with requirements, guidelines, standards for sanitation, social distancing, or other COVID-19 employee or customer safety issues.

Lowers the threshold for the use of PPP loan funds for payroll purposes from 75 percent to 60 percent.

Allows for an agreed-upon extension of PPP loan repayment from two years to five years.

Eliminates the CARES Act’s restriction on the deferral of payroll taxes for employers who receive PPP loan forgiveness.

As Suzanne Lucas (aka the Evil HR Lady) points out, this Act’s biggest benefit might be the gift of time it gives to employers to staff up. “Hiring is always a difficult part of running a business, and the terms of the original PPP put pressure on companies to act quickly.” She added, “If you don’t need someone working yet, you can wait until you do need someone in the position.”

Suzanne is correct. Even in the best of circumstances, hiring is time-consuming and difficult.

The current circumstances are far from best, and businesses that took PPP money felt tremendous pressure to hire by June 30 to qualify for loan forgiveness. Employees hired in haste often lead to mistakes. These amendments offer significant relief through the benefit of added time.

June 8, 2020

‘I was terminated for refusing to wear a Trump 2020 face mask.’

Ohio requires that all employees wear face masks or other face coverings as a condition to any business reopening that (subject to a few limited exceptions). The only rules are that the mask cover the employee’s nose, mouth, and chin. There are no other requirements about the nature of the mask or face covering, including its design or style.

One southern Ohio business, The Village Inn restaurant in Farmersville, is testing the mask-requirement waters by requiring its employees to wear “Trump 2020” masks.

Worse, it’s firing employee who refuse.

Or at least that’s what Kris Hauser, a former waitress of the restaurant, claimed happened to her in her viral Facebook post describing her termination.

The owner then approached me again and stated I needed to wear my Trump 2020 mask. I responded and told him I would wear it, but I would wear it inside out (which a majority of employees had been doing already for the days prior).

The owner, Scott, told me “No, you will wear it with Trump 2020 facing out for people to see.”

I told him I would not do this and he said that I needed to leave.

Your first inclination might be to say, “Jon, Ohio, like every other state besides Montana, is an at-will state, meaning that an employer can fire any employee for any reason, good or bad. And just last Thursday you told us that there are only a few states that ban political opinion discrimination, and Ohio isn’t one of them. So while many will feel that Kris Hauser’s termination is morally and ethically reprehensible, I don’t see anything unlawful about it.”

While Ohio is an at-will state, it recognizes several key exceptions to employment-at-will, including a tort claim for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy. What does this mean? I’ll let the Ohio Supreme Court explain:

In order for a plaintiff to succeed on a wrongful-termination-in-violation-of-public-policy claim, a plaintiff must establish four elements: (1) that a clear public policy existed and was manifested either in a state or federal constitution, statute or administrative regulation or in the common law (“the clarity element”), (2) that dismissing employees under circumstances like those involved in the plaintiff’s dismissal would jeopardize the public policy (“the jeopardy element”), (3) the plaintiff’s dismissal was motivated by conduct related to the public policy (“the causation element”), and (4) the employer lacked an overriding legitimate business justification for the dismissal (“the overriding-justification element”).

In other words, if a termination offends a clear public policy of the state, and the employee does not have any other remedy to redress the termination, the employee can sue in tort for the wrongful discharge.

In this case, Ohio has a clear public policy against employers influencing employees’ political opinions—Ohio Revised Code section 3599.05, which criminalizes employers that make expressed or implied threats “intended to influence the political opinions or votes of his or its employees.”

That’s exactly what The Village Inn did in imposing its “Trump 2020” mask requirement under threat of termination. And it’s not too far off the mark from Kunkle v. Q-Mark, Inc. (S.D. Ohio 6/28/13), which refused to dismiss a public policy claim based on section 3599.05, after the employer allegedly threatened employees with termination if President Obama won re-election, and allegedly fired the plaintiff after she stated she voted a “straight Democratic ticket.”

