We’ve gone beyond the tipping point on the whole, “Should we let our staff work remote?” issue. The latest surveys show nearly 70% of U.S. employees want to work remotely at least part of the time and 74% say that their employers should ante up remote work or they may not stay. If you’ve been holding out on allowing remote work or if you’re requiring employees to come back to an office, here’s what you need to know.
Do You Offer Your Employees the Opportunity to Work Remote?
Why Should Your Employees Have a Remote Work Option?
A recent survey shows 72% of the workforce says that if the employer allows remote work the employee is more willing to stay in their job. This is an important consideration for employers struggling to find talent. Given that most employers spend about one-fifth of an employee’s salary on finding their replacement, there are some positive fiscal implications in relation to employee retention to consider.
Employees say working remotely for even part of the week helps with:
- Improved work-life balance and flexible schedules.
- Less stress and cost over commuting.
- Lower environmental impact over commuting every day.
- Higher productivity.
Contrary to what you may believe, employees working from home have fewer distractions and are more productive. A two-year Stanford study found remote workers are 14% more productive and also work longer when they are at home. In addition to helping you retain your workforce longer, what are some other benefits of remote work for employers?
Why Should Employers Allow Remote Work?
One recent survey shows that in-office employees lose about 20% of their productivity due to office distractions.
One big benefit for the employer of allowing remote work is that they no longer are tied to a geographic location for hiring. They literally have a nationwide candidate pool to choose from. With that said, there are some challenges to this that you must consider. First, is the fact that your business may not be registered as an employer in the state you’re hiring in. This takes time and can be a lot to coordinate if you are conducting a wide search across the U.S.
Second, these rules are ever-changing. If you’re not on top of the changes to labor laws or tax requirements at the regional, state, and national levels it’s easy to pick up fines from these entities that can not only cost you big money but also damage your reputation. Did we mention these laws are in no way consistent across state lines?
The new remote work model requires you to make some changes to your business. But some of these changes should also be under the hood. If you’re considering or have recently expanded your work strategies to include remote workers, it’s time to look closely at the effort you’re putting into administering these workers.
Do You Let Your Employees Work Remote?
An EOR like FoxHire specializes in streamlining your dispersed workforce operations. Talk with our team about how we can help you transition safely into the new world of remote work. We can help.
