The new year usually ushers in new employment laws and is often a time for HR teams to review and update their company’s handbook and policies and procedures. Farella Braun + Martel’s hybrid Employment Law Symposium on Jan. 16 gave HR professionals and others a chance to review new laws, such as the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, and best practices for tackling tricky subjects like the return to in-office work and pay transparency.
Navigating Return to Office, Hybrid Workplace Policies
Ben Buchwalter, special counsel at Farella Braun + Martel, shared that while most employers he talks to want to make sure work gets done efficiently while balancing the wellbeing of their employees, it can be a difficult balance to strike, especially considering employees may be used to working remotely.
According to a March 2023 Pew Research Center article, for non-self-employed hybrid workers, most (63%) said their employer requires them to work in person either a certain number of days per week or month and 59% of hybrid workers said they typically work from home three or more days in a week. Yet, many hybrid workers would prefer more time working at home than they currently do. According to the article, about a third of those who are currently working from home most of the time say, if they had the options, they’d like to work from home all the time.
For those working from home some of the time, half reported they’d like to do so all (18%) or most (32%) of the time.
Buchwalter said the...
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