HR CONNECTION

TELECOMMUTING WILL LIKELY CONTINUE TO RISE POST PANDEMIC

Several studies show that the trend toward telecommuting is here to stay. In the 2019 State of Remote Work report, Owl Labs found that 24 percent of survey respondents would take a 10-percent pay cut to be able to telecommute. Owl Labs also found that workers who work remotely some of the time are happier, feel more trusted, less stressed about work-life balance, and are less likely to leave their jobs than colleagues who don’t have the option to telework. The SHRM 2019 Employee Benefits Survey found that employers are responding to this desire among employees to telecommute, with 69 percent offering the option to at least some employees on an as-needed basis while 42 percent offer it part time and 27 percent offer it full time. An analysis by FlexJobs and Global Workplace Analytics found that from 2016 to 2017 the number of telecommuters in the United States grew 7.9 percent. Over the last five years, it grew 44 percent.

FORM I-9 REQUIREMENTS RELAXED AMID CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it will defer the requirements for employers to review Form I-9 documents inperson with new employees. The change applies to employers and workplaces that are operating completely remotely. “Employers with employees taking physical proximity precautions due to COVID-19 will not be required to review the employee’s identity and employment authorization documents in the employee’s physical presence,” DHS said. The physical documentation review requirements will not be excused if any employees are physically present at a work location. “Employers that avail themselves of this option must provide written documentation of their remote onboarding and telework policy for each employee.” Employers must still inspect the Section 2 documents over video conference, fax or email and obtain and retain copies of the documents within three business days. Employers are instructed to enter “COVID-19” as the reason for the physical inspection delay in the additional information field in Section 2. If there’s one thing that we’ve learned in the past few weeks, it’s that not a corner of the world economy has been immune to the spread of COVID-19, including education and professional development. With the temporary closure of K-12 school districts, universities and other educational facilities across the globe, there has been an enormous surge in online learning going on — and it’s keeping people and organizations connected for the better. Right now, online learning is being totally revamped as much as the industries expanding to remote work due to the novel coronavirus. Here, at the Manufacturer & Business Association (MBA), we recognize that people expect fast, convenient, engaging ways to learn in their workplace, and they want meaningful, engaging virtual training programs, as well. To maintain such high standards, we’ve adapted all of our regionally recognized professional development courses and workshops into virtual offerings to meet this growing demand. Free, one-hour virtual courses such as Coaching Employees Remotely, Applied Decision Making, and Managing Stress for Positive Results were among the first offerings available online, with many more to come! Over the past few weeks, we’ve been incorporating platforms that will make current offerings including our Leadership for Team Leaders and Supervisory Skills series available as live, online options for participants. We’re also adapting our professional development curriculum to address the challenges of managing your staff remotely. Although the MBA firmly believes that traditional classroom learning is an unparalleled resource for workplace training and development, we hope that these new, virtual offerings will give your organizations the flexibility and tools needed to equip your teams with the skills and resources needed to propel your operations forward. To learn more about our latest virtual offerings and requirements, visit www.mbausa.org! MBA’s New, Virtual Training Offerings Provide Flexibility for Participants

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Tracy Daggett, PHR, is the manager of Professional Development Training Services at the Manufacturer & Business Association (MBA). Contact him at 814/833-3200, 800/815-2660 or tdaggett@mbausa.org.