But what is the best way to address evolving employee expectations? This post outlines 9 HR best practices that small business owners should tackle this year.

What Are HR Best Practices? (And Why They Matter)

HR best practices are the guiding principles that businesses keep in mind when managing their relationship with employees.

They set the groundwork for fostering a positive workplace culture, while improving operational efficiency, and ensuring compliance with evolving regulations.

No matter the size of your business or who oversees your HR efforts, you should set some time aside to discuss HR best practices and define how to bring them into the workplace.

9 HR Best Practices to Follow this Year

1. Get High-Quality Talent on Board

In such a competitive landscape, small businesses might find it harder to attract top talent than larger organizations.

To bridge this gap, you need to adopt a strategic and proactive approach that resonates with potential candidates.

Here are three actionable tips to discover top-tier candidates — and get them to say YES!

• Leverage local networks. Tap into your local communities and networks to identify talent. Building relationships with local universities, attending community events, or participating in industry-specific gatherings can give you access to a pool of skilled professionals who are already connected to the area.
• Highlight company culture. Emphasizing your business’ unique culture and values in job ads and recruiting materials can attract candidates looking for more meaningful and impactful work experience.
• Build a strong online presence. Refresh your company website and be active on social media. Potential candidates often research companies online before applying, so be sure to make a good impression.

2. Design a Memorable Onboarding Experience

Onboarding is much more than paperwork and basic orientation. In fact, research shows that companies with a solid onboarding program see 50% greater employee retention and 62% greater productivity than those who don’t implement one.

Effective onboarding is about making new hires feel supported and integrated into your company culture.

Here’s how to improve your onboarding process:

• Create a 30-60-90-day plan for your new hires. Provide clear expectations and set realistic goals right from the start. Be sure to include regular check-ins to follow up on their progress.
• Let your best employees be part of the training process. Encourage employees to have an active role when someone joins the team: this not only speeds up the new hire’s learning curve but can also foster supportive relationships.

3. Invest in Training: If your Employees Grow, You Grow

When you invest in training, you invite employees to develop their skills, keep them motivated, and encourage them to do their best work.

Having a solid training program also gives you a competitive edge and helps you stay ahead of the curve with new trends and technologies.

Even if you are a small business with a limited budget, there are creative and cost-effective ways to implement training programs to improve your employees’ skills and contribute to your business growth.

A few ideas to plan your training strategy for the year ahead:

• Provide diverse learning options, from e-learning courses to mentorship programs.
• Emphasize soft skills training, enhancing communication, customer service, and leadership abilities.
• Are you growing fast? Align training initiatives with your strategic goals and train employees in the skills they’ll need in the near future.

4. Embrace Regular and Constructive Employee Feedback

Providing regular feedback contributes to a healthy work environment. But employee feedback is not just about evaluating performance and showing employees what to improve — it’s also about encouraging open, honest communication.

Keep this in mind for your performance evaluation conversations:

• Be solution oriented. Your goal is to help employees grow and improve their performance. Keep your feedback actionable and focus on the future.
• Recognize and reward employee contributions, motivating outstanding work.
• Promote a culture of continuous feedback rather than limiting it to annual reviews.

5. Stay Up to Date on Labor Laws & Regulations

Staying compliant is a critical responsibility, regardless of the size of your business. It involves staying on top of the latest regulations related to data protection, employment laws, health and safety, corporation taxes, and industry-specific regulations, among other areas.

Understanding this amount of information might be overwhelming, but it’s key to avoid costly fines and penalties.

Here’s how to navigate compliance nowadays:

• Use HR compliance management software to stay up to date with compliance requirements, get access to real-time reporting and analytics, and ensure you are ready for audits.
• Consider partnering with a Professional Employer Organization (PEO). A PEO helps you handle compliance and minimize risks while providing expert assistance and support. Check out our compliance services at EmPower HR to learn how we can get you covered.

6. Foster Team Building and Employee Engagement

If finding top talent is a challenge, keeping your workforce actively engaged is an even bigger one. In small businesses, a close-knit team is crucial for success. Research shows that teams with high engagement levels were able to reduce absenteeism by 81% and boost profitability by 23%, among other benefits.