I’ve never been shy about calling out an employer that has wronged an employee. The Village Inn has wronged Kris Hauser. The internet has already spoken. I hope Ms. Hauser finds a lawyer to take her case and the courts have their say as well.

June 7, 2020April 11, 2023

Shift swap software empowers managers and employees to take charge of scheduling

shift scheduling for hourly restaurant workers, shift swap

Employers must have been taking notes from athletic coaches when they started naming shift schedules. The 2-3-2, the DuPont, four on four off, and going EOWEO all sound like a defensive strategy or a trick play. (For the record, EOWEO stands for Every Other Weekend Off, not a signal to Tom Brady to throw the football to Rob Gronkowski.)

Whatever the terminology, shift schedules remain the lifeblood of an hourly workforce. Whether it’s 12-hour shift schedule types or a traditional 24 hours on and 48 hours off scheduling system for firefighters, shift swapping also is a key tool for employees and managers to maintain both consistency in staffing levels and a vibrant, engaged talent pool.

Accommodating a shift swap

Shift swapping lets an employee request to work one of their shifts and in exchange, work one of that colleague’s scheduled shifts.

Establish a written policy that provides clear guidance to staff while simultaneously ensuring the organization’s needs are met. Make sure the policy is clear and easy to understand. Don’t overcomplicate it; the simpler the better. Implementing an easy-to-use shift swapping software simplifies the process, which can otherwise bog down into an arduous, overly complicated back-and-forth among employees that wastes everyone’s time.

Benefits for employers

A manual, paper-based shift swapping policy that relies on employees scrambling to cover for each other is a risk at best and a chronic, chaotic scheduling disaster waiting to happen. Managers play an integral role in closely monitoring shift swapping. Their oversight assures that every shift will be fully covered.

Through innovative workforce management technology, managers can approve shift swaps with complete oversight of costs and compliance. The technology empowers managers to:

Control staffing levels — eliminating understaffing and overstaffing.
Monitor so staff members swap shifts with colleagues who have similar skills and experience.
Lower the potential for no-show employees.
Reduce overtime.
Create a deadline for shift swaps.
Distribute unwanted shifts fairly and evenly among all employees.
Customize to control cost, employee availability, qualifications and fatigue management.

Benefits for employees

Employees have lives away from work, and there are times when they need to get a shift covered. Family issues, a sudden illness or a day away for mental health, if the shift is claimed, the employee will be free to take the day off. If not, the employee remains responsible for the shift. Shift swapping software allows employees to:

Post the shift for all fellow employees to see.
Control their own schedules.
Get a shift covered quickly and easily.
Create a more complete work/life balance.
Build camaraderie and teamwork through communication.
Earn additional money by picking up extra shifts.

With the freedom that employees will enjoy through shift swapping technology, managers still control the approval process and hold the power to override a shift swap in case a specific exchange is seen as unworkable or create unnecessary costs.

Shift swap software allows managers to prevent employees from constantly posting their shifts and become a stand-in for requesting time off.

Additionally, no one benefits from the employee who continually volunteers to work day after day after day, double shifts and late night-early morning shifts. Managers can track that employee and curb shifts and hours, since there is the potential for burnout as well as safety concerns for fellow employees.

Finally, misunderstandings over a missed shift are a thing of the past. Shift swapping technology puts the responsibility to fill the shift squarely on employees. Managers OK the swap, leaving them with more spare time to do things other than babysit the schedule.

Organizations need a reliable employee scheduling plan while employees want job flexibility that adapts to life outside of work. With Workforce.com’s shift-swapping software, a carefully planned shift swapping policy manages employee costs, accommodates employer and employee needs and ensures that both get the schedule they want.

June 5, 2020October 7, 2021

A technology integration is an intervention to dissolve common payroll errors

pay for performance, payroll, compensation

Paying employees accurately and on time should be a forgone conclusion for employers. But that’s not always the case.

