This has been one strange and disorienting week. I haven’t felt this disjointed since 9/11.
No basketball (pro or college).
No hockey.
No baseball.
No James Bond.
No large scale concert tours.
No Broadway shows or Disney parks.
No St. Patrick’s Day parades.
No Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductions.
And, in Ohio, no mass gatherings of more than 100 people (to include auditoriums, stadiums, arenas, large conference rooms, meeting halls, cafeterias, or any other confined indoor or outdoor space, but not offices, restaurants, factories, or retail or grocery stores). And no school at least for the next three weeks.
And, to top it off, Tom freakin’ Hanks has coronavirus (my personal breaking point).
So what now? Our new normal is very abnormal. And it’s going to stay this way, at least for the immediate future.
As it stands, the best advice remains to practice social distances, stay home if you’re ill, follow the recommended hand washing and other “good hygiene” protocols, and don’t travel unless you absolutely (and I mean absolutely) have to.
Finally, above all else, please be flexible, understanding, and kind. If there was ever a time to prioritize the human issues, it’s now. Illnesses, quarantines, and closed schools will strain the workplace. I promise you that they are straining your employees more. The more nimble and empathetic we can be, the less this will hurt.
One last thing. When the time comes (and it will come) when we can resume our pre-coronavirus lives, get out and support small businesses, live music, the travel industry, and everyone else whose livelihood was impacted by COVID-19. They are really going to need it.
Here’s what I read this week:
Coronavirus, Part 1
- As COVID-19 Spreads, How Will Employment Law Areas Hold Up? — via Dan Schwartz’s Connecticut Employment Law Blog
- Preventing Panic — via Kate Bischoff’s tHRive Law & Consulting Blog
- The Coronavirus, Sick Leave, Working at Home and Potential Employer Liability — via Workplace Prof Blog
- Life and work during coronavirus: We need large supplies of kindness — via Minding the Workplace
- Employee lied about coronavirus to get time off work, coworker sprayed Lysol at me — via Ask a Manager
- Coronavirus Testing—Issues for Employers Reaching for Thermometer — via Bloomberg Law
- ‘It makes me very angry’: Coronavirus damage ripples across the workforce — via Politico
- Employers Face Privacy Balancing Act In Coronavirus Fight — via Law360
- Promoting Workplace Mental Health In The Age of COVID-19 — via The SHRM Blog
Coronavirus, Part 2
- Sick employees should stay home to fight coronavirus. But many don’t have sick leave — via CNN Business
- Does lack of paid sick days put Ohio at risk of coronavirus outbreak? — via Cleveland.com
- Feds introduce legislation mandating paid sick leave for Coronavirus — via Eric Meyer’s The Employer Handbook Blog
- Workplace vs. Coronavirus: ’No One Has a Playbook for This’ — via The New York Times
- Virtual Culture - #Coronavirus and Telecommuting — via SHRM Blog
- COVID-19 Drives Rush to Remote Work. Is Your Security Team Ready? and Working from Home? These Tips Can Help You Adapt — via Dark Reading
- COVID-19, Work-from-Home Policies, and Maintaining Wage and Hour Compliance — via Wage & Hour Defense Blog
- OSHA Issues “Coronavirus Protection” Guidance — via Workplace Safety and Environmental Law Alert Blog
Discrimination
- #METoo update: The Tavis Smiley Jury Verdict! — via Marc Alifanz’s and Kate Bischoff’s Hostile Work Environment Podcast (and welcome back!!!!)
- Workplace Morals Clauses Take Hold Beyond Show Biz in #MeToo Era — via Bloomberg Law
- Does Your Conflict Resolution Program Promote Religious Discrimination? — via The Emplawyerologist
- Gender study finds 90% of people are biased against women — via BBC News
- Research: To Reduce Gender Bias, Anonymize Job Applications — via Harvard Business Review
- Failure to Accommodate, Direct Evidence, and the Interactive Process — via Understanding the Americans with Disabilities Act
HR & Employee Relations
- Dilemma of the Month: How to Best Handle Gender-Neutral Pronouns — via Evil HR Lady, Suzanne Lucas
- Cultivating Employee Trust in the 2020 Workplace — via TalentCulture
- Surveillance in the Workplace — via Employment & Human Rights Law In Canada
- Maintain Your Mental Health While Working Remotely — via The SHRM Blog
Technology
- Best Practices for Instant Messaging at Work — via Harvard Business Review
- Microsoft: 99.9% of people get hacked for one (ridiculous) reason — via Windows Central
- Two Out of Three Companies Haven’t Reviewed Their Data Breach Plans — via Ride The Lightning
- Crafty Web Skimming Domain Spoofs “https” — via Krebs on Security
Wage & Hour
- Equity Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker? — via Compensation Cafe
- Prospectively Reducing Workweeks for Overtime Exempt Employees – With a Commensurate Reduction in Salary – Does Not Necessarily Destroy the Exemption — via Wage & Hour Defense Blog
- Miami Heat’s Defense Against FMLA Suit: Former In-House Lawyer Was ‘Toxic’ and ‘Disruptive’ — via Law.com
- Court: FMLA didn’t cover Apple worker’s leave to care for niece, nephew — via HR Dive
Labor
- Active NLRB is reversing many trends; union and non-union companies need to be aware — via Employer Law Report
- AFL-CIO sues NLRB to stop new union election rule — via CUE, Inc.
- Lambda School threatens ex-employee for coming forward about conditions at the coding bootcamp — via The Verge