How to promote engagement among employees?

• Organize regular team-building activities to strengthen relationships. From a team lunch at the office to an off-site team-building day, there are plenty of options to allow workers to share some quality time together, stay motivated, and encourage collaboration.
• Define specific strategies to keep remote and hybrid workers engaged. Recent studies have shown that remote and hybrid workplaces have an eroding connection to the purpose and mission of the organization. To address this, schedule meaningful conversations on a weekly basis, encourage open communication channels, and provide remote-specific professional development opportunities.

7. Encourage Flexible Work Schedules

Flexible work schedules allow for a more harmonious work-life balance and contribute to improved job satisfaction and productivity.

There are different models you can implement, such as remote work, flextime, or compressed workweeks. Choosing the right model for your business will depend on your workforce’s preferences and needs, as well as your goals and priorities.

If you are implementing flexible work models this year, you can consider:

• Allowing employees to set flexible working hours to fit family needs and responsibilities.
• Emphasizing results over rigid working hours, focusing on productivity. To prevent burnout, it’s important to set realistic expectations and performance goals beforehand.
• Implementing technology solutions that facilitate remote work and collaboration.

8. Prioritize Mental Health and Well-being

After the pandemic, mental health has taken center stage among HR best practices. Recognizing and prioritizing the mental health and well-being of your employees is the key to an open and supportive work environment.

Creating a healthy workplace has a positive impact on productivity and employee satisfaction. Employees are taking it seriously: research from the American Psychological Association indicates that 81% of workers will be looking for places that support mental health when looking for job opportunities in the future.

How can you promote a healthy and supportive work environment?

• Encourage open conversations about mental health in the workplace. Foster an environment where employees feel supported and heard. Break the stigma around mental health and empower employees to talk about their feelings and challenges.
• Implement mental health awareness programs. Introduce initiatives that raise awareness about mental health and provide resources for support. This could include workshops, webinars, or seminars led by mental health professionals, addressing topics such as stress management, work-life balance, and resilience.
• Provide Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs): Implementing Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) can be a valuable resource for employees facing personal or professional challenges. These programs typically offer confidential counseling services, mental health assessments, and referrals to external resources.

9. Craft an Employee Handbook for Clarity and Consistency

Creating a comprehensive employee handbook is a fundamental step to make sure that employees understand your business policies.

An employee handbook is a vital document that outlines company policies, procedures, and expectations, promoting clarity and consistency across the organization.

Consider this when crafting your employee handbook:

• Tailor policies to your culture. Customize your handbook to reflect the unique values and culture of your small business, ensuring that policies resonate with your team.
• Communicate clearly. Use plain language to articulate policies, making them easily understandable for all employees. Foster an open-door policy for questions or clarifications.
• Regular updates. Keep the handbook dynamic by updating it regularly to align with evolving company policies and compliance requirements.

HR Best Practices Final Thoughts

HR best practices help you navigate the challenges of the modern workplace while preparing your organization for success.

However, we know that staying on top of all the responsibilities of being an employer can be overwhelming. At EmPower HR, we serve more than 400 small businesses across many industries, taking the heavy work off their plates so they can focus on what matters most.

From handling HR administration and payroll to providing employee benefits, we can be your dedicated HR partner. Contact us to learn how we can elevate your business with HR best practices!

Related Articles

• 5 Simple Ways to Help Your Employees and Their Mental Health
• 5 Toughest HR Compliance Issues Every HR Leader Should Know
• Four Ways Companies Can Maintain Positive Culture During Rapid Growth

1. Communication is a priority

Whether you use video conferencing, chat apps, or even good old-fashioned phone calls, regular check-ins with your team members will help everyone feel like they’re part of the same workplace culture when working remotely. Ensure employees feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas, even if they are not face-to-face. Encourage regular check-ins and allow for plenty of time for questions and discussion. Holding regular office hours as well for employees to virtually ‘drop in’ is also encouraged, as it allows employees to not feel as formal when wanting to stop by for a chat.

