Inside Higher Ed says flexible work is here. Just like K-12 made changes during the pandemic that took a lot of kids out of the classroom, the nation’s colleges and universities went remote—and it appears some of them are going to stay there. It’s an interesting state for traditional schools, which now have the option of hiring from across geographic state boundaries. For these reasons, many schools are now using a third party known as an employer of record to handle their hiring—and more.
How Can EOR’s Help Higher Education Facilities
Remote Work Comes to Higher Ed
Inside Higher Ed says, “Most faculty, unless they run a research lab, come to campus when they have classes and office hours…faculty are already working remotely a lot and always have been.” During the pandemic, these institutions learned that administrators and staff could join faculty off-campus and do the job just as well. One benefit for these institutions was that they could hire from beyond the local region that tradition required; the talent pool widens dramatically during an era of remote work. However, that also creates employment logistical and compliance issues potentially as you cross state lines. For example:
- Employment and tax laws vary by geographic region.
- Many colleges and universities are not registered employers in all states beyond their “home” location.
Employment laws, while being notoriously complex are also constantly changing. This too is an area of HR that most colleges and universities do not normally have to deal with. There is also a new rise in contract workers. While there are benefits to an employer, tracking remote hours versus on-campus time is hard. There are also limitations placed on higher education institutions that hire contract workers.
But then there is onboarding. How can colleges and universities handle onboarding with their new remote workforce? Handling training is just as complicated as managing payroll. Many colleges and universities may lack the digital tools to handle these challenges. If your goal is to set your new remote employee up for success, managing the paperwork, training, and processes necessary to onboard the new staff member is a lot different remotely.
What is the answer for our remote academic staff? We must look to online colleges and universities first, to determine what processes they’ve established to handle remote administration of their institution. While many online schools have a physical location, they’ve been operating with remote teams, both at the faculty and staff level, for years. Many of these organizations turn to the help of an EOR.
How Can an EOR Help Your Institution?
An EOR like FoxHire is an outsourced, trusted advisor to your institution. Our firm works closely with higher education organizations to administer payroll, taxes, insurance, workers’ compensation—and more. As a registered employer in all 50-states, we eliminate the issues surrounding a dispersed set of workers that cross state lines. We can also handle onboarding processes for new employees. If your higher education institution is scrambling to meet the needs of a new remote workforce, contact us. We can help.
