Yes, employers are generally allowed to ask workers if they have been vaccinated. Companies are often times interested in employees’ vaccination status because it sheds light on return to work and social distancing planning, customer and co-worker safety, and possible employer-provided incentives for employees to get vaccinated.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has provided guidance indicating that not only can employers ask about vaccination status, employers can also ask for proof.

In situations where the employer is asking for employees’ vaccination status, we recommend the following:

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On Friday, Feb. 26, 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released its enforcement and litigation data from the 2020 fiscal year. The agency resolved 70,804 charges in 2020 and secured $439.2 million for victims of employment discrimination. Among their efforts, EEOC employees fielded over 470,000 phone calls and responded to more than 187,000 field office inquiries, including 122,775 online submissions.

According to the EEOC, the following are the top 10 reasons for workplace discrimination claims in fiscal year 2020:

1. Retaliation—37,632 (55.8% of all charges filed)
2. Disability—24,324 (36.1%)
3. Race—22,064 (32.7%)
4. Sex—21,398 (31.7%)
5. Age—14,183 (21.0%)
6. National Origin—6,377 (9.5%)
7. Color—3,562 (5.3%)
8. Religion—2,404 (3.6%)
9. Equal Pay Act—980 (1.5%)
10. Genetic Information—440 (0.7%)

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The COVID-19 pandemic has been raging for months. In that time, many businesses have ceased operations out of safety concerns and have waited for the right opportunity to resume. Now, with COVID-19 vaccines becoming available, employers can finally start planning for their immediate futures.

There are still many unknowns related to the COVID-19 vaccines, but there is at least one agreed-upon factor: Vaccinating employees is the best way to reopen a business safely. However, while it may be the best tool in the arsenal, it is not the only one. Employers will still need to continue using safeguards such as masks and social distancing to ensure the safety of their workers and customers.

New Toolkit: With that in mind, we recently released an HR Toolkit that explores the COVID-19 vaccines and other workplace safeguards, and helps employers decide whether a vaccination policy is right for their organizations. Included at the end is a robust appendix with printable resources that employers can use right now, including policies, communications and more.  Click the following link to read or download the HR toolkit on Returning Workforces and COVID-19 Vaccines.

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Attracting and retaining talent is often a top priority for employers across the country. Given the effect the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the job market, one might imagine this task is easier than ever. Unfortunately, that’s far from the truth. While there may be more candidates than usual, attracting quality talent and retaining top performers still remains a struggle, worsened by COVID-19 and its effects on the workplace.

Provide Meaningful Benefits – The pandemic has affected everyone in significant, yet unique, ways. While all employees may be struggling in some way, their situations aren’t the same. Employers can help lift up their workers by offering meaningful employee benefits. Robust health care offerings may seem like an obvious one-size-fits-all solution, but sometimes voluntary benefits are actually what employees need. These include caregiving assistance, financial counseling, increased paid time off and other nontraditional perks. There are many low-cost options available and, better yet, employees can choose their benefits a la carte to meet their individual needs. New Video: Click the following link to view our recent HR chat on Employee Benefit Trends.

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We’re excited to announce a new Employco publication – HR Edge Quarterly Newsletter! The newsletter is designed to provide quick, easy-to-read articles that are pertinent to small and mid-size employers. In this inaugural issue, we look at the following topics:

• How HR Can Support Working Parents
• The Impact of Employer Branding
• Understanding Generation Z

Click the following link to view and download the HR Edge Quarterly Newsletter (Q1 2021).

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Affordable Care Act (ACA) reporting under Section 6055 and Section 6056 for the 2020 calendar year is due in early 2021. Specifically, reporting entities must:

• File returns with the IRS by March 1, 2021, since Feb. 28, 2021, is a Sunday (or March 31, if filing electronically); and
• Furnish statements to individuals by March 2, 2021.

Originally, individual statements were due by Jan. 31, 2021. However, IRS Notice 2020-76 extended the furnishing deadline. Notice 2020-76 does not extend the due date for filing forms with the IRS for 2020. It also provides additional penalty relief related to furnishing forms to individuals under Section 6055.

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Recruiting has never been simple, and the COVID-19 pandemic is complicating matters even more. In this rapidly changing landscape, employers need to adapt if they want to attract and retain quality talent. To better prepare for this task, here are some recruiting practice trends employers should monitor in 2021.

1. Looking Inward for Talent – Recruiting is a challenge at any time, but especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, recruiters are suffering from many constraints, chief among them being slim budgets. In fact, 50% of talent professionals expect a smaller budget this year compared to last, according to a LinkedIn survey. This reality is spurring companies to look internally for talent. Year over year, internal mobility has increased 20%, according to LinkedIn. And that’s not a huge surprise, given that upskilling and retraining workers can be more cost efficient than hiring from outside an organization. Employers can focus on transferrable skills over task-specific abilities in 2021.

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Due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, more employees are working remotely than ever before. As management is challenged with leading effective remote teams, organizations may consider internal best practices and question whether any adjustments would help these teams succeed. By addressing the unique needs of employees in the remote workplace, employers can set the stage for effective and productive teams.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an all-time high of employees telecommuting, remote work had previously been growing steadily, and likely will continue to expand in the coming years. While many of the same principles of leading effective teams remain in place, organizations can take steps to ensure that remote teams are performing at a high level.

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Each presidential transition brings changes to the human resources landscape and we expect that to continue under President Joe Biden.

With any legislative change—regardless of intent or outcome—employers must adapt quickly or risk penalties. This can mean redrafting internal policies, recategorizing workers, changing organizational priorities, rewriting employee handbooks and any other HR responsibility. Essentially, the more prepared an employer is, the easier it will be for them to succeed in a changing landscape. To that end, this article discusses a few of the potential significant changes employers can expect during a Biden presidency.

• Minimum Wage: Many states have started gradually increasing their minimum wages at the end of 2020, but not all of them. President Biden wants to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2026 and eliminate the tipped wage. The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25 and has historically only increased by a couple of dollars every two decades. Another significant impact would be the elimination of the tipped wage ($2.13 per hour). Currently, tipped employees earn a lower minimum wage (called a tip credit), but are expected to make up the difference with tips or be paid the remainder by their employer if they don’t make enough in tips. If President Biden eliminates the tip credit, employers would have to start paying those employees significantly more money, which could lead to much higher labor costs. Employers are currently unable to retain tips themselves—they all go to employees. If the tip credit is eliminated, such regulations might also be amended as a way to lower labor costs.

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On Dec. 22, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a final rule to amend employee tip regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The final rule will become effective 60 days after its publication in the Federal Register.

• Tip Pooling – The FLSA allows employers to collect all the tips employees receive into a common employee tip pool, then redistribute these tips among employees in an equitable manner.

• The Final Rule – This new final rule prohibits employers from keeping their employees’ tips and specifically prohibits managers and supervisors from keeping any portion of employee tips, including tips from a tip pool. In addition, the rule limits an employer’s ability to implement mandatory tip pools that include non-tipped employees and incorporates a new recordkeeping requirement for employers that do not take a tip credit but collect employees’ tips to operate a mandatory tip pool. Finally, the new rule also incorporates new civil monetary penalties, codifies recent DOL guidance on how to compensate a tipped employee who performs non-tipped duties at work and harmonizes FLSA requirements with Executive Order 13658 (Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors).

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