Thankfully this pandemic cannot last forever. The State of California has been under stay at home orders for nearly two months, allowing only Essential Businesses to remain open to the public. While this has caused many businesses to either terminate or furlough their employees, soon we shall see many businesses reopening and hiring back their employee base. We are here to outline some important points to rehiring or reinstating your employees and keep them protected from COVID-19.
Legalities of Rehiring Employees after COVID-19 Layoffs or Furloughs
Layoff vs. Furlough – It is important to differentiate weather you have laid off or furloughed your employees. A layoff entails providing a final paycheck including all hours worked, all accrued and unused vacation time (not paid sick leave), as well as providing continuing health coverage through COBRA, if employees utilized it prior. A furlough means the employees hours were reduced to zero for a short time while health insurance premiums and other benefits are maintained, and employees are technically still employed. If you are bringing employees back that were furloughed, all that is needed is providing guidelines of what working looks like now. If you are bringing back laid off employees, prepare to complete most new hire forms and procedures.
New Hire Paperwork - When rehiring an employee within 3 years of them completing their original I-9 Form, a new I-9 Form is not needed. Keep in mind as of May 1st, 2020 there is a new I-9 Form for all new hires to complete. Read more about it here. Employees with an original I-9 Form older then 3 years, will need to complete a new one. Since May 1st is around the corner, you will most likely need to complete the new I-9 Form for all rehired employees. There are state and federal forms and pamphlets that are required by law to be given to new hires upon commencement of employment. Rehiring employees is no difference. These forms include, Form W-4 (More information on the new 1/1/20 W-4 Form here), DE4 California’s Employee Withholding Certificate, Worker’s Compensation, Disability Insurance, Paid Family Leave and Sexual Harassment pamphlets to start. Need access to these forms? Give us a call and we will walk you through them. In addition to state and federally mandated forms and pamphlets, employers should redistribute their 2020 Employee Handbooks including a conformation of receipt kept in the employee’s file. Friendly reminder, as of 1/1/20, there were several laws passed that now should prompt a revision to your Employee Handbook. If you would like your Handbook updated or you need a new one, schedule a call.
Paid Sick Leave - The paid sick leave that was not paid out at termination is like a bank account that expires after one year of termination of the employee. If you rehire an employee within one year of their termination date, the paid sick leave bank account is reinstated with the balance it had as of their last day of employment, and continues to accrue on day one of employment based on your company policy. If you need to make sure your policy is compliant with State guidelines, reach out to us and we can discuss what it should entail to meet minimum guidelines.
Changes in the Workplace
It is still the employer’s responsibility under OSHA requirements to protect employee’s health in the workplace. In the past this usually included workplace safety training to keep workplace accidents and injuries to a minimum and keep employees employed and return to work safely after an accident. This now includes protecting employee’s health against COVID-19 exposure. A few changes in the workplace have emerged to help employers protect their employees against the spread of COVID-19. As of March 18, 2020, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) gave employers the right to take employees’ temperatures at work, in order to avoid the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. Anyone familiar with HIPPA or ADA requirements knows this means business. In addition, many employers are making it mandatory for their workforce to wear masks/gloves while at work or while conducting business on company time. Many employers have added this to their Uniform Policy, and provide this protective equipment to their employees. Some employers are opening their offices to all employees with reduced work schedules for all, maintaining no more then 50% of their workers within the building at any time. Some employees report to work Monday, Wednesday while others report on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This keeps the total number of employees contained in one space to 50% of what it was, while promoting the practice of social distancing giving everyone the availability of having 6 feet of space from one another. If operating an office or shared work space, be sure to have a consistent cleaning schedule and available area for employees to use a hand washing station or provide hand sanitizer.
Keep in mind these guidelines are emerging for Essential Businesses. We can all take a page from what they are doing in their work spaces, to keep ours safe once we are able to start operating. Would you like a return to work policy created for your workforce? Give us a call and we can tailor one to meet the needs of your business. We are here to help all businesses return to “normal” operations in a phased approach while maintaining legal compliance.
