The report delivered by Owl Labs shows clearly that the remote revolution has changed the world for better or worse. The report states that 69% of employees were working or are working remotely due to the pandemic. Also, 48% of those who worked remotely during the pandemic say that if they were not able to do so after the COVID days are over, they would start looking for another job.
Totally 71% of surveyed employees expect the hybrid style to remain after the pandemic will be over.
This comes with multiple challenges for the employers, especially those, who didn’t implement a cloud-based attendance system to support their operations regardless of the physical placement of the team. Also, remote work is a stress test for attendance tracking systems and policies.
Despite the overall benefits of remote work and the employees’ preference toward this way of working, there are severe consequences of ill-managed remote work and especially, the assumption that the remote employees need fewer days off.
According to the World Health Organization definition, burnout is a syndrome resulting from workplace stress that was not managed properly. One of the main symptoms is feelings of negativity and cynicism toward one’s job, mental distance from the job, and exhaustion.
According to a FlexJobs survey, up to 43% of employed workers say their stress level is currently high or very high. Providing employees with a flexible leave schedule and the ability to detach from work from time to time enables them to mitigate burnout.
Time off is also the way to provide the employees with a greater work-life balance. According to Zippia, up to 57% of employees consider poor work-life balance a dealbreaker when they are considering a new job.
Also, 48% of employees call themselves workaholics – a condition especially harmful when working from home (or sometimes – living at work).
Last but not least, insisting on regular leaves and encouraging the employees to have a vacation boosts their wellbeing and productivity. According to the Harvard Business Review, 94% of vacations have a good ROI in terms of energy and outlook upon returning to work.
But vacations and paid time off is not the only type of leave the company needs to manage when it comes to the on-site and remote employees alike.
There are multiple types of leaves the time attendance and leave management software needs to process daily to keep up with the reality.
No matter if the employee works from home or the office, if one has the flu or has broken his or her leg, there is a medical leave required. Thus, the software needs to process this request according to the local legal environment as well as stick to the company’s policy.
Paid time off is non-mandatory in the US, with multiple legal approaches depending on the state. On the other hand, the EU-based employees enjoy a high level of social security and are entitled to paid time off.
While maternity leave is one of the most popular types of parental leave, it is increasingly popular for fathers to take paternity leave. It enables fathers to spend time with their families as well as support their children in the earliest stages of their growth.
Last but not least, the employee has a right to skip some days agreeing to not being paid for them. These are taken when one needs to take the time off, yet was left with no paid time off.
The time attendance and leave management software makes multiple company’s obligations easier, especially in the dynamic and unpredictable environment of hybrid workplaces. The work from home attendance management comes with several challenges one does not experience when dealing only with a local, office-based workforce.
As mentioned above, there are numerous legal environments in which remote work can be. If the company is operating in a particular market, it needs to provide the employees with the protection of sticking to the local policies and not violate the employee’s rights.
While the compliance is pretty straightforward, the need to respect the local holidays is more tricky, with multiple independence days or days of significance. Also, it is natural for one to expect the day off at a particular time, assuming there are multiple traditions and local customs the company may not be aware of, yet needs to respect.
Also, there are usually multiple leave policies regarding the type of contractor. It is uncommon to provide the freelance contractor with a paid or sick leave. On the other hand, failing to do so with the employee is a violation of one’s rights.
Depending on the legal environment, there may be multiple types of working contracts with varying levels of employee protection, multiple rights,s and employer's obligations.
On the bright side, the company enjoys great benefits from using the time attendance and leave management software. First and foremost, building the timesheet for remote workers becomes automated and requires far less effort than it used to.
Also, the time and attendance software to track work from home enable the distributed employees to easily send their leave requests. They can inform about the sick leaves swiftly, with little to no interruptions due to the poor communication tools.
The time and attendance for work from home jobs can get messy with time, with employees using multiple methods to request leaves or report their absences. If there is a single system used by the whole company, there is order and consistency kept, making the work of the payroll department much easier.
Last but not least, if the company is tracking remote employees with a mobile attendance system, the whole absence management is much cheaper and cost-effective. This includes the HR and payroll department’s time liberated to do other, usually more profitable things for the company.
For example, it can be engaging in employer branding, looking for new employees, or ensuring the wellbeing of already employed ones.
The work from home time and attendance management can be a great challenge for companies unused to working in a hybrid way. Yet using proper tools to deal with the challenge can reduce hassle and turn all the downsides into advantages.
If you wish to talk more about the ways the company can benefit from using a system like Calamari, don’t hesitate to contact us now!
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