More than 36 million Americans will work remotely in the next few years. Remote work is not a trend that’s going away anytime soon. Since COVID, the number of remote workers has skyrocketed and is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years.
For HR teams, it’s a tricky time. We’ve made some adjustments to accommodate remote workers. However, there are HR issues for remote workers that make having these workers a tricky thing. Here are some of the top HR issues that pertain to remote workers that could trip you up in the coming years.
What HR Issues Revolve Around Remote Workers?
Top HR Issues for Remote Workers
Some of the top HR issues for remote workers include:
- Engagement and culture
- Communication
- Onboarding
- Compliance
Engagement and Culture
If you have remote workers, employee engagement in workplace culture is a challenge. When you’re at home, it’s hard to feel connected to an office. Companies with an engaged workforce achieve double the net annual income over other businesses. Yet only 26% of employees say they are engaged today.
This is a problem when you’re trying to keep remote employees in the loop of the natural camaraderie that comes from being in the office. Your HR teams must make a deliberate effort to create events and team bonding exercises that keep remote workers in the loop.
Communication
Too, remote workers must have the right tools to communicate between teams. Ask these questions to determine if you have HR issues in these areas:
- What systems do you have for immediate communication between in-office and remote workers?
- Are teams frustrated when remote workers aren’t available because of calendar miscommunications?
- Are remote workers expected to work 9 to 5, or can they work when they want to?
- Does HR have an online payroll platform that allows remote workers to get the answers they need about benefits, vacation, and more?
All of these issues are complex and must be remedied to ensure that remote workers are as much a part of the team as in-office workers.
Onboarding
Take training and development as another example. How do you onboard employees when they’re not in your office? Do you even have onboarding; 22% of companies say they don’t have a process in place that welcomes new employees. What about your system and processes for the development and education of your employees? If these systems are out of date, it’s likely your remote worker may be frustrated.
All of these efforts can help your remote teams feel like they’re a vital part of your business, no matter where they’re located. But that doesn’t even tackle the issue of human error and compliance issues related to handling remote workers.
Compliance
There are two key areas where legal compliance may falter if you have remote workers:
- Local employment regulations are easily missed pitfalls when you have remote employees. Remote employees become subject to these rules based on their workplace location. Local laws may change how you handle paid leave or how these employees are reimbursed. Oversee this area of the law because it is subject to change.
- Corporate taxes change, particularly if the remote worker is across state lines. Unless the company uses an EOR, the employer must qualify to conduct business in that state, with corporate filings and registration fees. It’s easy to make a withholding mistake, particularly if you have any manual processes to handle payroll taxes.
Worried About Remote Worker Compliance?
FoxHire is an EOR build for the new world of remote work. We offer EOR technology to handle communication between remote employees about all HR-related issues. Our automated systems handle compliance with labor and tax laws, too. As an EOR, we can even hire employees across state lines so you don’t have to hassle with registering as a local entity. Call on us today to find out more about how we can help your business adapt to our new remote world.
