CEO owner leader company staff member portrait, possibly finance, accountant, managerYour employees are productive and do everything you tell them to do. But are they happy? Will your best and brightest work as hard as they can and stick with you or will they leave at the next opportunity? Gallup research shows that the majority of U.S. workers have some level of dissatisfaction with their jobs.

Studies also show that employees rarely disclose their frustrations with work situations until they are well on their way to finding a new job. That’s why it’s imperative for managers to get an accurate read on how things are really going at the office. But that’s easier said than done.

One way to gauge employee satisfaction is to meet one-on-one with each member of your team regularly. Ask them not only how they feel about their jobs but how your company — and you — can help them meet their personal and career goals. And don’t forget to provide regular feedback. Take a few minutes each week to provide positive feedback on recent accomplishments. Make sure if you’re providing negative feedback that you also provide some positive feedback as well in the same meeting.

Perhaps the best way of all to get honest feedback from your team is to make sure that each person feels that they can come to you with the good and the bad. Do you show irritation when employees approach you with problems or issues? Do you glance at your computer or phone while your employees are talking to you? Do you appear rushed when people come to talk to you? You may unknowingly be encouraging people to not be candid about how they feel and about what’s going on at the office.

How well do you know your employees’ hopes, dreams and personal challenges? Do you know what’s going on in their lives? Their children’s names? Their hobbies and what they do on vacation? It’s amazing how much happier people feel when someone takes a genuine interest in them. Taking the time to listen to your employees, support them in their careers and genuinely get to know them can go a long way towards helping them be happy at work.

Happy male writing positive mail to clientTelecommuting is definitely taking off as COVID-19 disrupts our traditional ways of doing business. For companies, it solves the problem of social distancing and keeping employees from getting sick. And studies show most employees love working at home at least part of the time.

Yet allowing employees to work at home can expose your company to risks that you don’t encounter when your workforce is physically located at your company’s facilities. At Accurate Protection, we specialize in working with companies to better manage ever-evolving risks. That’s why we wanted to share with you some great ways employers can better manage the liability risks of remote workers:

Create a telecommuting policy. Setting clear work-at-home guidelines and communicating them to employees can help prevent misunderstandings. Make it clear that you have the right to rescind their work-from-home privileges at any time and for any reason. Have all employees review and acknowledge your company’s telecommuting policy.

Re-evaluate your insurance coverage. Make sure your insurance program effectively addresses the unique risks of having some of your employees working remotely. (We can help with that.)

Make sure employees are using secure wi-fi. All of your employees should be using private and secured Wi-Fi networks while working remotely. Using an unsecured network — public wi-fi — can put your company’s private information at risk. Require anyone who uses public wi-fi to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN), which keeps their web browsing secure.

Make sure employees are using devices that are secure with up-to-date firewalls and anti-virus software. This applies to laptops, tablets, and smartphones. It’s your responsibility to keep your customer and client information safe.
Use secure virtual meeting rooms. Make sure that private conversations and presentations cannot be monitored by unauthorized third parties.

Make sure you’re complying with federal wage and hour rules. To avoid violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employers should require non-exempt employees working from home to record the time they work each day and stick to the hours they should be working each day. Non-exempt employees are entitled to overtime pay whether they are working at your company’s facility or at home, so it’s important that employees know they must adhere to their normal working hours and that they are prohibited from working additional hours without your approval.

Make sure you’re classifying workers correctly for workers compensation insurance. When employees switch to working from home, some workers compensation insurers may want to change classification codes. As an employer, it’s important to know that you could be potentially be held liable if an employee is hurt on the job and employees may be eligible for workers’ compensation if they are hurt while working at home.

We’re here to help your company better manage its risks. Want to learn more? Visit our website: https://accurateprotection.com/.