Becker & Poliakoff

“The Great Resignation: A New Idea for Keeping Employees On the Job” – Human Resources Executive

“The Great Resignation: A New Idea for Keeping Employees On the Job” – Human Resources Executive

Becker & PoliakoffBy now, it appears well-established that employers generally may require COVID-19 vaccines for employees returning to work and may ask employees physically entering the workplace if they have been diagnosed with or tested for COVID-19. Employers also may require employees to come to work post-pandemic for legitimate nondiscriminatory reasons.

With the return to work looming, while many employers are discussing a “hybrid” remote/in-office work combination future, some employers either want employees back to the office full-time or for larger periods of time than employees would like.

But, what are employers’ rights when employees, especially millennials, don’t want to come back to the office and want to instead continue working remotely for their organization?

Not everyone wants to return to the pre-pandemic, 9-5 office lifestyle.

How (and sometimes when) to bring employees back into the office is a vexing decision that employers are currently or soon to be facing, along with how to give employees flexibility.

One recent study found that a “whopping 58% of workers say they would “absolutely” look for a new job if they weren’t allowed to continue working remotely in their current position.

The U.S. Department of Labor has reported that workplace resignations set a 20-year record in April 2021, with 4 million employees quitting their jobs. The global employment website Monster has said that 95% of employees are considering changing their jobs. (Read more on that here.)

Resigning employment has now reached such a new high level that quitting work post-pandemic has been labeled “The Great Resignation of 2021.”

What should employers do to ease the burden from employee departures when there will be difficulty finding qualified replacements?

To view the complete article, please click here.

For over 45 years, Ned Bassen has honed his expertise in labor and employment law. He is well-versed in litigating on behalf of and counseling defense contractors, financial institutions, universities and other nonprofit institutions and representing individuals accused of wrongdoing in connection with employment. His defense in such matters has included bankruptcy, employment discrimination, unlawful competition, poaching, corporate raiding, misappropriation of trade secrets, non-competes and other restrictive covenants, false claims, employment defamation and arbitration in the U.S. and internationally. To learn more about Ned, please click here.