You have the right to require employees to be productive during working hours. This includes requiring that they hold off on making or receiving personal calls until they are on a break or after their shift. You can also prohibit them from using their phones for social media or to stream music or videos.

If their ringtone is too loud or irritating, you can require them to put their phones in silent or vibrate mode.

To help reduce all distractions, you can require them to keep their phones in their desk or vehicle, especially if there are safety issues with them having their cell phones while at work.

Consider making allowances if the employee is expecting an urgent call.

Affinity HR Group is BSCAI's endorsed HR partner, providing HR support, recruiting and employee engagement services.  For a link to our menu of services for BSCAI members, go to www.AffinityHRGroup.com/BSCAI

Given the task to create a benefit plan for your company? The first line of business is to consult with a benefits broker who can look at your current plan, help you determine an employee benefit budget, and possibly develop an employee benefit survey. The good thing about hiring a benefit consultant is that you usually don’t pay a dime, since they typically get compensated off commissions from the insurance carrier. These consultants will give you free advice and do much of the work for you, so you can put in value-added cost-effective benefits that will please your boss and your employee population. And while you’re at it, don’t forget about non-insurance benefits such as flex time, bonus time off, sabbaticals, volunteer days, etc. These have a very large return on an often minimal investment. 

Affinity HR Group is BSCAI's endorsed HR partner, providing HR support, recruiting and employee engagement services.  For a link to our menu of services for BSCAI members, go to www.AffinityHRGroup.com/BSCAI

Employers can require remote employees to be available during specific hours or for certain job functions such as client calls, company meetings, or to collaborate with co-workers. You can either set specific hours for everyone to match company or department "office" hours or you can create certain periods where every employee must be available. The latter works well when you have employees in different time zones where 8am - 5pm for some employees may be 5am - 2pm for others.

If an employee is not able to effectively perform their job duties because they are not available when needed, discuss expectations with the employee. If they continue to miss important meetings or calls, discipline them. If possible, you can even rescind the work-from-home option to ensure they meet their job demands.

If an employee expresses concerns with being available as needed due to other reasons such as medical or family issues, work with them if possible. Otherwise, you may need to review their job function to find a situation that works for everyone.

Affinity HR Group is BSCAI's endorsed HR partner, providing HR support, recruiting and employee engagement services.  For a link to our menu of services for BSCAI members, go to www.AffinityHRGroup.com/BSCAI

Always consult the current guidance from the CDC, state health departments, and any documentation from a healthcare provider when determining the timeframe for an employee to return to the workplace.

To meet the CDC’s 5-day quarantine guidelines, the COVID-positive person has to be asymptomatic or have symptoms that have improved and no fever without the aid of medicine. If they still have symptoms beyond the mild lingering cough or congestion, they should not return until they are feeling better.

Another thing to consider is state health department guidelines. Some states have not yet updated their requirements to the shorter period so they may require the 10- or 14-day isolation period.

Affinity HR Group is BSCAI's endorsed HR partner, providing HR support, recruiting and employee engagement services.  For a link to our menu of services for BSCAI members, go to www.AffinityHRGroup.com/BSCAI

If you learn about an employee job search through a legitimate source (i.e. a phone call asking for employment verification), you can legally ask an employee if they’re job hunting. If you should hear of it through the rumor mill, by searching the employee’s social media page, or by finding their resume on a job site, you cannot approach the employee. 

The more important question is SHOULD you ask and if so, HOW.

If this is a valuable employee, then you may want to have a conversation explaining that you received the employment verification request and were wondering if they are searching for a new job. If they are, you can ask why and see if you can offer some reason for them to stay. You may not be able to meet their demands, but it could help ease the transition out when they do leave.

If you are not going to be sad to see the employee leave or the employee is angry or vindictive, perhaps you bide your time and quietly start looking for their replacement.

Regardless of what action you take, make sure you are not taking adverse employment action against them as this could violate state law and get you in even more trouble.

Affinity HR Group is BSCAI's endorsed HR partner, providing HR support, recruiting and employee engagement services.  For a link to our menu of services for BSCAI members, go to www.AffinityHRGroup.com/BSCAI