Incidents of unfair pay practices have surfaced since the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Lawsuits involving wage discrimination and unfair compensation practices also can cost an employer tens of thousands of dollars in damages.

According to law firm Seyfarth Shaw, wage-and-hour settlements are a leading cause of litigation exposure for corporations and that HR leaders must focus on prevention. While the majority of companies are fair and honest regarding their compensation practices, errors can occur. Prevent those mistakes from creeping into your compensation function by integrating workforce management software with your payroll software.

Eliminate the mistakes

Wage-and-hour lawsuits are unnecessary and largely avoidable. Payroll integrations in your tech stack can help ease a complex, arduous process fraught with opportunities for mistakes. By integrating a payroll system with Workforce.com’s platform for automated timesheet exports and calculations, a company can negate costly wage-and-hour lawsuits.

Poor record keeping and data entry. Mismatching names and Social Security numbers is so common that, according to AllBusiness.com, the Social Security Administration has established a special verification phone number. Errors in data entry and poor recordkeeping of employee hours can result in costly government penalties.
Misclassifying employees. The number of temporary employees and independent contractors continues to grow among the labor force, and organizations constantly confront problems in properly classifying those workers. Are they exempt or nonexempt employees? Are they an independent contractor or an exempt employee? While the Fair Labor Standards Act provides protections for most employees, it’s still easy to slip up on employee classifications without an integration of workforce management software into the payroll function. If neglected, it can turn into a costly payroll error.
Miscalculating pay and overtime. Poor time-tracking capabilities can lead to miscalculated pay. There are guidelines that must be followed when determining overtime, and miscalculations can be costly. Besides overtime, there are commissions and paid time off, among other things to track. State policies vary and it’s a best practice to default to the law that is more generous for the employee. Workforce.com’s payroll integration technology can help retool poor time tracking capabilities.
Adherence to pay deadlines. Payroll is the basic bond between employer and employee. While payroll should function like a well-oiled machine, missing deadlines can happen. Payroll technology can help with establishing a payroll calendar that encompasses deposits as well as timely payroll tax filings with federal and state agencies. Remember, late deposits can result in penalties and interest charges. Oil up the payroll machine and set up timelines both internally for paydays and externally for taxes for a smooth payroll process.
Mishandling garnishments and child support. An employee may owe money through a court order to other parties. Payroll is responsible for sending the money to the appropriate person or agency.

Avoid payroll errors

To avoid costly wage-and-hour lawsuits, HR and business leaders should keep these tips in mind:

A reliable payroll software program maintains accurate time-keeping and record-keeping practices through up-to-date systems.
Supervisors must recognize the differences between exempt and nonexempt employees.
Rather than hide it until it’s too late, encourage managers to proactively report wage issues.
Conduct wage-and-hour audits to ensure correct classification of employees.
Assess your independent contractors.

Keep payroll mistakes from disrupting your organization by investing in payroll software. Workforce.com’s payroll system integration technology works seamlessly with more than 50 different payroll systems. Process your payroll minus the long hours, avoid the errors and easily run reports, file taxes and distribute pay stubs.

June 3, 2020June 29, 2023

Do Lake of the Ozarks employees sent home from work qualify for paid sick leave under FFCRA?

Last week I discussed how to handle employees who are not social distancing outside of work.

My thoughts were spurred by videos of employees partying over the Memorial Day weekend at Lake of the Ozarks and elsewhere around the country.

I said the following:

I would also place any employee who violated social distancing rules outside of work (whether the information is volunteered on a self-assessment or discovered through a viral video) on a mandatory two-week unpaid leave of absence and require a quarantine as a condition of continued employment.

It looks like I might have a reader in Lincoln County, Missouri.

According to KSDK, employers are mandating unpaid leaves of absence and quarantines for employees who spent their holiday weekend amid the throngs at Lake of the Ozarks, The story also quotes an attorney who says that placing an employee on an unpaid leave of absence, under those circumstances, might violate the FFCRA’s requirements for paid sick leave for an employee “advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19.”

