Adaptation to COVID world

That would be fabulous, particularly since I've been meaning to order a new desk chair for a long time. Or say it's OK to take one of the many extra chairs that are around the office, since we've had one-off drop-ins cleared by the boss.

I've mostly used my personal laptop, so I don't expect to get any assistance with upgrades there. Reimbursement for printer ink and paper would be helpful, and a minimal cost.

 

I wrote this in response to a member who asked about companies forcing people to go back to an office who could perform their work at home. As an employment lawyer, return to work issues are something that everyone is thinking about.

Right now, the guidance has been very, very murky. I think that the starting principle — pre-COVID — is that an employer has the right to demand that an employee perform their services at the workplace. That is true even if the employee can show that they would be just as productive at home. Now, employees with disabilities can request a reasonable accommodation to be able to work from home (like a worker with a respiratory ailment who doesn’t want to come in if there is bad smog) and the employer has to show why that would not be feasible. However, the employer was typically given wide latitude on this topic

Has that changed as a result of COVID? Too soon to tell. Right now, the guidance from the EEOC has been for employers to be mindful of these types of requests, but that is super squishy. Some red state governors have said that workers who do not want to come in for fear of infections will not be eligible to receive unemployment benefits.

I think that the rule is going to have to be that if the employer is providing a safe workplace (complying with whatever the applicable guidelines are with temperature checks, occupancy limits and PPE) then they are going to still have the right for workers to come in. I also think that there is going to be some sort of federal liability shield. Those more detailed guidelines have not been fully issued and it is leading to a lot of confusion. That being said, in the white collar workforce, the limits on occupancy in many buildings and the fear of liability have allowed employers to kick the can down the road.

I could see some blue states/cities to issue at least temporary rules that an employee be allowed to work from home if they can demonstrate that they can do the job there or the employer can demonstrate otherwise. So far, I haven’t seen anything yet though.

That being said, I know I’m not going back to my office before Labor Day and would think that there is a real possibility that it will be 2021 before I head back in.

 

As a parent who is WFH right now with two school-aged kids (and nowhere to take them while my wife works in a hospital), I can't imagine going into an office or elsewhere until the school and afterschool care situation is well-in-hand. I would not be able to honor any request (or mandate) to come to an office without leaving my kids home unattended...which is not going to happen. I have to presume there will be some leeway given for other folks in a similar situation to mine.

 

My daughter's firm in France (where offices were allowed to reopen this week) is rotating personnel. Each employee is expected to be in two days out of the five and work from home the others. Dunno if any American businesses will try that kind of thing. It's a small company, as many in the wine business are.

 

The current crisis bought them a couple of months, but they weren’t making it through 2020 regardless. That being said, I am typing this at my Pier 1 desk that I bought in 1998 and my entire patio and fire pit setup is from there.

 

Whatever reopening means, as TowelWaver pointed out, the Mon-Fri jobs are completely dependent on schools getting back to normal. If kids are home, a large percentage of the workplace is fucked.

 

Played golf for the first time in 10 weeks. When I made the plan, I kinda felt like I was doing something wrong in my hard-hit area.

But, I followed all the rules. Mask, gloves on the way there and to pay, only one person at a time in the clubhouse. Stayed socially distant on the course (insert shot-accuracy joke here).

No cart, walked and carried my bag as I normally do (other than vacation situations).

I really needed it. A few hours of escape. Enjoying extended time outside. Playing a game.

And because I was just happy to be there, I played pretty well.

My area has a long way to go. But it was nice to feel normal for a few hours.

 

I miss normal New York so much, at this point I’d pay a tourist to walk slowly in front of me for five blocks.
— Colbert

 

We were going to try having half of our team at the office one week and at home the next (vice versa for the other half, obviously) before the stay-at-home order came. We're probably months from trying that again.

 

I've always loved Pier 1 and used to shop there regularly. But never ever got over the, wow, this is expensive... for every single thing in the store.