This course is designed for HR professionals who wish to take a pause amid the COVID-19 pandemic for a reset to consider practical and theoretical impacts of the COVID-19 virus on the workplace.  On the practical side, this course will address how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted employment law in specific areas, including wage and hour, leave administrative, disability and religious accommodation, design of vacation and sick pay and risks associated with remote and hybrid work.  The course will go beyond the practical to also address the overall role of human resources during an infectious disease pandemic.  Should HR be solely responsible for workplace safety and public health issues that impact the workplace? The course will also consider what the workplace might look like beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. What actions should HR professionals be taking now to prepare for that future? 

Learning Outcomes:

• Learn how COVID-19 safety requirements in the workplace intersect with wage and hour rules and employee leave entitlements, impact employees’ ability to access sick and vacation pay and potentially modify employee privacy rights
• Understand the overlapping and sometimes conflicting COVID-19 enforcement roles and safety requirements of different local, state and federal agencies, such as local and state health departments and federal OSHA and Cal/OSHA
• Gain an awareness of the legal pitfalls associated with COVID-19 vaccination and face covering mandates, including understanding legal obligations to reasonably accommodate religious beliefs and medical conditions
• Consider the role of the human resources function in workplace safety issues, including a focus on how COVID-19 has impacted worker compensation and company third party liable for non-employee COVID-19 infections that may result from a workplace infection
• Become familiar with compliance issues raised by remote and hybrid work, including how to mitigate risk associated with tracking time and work for exempt and non-exempt employees; how, whether and when to compensate for work travel, home office expenses and time spent checking emails and texts; and how to evaluate which law (local, state or federal) applies to remote workers
• Think about the period beyond the COVID-19 pandemic and what changes that might bring to the workforce