I completely disagree, and the Department of Labor has my back.

Take a look at Question 77 to the DOL’s FFCRA Questions and Answers:

May I take paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave under the FFCRA if I am on an employer-approved leave of absence?

It depends on whether your leave of absence is voluntary or mandatory. If your leave of absence is voluntary, you may end your leave of absence and begin taking paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave under the FFCRA if a qualifying reason prevents you from being able to work (or telework). However, you may not take paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave under the FFCRA if your leave of absence is mandatory. This is because it is the mandatory leave of absence—and not a qualifying reason for leave—that prevents you from being able to work (or telework).

In other words, if an employee’s leave of absence is the employer’s choice, as is the case in the Lake of Ozarks example, then the employee does not qualify for FFCRA paid sick leave, because it’s not a COVID-19 medical recommendation or quarantine that’s preventing the employee from working but the leave of absence.

It’s no different from a furlough, for which employees also do not qualify for FFCRA paid leave. As long as you place an employee on leave before they tell you they’ve been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine because of COVID-19 concerns, you shouldn’t have to worry about paying the employee for that leave under the FFCRA.

June 2, 2020June 29, 2023

Justice Department indicts employee for COVID-19 workplace fraud

COVID-19, coronavirus, public health crisis

In mid-April the FBI warned employers to be on the lookout for fake COVID-19 diagnoses, doctors’ notes, and other coronavirus-related documents from employees.

The Justice Department has now indicted the first employee for committing this new breed of fraud.

The Justice Department provides the details:

Santwon Antonio Davis has been charged with defrauding his employer by allegedly faking a positive COVID-19 medical excuse letter, causing the employer to stop business and sanitize the workplace. Davis has since admitted that he did not have COVID-19. …

According to the … charges and other information presented in court: The defendant, who was employed by a Fortune 500 company with a facility located in the Atlanta, Georgia area, falsely claimed to have contracted COVID-19 and submitted a falsified medical record to his employer. In concern for its employees and customers, the corporation closed its facility for cleaning and paid its employees during the shutdown. This caused a loss in excess of $100,000 to the corporation and the unnecessary quarantine of several of the defendant’s coworkers.

You can read the full affidavit submitted by the U.S. attorney in support of the criminal complaint here. (Disclaimer: Mr. David is presumed innocent until proven guilty.)

This is as good as time as any to remind you of the steps can you take if you think an employee is faking a coronavirus diagnosis.

Pay attention to inconsistencies on notes and other documents in fonts and spacing, or grammatical or spelling errors.
Look for computer-generated, versus hand signatures.
Compare legitimate medical excuse letters from health care providers to be aware of their typical format and structure.
Contact the medical provider to authenticate the document (after first providing the employee the opportunity to authenticate).

Be alert, because it’s fair to assume that as more employees return to work, more employees will try to take advantage.

May 28, 2020June 29, 2023

Is your business ready for the COVID-19 golden age of union organizing?

“Among the many lessons we will learn from the COVID-19 pandemic is its demonstration of the importance of union membership for essential workers.

“Of all the injustices exposed by the pandemic, the risks faced by non-union workers have become the most apparent. Non-union workers are being asked to risk their safety with little or no protections of their own.”

— Gary Perinar (executive secretary-treasurer of the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters), The importance of unions is more obvious than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic, Chicago Sun-Times, Apr. 30, 2020

One of the unexpected byproducts of the COVID-19 pandemic is a corresponding rise in union organizing.

This crisis has magnified attention on key labor union agenda items and talking points such as worker safety and higher pay. Unions have been pressing these issues not only for current members but also more importantly for potential members.

The Teamsters is backing Amazon warehouse workers.
The UFCW is helping organize Instacart shoppers.
The SEIU is funding fast-food activists and Uber/Lyft drivers.

