Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, employees cannot be required to get a vaccine if it violates their religious belief, practice, or observance, or their sincerely-held belief. Employers do not need to accept general statements or form letters, but should require documentation from the employee's personal religious leader explaining the reason the vaccine violates the person's beliefs.

It's important to note that the religious leaders of most major denominations have stated that mandating vaccines does not violate the tenants of their faith and have come out in support of COVID-19 vaccines in the name of public health and safety. For more information, refer to the US Embassy, ABC News, and Newsweek.

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

When hiring an employee who will be working outside of the office, there are several employment aspects to consider. You should establish policies around remote work such as availability, use of equipment, confidentiality, and information security. If you will be issuing equipment such as laptops or cell phones, you should have employees sign an Equipment Issue & Return Form to track the issued equipment as well as to document any costs, rules of usage, and expectation of return. You also want to make sure you properly on-board the employee so they understand their job duties and are integrated into the team.

If the employee will be working in a different state, you will need to follow employment laws that may differ from those in your state. These may include mandated sick pay, leaves, paid jury duty, paying out accrued vacation upon termination, etc. You will also need to establish new hire reporting, Workers’ Comp, and unemployment accounts for that state as well as setting up proper tax withholdings.

Given the current evolution of the workplace to a remote workforce, allowing your company to take these extra steps will open up a large population of potential employees for you.

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

Because of the tight labor market, companies may find themselves having to pay a new employee with less experience more than the current pay of an employee in the same role who has been with the company longer. Employees do talk about pay, and they will learn of the disparity. Best keep pay for employees in the same role equitable, otherwise you risk losing valued employees and will end up paying a replacement the higher pay anyway. Welcome to the true impact of the tight labor market!

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 are re-opening your office and have some employees who are vaccinated while others are not, our best recommendation is to follow the current guidelines established by the CDC, OSHA, and other health & safety experts.

In situations where CDC guidance differs for vaccinated and unvaccinated people, such as the need to quarantine after travel or exposure to someone with COVID-19, you can implement different procedures as long as you are not targeting or discriminating against a particular group.

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

Q: We are considering putting in place a revised work week policy for the summer months. DO we need to revise our handbook to do so?

A: No, you don't need to revise it if it is a trial or something you’re just planning to roll out for this summer.  We do recommend that you create a policy for it, however, so that employees understand how to implement it and understand how it relates to existing vacation and PTO policies.  You can roll out the temporary policy and have employees review and sign it.  It should also have a specific time period indicated.

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