Telecommuting: Developing Effective Policies and Practices that Minimize Risk and Employer Liability

Transcription

1 Telecommuting: Developing Effective Policies and Practices that Minimize Risk and Employer Liability FEATURED FACULTY: David C. Whitlock,

2 David C. Whitlock, Dave Whitlock has nearly 30 years of experience advising companies on issues related to employment and compliance with state and federal regulations governing the workplace. He has also designed, built, and managed several internet-based HR products and services companies. After growing weary of the extensive commute to big law firms, Dave founded his own law firm. He specializes in providing practical solutions for employment-related issues and keeping his clients out of trouble

3 **Certificates of attendance and CEUs, when available, must be requested through the online evaluation.** Evaluation for Live Event: We d like to hear what you thought about the audio conference. Please take a moment to fill in the survey located here: Requests for continuing education credits and certificates of attendance must be submitted within 10 days of the live event. Evaluation for CD Recording: Please use the following link to submit your evaluation of the recorded event: Please note: All links are case sensitive Receive 1.25 recertification credit hours toward PHR and SPHR recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI)! For more information about certification or recertification, please visit the HRCI homepage at "The use of this seal is not an endorsement by the HR Certification Institute of the quality of the program. It means that this program has met the HR Certification Institute's criteria to be preapproved for recertification credit."

4 Teleworking: Can You Tell If I Am Working? David C. Whitlock (404) davidcwhitlock@gmail.com Telecommuting Technically, teleworking because you cannot commute over the internet or a phone line Raises lots of issues -- pros and cons Increase over 60% between 2005 and out of 10 workers spends some time working from home each week 1 out of 6 workers spends at least 1 full day working from home Aetna, Yahoo, Best Buy, OPM 1

5 Agenda Legal Issues Benefits Disadvantages Practical Steps Legal Issues Wage and Hour liability Hours worked Overtime Child Labor?? Property Safety Privacy Insurance 2

6 Wage and Hour Suffer or Permit Burden is on Employer to disprove hours claimed Exempt vs. non-exempt Be wary of administrative or clerical tasks Business errands vs. personal larks Off-the-clock work How to enforce recordkeeping? Are you sure the kids aren t helping? Property Inventory and/or supplies Where kept? Liability for damage? HazCom liability? MSDS EPA Telecommunications equipment Personal use allowed? Who pays? Who owns data? Contacts? Social Media? 3

7 More Property Confidential/proprietary information Must take affirmative steps to protect it How to ensure return or destruction? PHI and HIPPA Financial and/or consumer information Physical equipment Who owns it? Who is liable for damage? Is it safe? How do you know? Safety OSHA General Duty clause Training? Site inspection? Duty to report? Installation, set-up, and operation? 4

8 Privacy Monitoring Logging activity both ways Client/patient/customer information Business vs. personal use Business records and discovery Social media and NLRB Insurance General Liability Policy Is policy site-specific? Who is covered? What is covered? Worker Compensation Did you tell your carrier? Course and Scope of employment 5

9 Benefits Employee morale Increase in productivity Retention and recruiting Work/life balance equation Best place to work Environmental Disadvantages Hard to monitor May decrease quality of work No face time No informal sharing of ideas/knowledge Performance management harder Co-worker jealousy May actually result in more pressure to perform Possible health issues 6

10 Practical Steps Must have a policy Elicit employee input into policy creation Be open and transparent Beware of discrimination claims Preserve employer rights More Practical Steps Define the jobs eligible Generally, professional positions that are exempt Identify who will qualify Avoid discrimination Don t make special cases Establish recordkeeping requirements and procedures even if exempt Define performance expectations and measurement 7

11 Still More Practical Steps Set safety, environment, security expectations Address equipment and technology in detail Who pays Who owns Who can use Think in terms of company car or smartphone Communication requirements Face time requirement Command appearance Questions??? David C. Whitlock (404)