Indeed, according to Richard Berman, the founder of the Center for Union Facts, this union activity is part of a much larger trend:

This is the first time since the early 1980s where I sense significant interest by employees in “collective action” and “3rd party representation”.
Gallup polling in 2019 shows the 18-34 demographic has a 69% approval of unions. In 2017, 76% of those joining unions were younger than 35.
Employees who feel they will be exposed to co-workers or customers who have the virus are communicating on Facebook and other platforms about their jointly held concerns. Union organizers have access to these conversations and are making themselves available to help.
Most current HR professionals have no history in dealing with a partial workforce rebellion. This will most likely happen in individual companies or it could be a wider industry movement in a city or region.

That last point might be the one most important to your business. “Most current HR professionals have no history in dealing with a partial workforce rebellion.” What should your business be doing right now to best prepare itself in the event a union starts talking to your employees? The best defense is a good offense. I recommend that employers adopt the T.E.A.M. approach to union avoidance:

Train supervisors.
Educate employees.
Affirm the open door.
Modernize policies.

1. Train supervisors. If a union is organizing, supervisors are likely to be the first people to know. They will also be the people who rank-and-file employees will come to with questions or concerns. Thus, supervisors need to know how to report, monitor and legally respond to union activity.
2. Educate employees. Employees should not be told that the company is anti-union, but why it is anti-union – competitive wages and benefits; a strong commitment to worker safety and health; positive communication between management and employees; a history of peaceful employee/management relations; management’s openness to listen to employees and handle their concerns without an intermediary; and an unwillingness to permit a third-party to tell the company and employees how to do their jobs. Of course, if this is just lip service, you might as well not say it at all.
3. Affirm the open door. Management should routinely round its employees up to learn what is happening within the rank-and-file and what they are thinking about. Management should walk the floor on a daily basis. It should also hold regular meetings with employees, whether in small sessions with HR or large town hall-style meetings. And management’s door should always be open to listen to employees’ concerns, offer feedback and adopt positive change when feasible and practical.
4. Modernize policies. In an ideal world, employee handbooks and other corporate policies should be reviewed and updated annually. I’ve yet to come across a company that does so this frequently. Issues to consider and review? Do you have a written statement on unionization? An open-door policy? An issue resolution procedure? Peer review? An employee bulletin board? An electronic communications policy? Most importantly, do you have a no-solicitation policy? It is the single most important policy to help fight labor unions.

No avoidance program is foolproof. No matter what steps are taken and no matter the quality of employee relations, every company is at some risk for a union organizing campaign. Some, however, are more at risk than others.

All businesses should strive to be an employer of choice for employees and not an employer of opportunity for labor unions. The steps you take before that representation petition ever arrives will help define whether you remain a non-union employer.

May 28, 2020April 11, 2023

Permanent working from home works well if you have the right technology

coronavirus, remote work, COVID-19, remote workforce

Remote work is not a new concept. Telecommuting grew as an acceptable business practice as technology rapidly advanced through the late 20th century and into the early 2000s.

Perhaps more importantly, working outside an office gained credibility as employers realized remote work increases productivity, improves employee morale and saves money.

Debating remote work pros and cons

The debate over the value of remote work has remained largely the same even as a wider swath of employees spend time outside a traditional office environment. One lingering argument against it is that there are too many distractions and the lack of a quiet place to focus on the task at hand. Yet a 2017 FlexJobs study found that just 7 percent of workers say they are more productive in an office setting.

As employers deliberate a remote workforce, the rapid evolution of workforce management technology has enabled more people to work outside the office. Professions once considered as chained to punching in and out immediately become more productive by starting and ending their day on the job.

Influencing expectations through technology

Innovative GPS-enabled technology now empowers remote employees to clock in and out simply by using their mobile device. Workforce.com’s GPS Clock-in features the longitude and latitude and provides employers with a real-time glance at each remote employee’s precise location.