2. Create opportunities for connections

Although employees may not be able to interact with each other physically, there are still ways to create opportunities for connection as a remote team. Regular social events, team-building exercises, an online book club, and even virtual coffee breaks can help coworkers feel like they are part of a community. Great tools for remote work and creating connections are conferencing platforms like Zoom or Google Hangouts. Team members can get to know each other better and feel more connected by sharing personal stories, playing games, or simply chatting casually about non-work-related topics. Has anyone seen Inventing Anna?! Wow, what a scandal!

3. Make sure everyone feels included

With a remote team, it’s essential to go out of your way to ensure that everyone feels included and heard. This means being conscious of time zone differences when setting up meetings, as no one wants a video call at 9 pm. Also, ensure you connect with employees who may not be as engaged or mentally checked out. If you feel someone on your team is pulling away, set up a 1-1 and see how you can support and share their missed contributions and voice during team meetings. 

4. Promote employee autonomy

As a remote team, encourage employees to take ownership of their work and make decisions that impact their job satisfaction. This will help to foster a sense of ownership and responsibility among employees and promote engagement and motivation. Encourage your employees to choose their hours, work from various locations and take breaks when needed. Of course, not everyone may have this flexibility given their personal situation, but encouraging everyone to work in a way that prioritizes them and their work is a win-win for everyone. 

5. Don’t forget to show your appreciation for your team’s hard work

A little recognition can go a long way in making everyone feel valued and appreciated, which helps build a strong culture. From a shoutout in a company meeting to a team appreciation lunch, taking the time to say thank you is so key. In remote work, not everyone has the opportunity to pass one another in at the shall say “great job,” so intentionality is the key ingredient to ensuring you are showing your team a little extra love. 

6. Celebrate diversity

Remote teams are often more diverse than traditional workplace teams, so it’s important to celebrate and embrace this diversity. As a remote team, create a slack or chat channel to encourage employees to share their favorite foods, movies, and holidays in a personal way. To help build a team culture, each employee can pick a month to share and celebrate a holiday that is important to them. They can share stories and traditions and invite others to learn and participate as well.

Without making this sound too harsh, the EEOC also added that employers that do so would need to reasonably accommodate employees who are against the vaccination due to health or religious reasons. This is key as you research and put together your covid-19 employee vaccination policy template.

The real question now is, should your business make the COVID vaccine mandatory?

We know the obvious benefits of requiring employees to get vaccinated, and if you do decide to implement this policy, make sure you know what’s needed for special exemptions and considerations — and more importantly, have a plan in place. These include:

Employees With Disabilities

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) states that employers must provide reasonable accommodations to qualified employees with disabilities. A business may choose not to do so if it can demonstrate the accommodation would create an undue hardship.

Reasonable accommodation may include adjusting the company policies, including requirements imposed by a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy. You will need to engage with the unvaccinated employee to identify the ideal workplace accommodations.

Employees With Conservative Religious Beliefs

The Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) states that employers must provide accommodations for employees with religious beliefs that may prevent them from complying with the mandatory policy. In addition, the law permits exceptions related to the employer’s undue hardship. Be prepared for a cumbersome process as defining a “sincerely held religious belief” can be notoriously difficult, and courts have reached a wide range of conclusions on what is a sufficient religious belief under Title VII.

Relevant Medical Information Under The ADA

The ADA typically frowns at disability-related questions from employers to their employees. Requiring COVID-19 vaccination according to your vaccine policy does not qualify as a medical examination. If you have mandatory vaccination programs and policies, you need to use caution with the questions asked.

The EEOC has even stated that pre-screening questions asking whether an employee has been vaccinated may be tagged as a disability-related inquiry. You must then be able to demonstrate the business necessity of these questions. Furthermore, information about an employee’s COVID-19 vaccination is confidential medical information under the ADA. Hence, you need to be careful not to violate the ADA’s confidentiality requirements when implementing workplace safety policies based on an employee’s vaccination status.

Wage Considerations For Taking Vaccines

The federal law states that employees may be entitled to compensable work time for their time spent waiting for and receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Ensure this is handled properly, as failure to meet the wage and hour requirements is often a costly mistake with consequences. Apart from being ethically ideal, providing paid leave to get vaccinated or recover from vaccine side effects may be required by state or local law. Note that practical law provides comprehensive coverage of paid sick leave, including leave relating to getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

According to the EEOC, while this might not be ideal, an employer can ban employees who refuse to get vaccinated from the workplace. Just don’t forget reasonable accommodation obligations or treat employees differently based on protected characteristics. Ensure you work closely together to address any significant concerns.

