The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on the nation's workforce, and one of the biggest changes is in the amount of people that are now working from home. A new survey has found that the majority of working professionals who were forced to start working remotely due to the pandemic would like to continue to do so after it has subsided, while 29% of professionals said they would quit if their employer decided not to allow telecommuting. The study by LiveCareer.com found that going forward 62% of professionals when looking for jobs in the future would look for companies…

When employees are injured on the job, they are eligible for workers' compensation benefits, but not if the accident occurs on their commute to or from work — in most cases, at least.  But how about if an employee is injured in your parking lot, or while running an errand for you after work? There are two rules that govern at which point a worker is eligible for benefits if they sustain an injury: The 'coming and going' rule Typically, workers' comp benefits won't be paid for injuries sustained during a daily commute. This is known as the "coming and…

Employers with 10 or more employees must post their completed OSHA Form 300A by Feb. 1 and keep it posted in their workplace until April 30. The form must be posted where the company usually posts other employee notices, like minimum wage and workplace safety notices. Form 300A summarizes the total number of fatalities, missed workdays, job transfers or restrictions, and injuries and illnesses as recorded on Form 300. The penalty for OSHA posting violations is $13,260. The Summary (Form 300A) requires the following information from the Form 300 Log: The total number of non-first-aid occupational injury and illness cases.…

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, so does the number of workplace-related lawsuits filed by workers across the country against their employers. The pandemic laid the groundwork for new local, state and federal laws and regulations governing a number of workplace issues like workplace safety, family and medical leave and remote work. And it created new challenges for employers who were forced to close operations, lay off and furlough workers and organize new work arrangements. The surge resulted in a record number of COVID-19-related class-action lawsuits, the majority of them concerning disputes over:  (1) Alleged failure to provide a safe working…

With so many people working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, logic would dictate that instances of workplace sexual harassment would have plummeted since people are not in the office or any other facility together.  Logic would be wrong. Sexual harassment of employees by other employees or superiors has moved online, according to recent reports. In fact, since the pandemic has started, the nonprofit Stop Street Harassment found that there has been a 20% increase in sexual harassment complaints among American workers. The increase is not surprising considering an earlier study by Stop Street in 2018, which found that 41%…

Cybersecurity threats have continued growing, in fact they been ramping up during 2020, and the trend according to experts is that the risks will continue to grow at an exponential rate. And small to mid-sized firms that think they will fly under the radar of cyber threats are sadly mistaken, as they are usually easier pickings for criminals. Worse yet, one incident could put a firm out of business. To protect your company from attack, here are three cybersecurity threats you should prepare for now. Ransomware attacks In a ransomware attack, hackers access your data and hold it hostage until…