With such dynamic, easy-to-use technology available, the challenge then becomes shifting organizational and managerial expectations surrounding remote work. Security is understandably a concern that can be allayed by a trustworthy, safe platform. Here is some insight to appease curmudgeonly employers that a remote workforce is indeed a boon to business.

Choose and vet the right employees for remote assignments. You don’t want your fledgling remote work program to be DOA.
Consider the effect on customers, co-workers and management.
Productivity expands since time is spent on the job, not traveling back and forth to punch a clock.
Set regular goals and objectives to be evaluated monthly, weekly or even daily.
Encourage ongoing feedback between management and the remote employee.
Online video programs allow for remote workers to visually participate in staff meetings and events.

No guessing where they are

Managers will quickly and easily know where remote staff is with the GPS Clock-in platform’s photo-verified system. While this provides peace of mind for employers knowing their workers are on the job, there also is a safety component involved.

In the event of an unpredictable natural incident, be it a sudden tornado warning, freak ice storm or an earthquake, employers can find peace of mind in knowing that resources are instantly available to check the location and safety of their remote employees.

The federal Office of Personnel Management cited improved emergency preparedness planning as a benefit of expanding its remote workforce. The agency also stated that remote work reduced employee commutes and provided cuts in real estate costs and energy use. Other positive outcomes included:

Improved employee attitudes.
Better recruitment and retention.
Improved employee performance.

As the number of employees working remotely increases every year, change long-overdue attitudes and adopt the right technology to build a vibrant, dynamic remote workforce. Enhance your business and put your remote workers in a position to excel in their jobs and boost productivity with Workforce.com’s GPS Clock-in platform.

May 26, 2020June 29, 2023

When an employee isn’t social distancing outside of work

How did you spend your Memorial Day weekend? Mine was way more mundane than years past.

I watched my nephew receive his high school diploma and pre-record his valedictory address in an individual, family-only ceremony. We walked the dogs a bunch. We went to Lowe’s, masks on faces (the first store in which I’ve been inside other than a grocery store in over two months). I barbecued for my wife and kids.

Other people chose less COVID-appropriate holiday weekend activities.

Scenes like this one were repeated all over the country. Will you be surprised when COVID-19 cells spring up in two weeks linked to these mass gatherings? Because they will.

Here’s my question. What do you do if you see one of your employees in one of these social-gathering viral videos? Do you welcome him or her back into the workplace today with open arms?

I would not. I’d screen employees for risky behaviors during the holiday weekend or otherwise. Ohio already requires all businesses, as a condition to reopening, to “conduct daily health assessments by employers and employees (self-evaluation) to determine if ‘fit for duty.’” With the country reopen and summer upon us, I’d recommend adding two questions to this self-assessment

Did you take part in a social gathering in which you were within 6 feet of others? Being within 6 feet of others who do increases your chances of getting infected and infecting others.
If you attended a social gathering, was everyone around you wearing a mask or facial covering? Others within six feet of you not wearing masks increases your chances of becoming infected.

I would also place any employee who violated social distancing rules outside of work on a mandatory two-week unpaid leave of absence and require a quarantine as a condition of continued employment. (According to NBC News, the Kansas City health director has called for self-quarantine of all Lake of the Ozarks partiers.)

If an employee returns after being at one of these weekend parties and then tests positive, there is a really good chance that you will have to shut down your entire business (or at least a sizable part of it). Is this a risk you want to take? I wouldn’t, which is why I’d ask the questions and place anyone on an unpaid quarantine leave who answers “yes” or who I otherwise discover violated social distancing rules (such as if I see them on a viral video or photo.

We all have a social responsibility to help stop the spread of coronavirus. If an employee fails to play his or her part and chooses to act irresponsibly, I am not going to lose any sleep by sending them home for two weeks to protect the rest of my employees and their families, and my business and its continuing operations.