Some held onto the hope of things normalizing soon, hence the option of reducing pay instead of doing something as drastic as laying people off. This cost-cutting reflex is understandable but has not been widely accepted as the best option.

Here are some questions and answers on how to help you decide whether or not to reduce pay, and how to handle a pay cut:

Does An Economic Downturn Really Force Employers To Cut Pay?

From furloughing to certain percentages of pay cuts based on how much employees earn, some of the biggest and most established companies in the world have had to do so in response to revenue losses, even if it’s temporary.

Difficult times, especially pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic, have led to the evaluation of human capital costs. Desperate situations certainly call for desperate measures to survive, and if a company is operating at a loss, it’s only reasonable to reduce spending.

However, some companies can stay afloat even when there’s a downturn because of the nature of goods and services they provide. If a company is lucky enough to specialize in products and services with inelastic demand, it’ll likely not operate at a loss and, in turn, will not need to cut pay.

Can Cutting Pay Be A Bad Sign For Recovery?

While a pay cut is a sacrifice employees have to make in a bid to control the damage, it might not necessarily be for the best in terms of economic recovery. Apart from doing very little to boost morale, many people try to play safe by saving more money due to the uncertain nature of the period. When spending is low, businesses are adversely affected.

When Can Companies ‘Get Away With’ Pay Cuts Or Layoffs?

First, the company will need to be honest and open with its employees and avoid making them second guess what the plans going forward are. Let them know the health of the organization and what your priorities are to stay afloat. They’re human and understand the situation is out of everybody’s control. Though a decision not in their favor might be hurtful, how this is handled goes a very long way.

When Hours Are Cut Due To COVID-19, Does An Employer Have To Repay The Hours Employees Would Have Worked?

We all wish that were a thing, don’t we? Sadly, this is not the reality, and the employer is only required to pay for the actual hours worked. As there wouldn’t be output from when employees don’t work, employees cannot factor time scheduled to work, which was not utilized because of a schedule change.

If Your Office Closes And Moves To A Work-From-Home Model, But An Employee Cannot Perform Their Job At Home, Are You Still Required To Pay The Employee?

Again, the employer is only required to pay for the actual hours worked, and it must be at least the minimum wage. This is subject to limited exceptions.

With a salaried exempt employee, can the employer require them to use their accrued leave (paid time off or vacation) during office closures due to COVID-19 or any other unforeseen circumstances?

Salaried (“exempt”) executive, administrative, or professional employees must receive their full salary anytime they perform any work, subject to certain minimal exceptions. An employee will not be considered to be paid “on a salary basis” if deductions from the salary are made for absences caused by an office closure during a week in which the employee performs any work. However, exempt salaried employees are not required to be paid their salary in weeks they do not work.

The employer is not required to provide paid time off or paid vacation time. And in the case of the employer providing such benefits, it may require using accrued paid time off or vacation time to cover an office closure during a week in which you perform some work. If your employer requires the usage of paid time off or paid vacation time during office closures, the use of such benefits will not affect salary payment. In the case of a partial week office closure, an employer may direct salaried employees to take vacation time or debit their paid time off to leave the bank, whether for full or partial days, provided the employees receive an amount in payment equal to their salary.

A salaried exempt employee who has no accrued leave in the leave bank account or has limited accrued leave would have the reduction resulting in a negative balance in the leave bank account. They can’t be left out of their salary for any absence(s) occasioned by the office closure in order to remain exempt.

Speaking of telework, is an employer required to cover any additional expenses that employees might incur if they work from home (internet access, system, phone, increased use of electricity, etc.)?

An employer may cover the costs for items that are classified as business expenses if the employee has paid out of pocket for the costs. However, if the employer provides the systems and resources needed to work from home, the employer may not require you to reimburse these costs.

If employees are required to complete a COVID-19 health screening during the workday, will they be compensated?

If employees are required to complete a health screening when they’re meant to be at work, they’ll need to be paid, as that would just mean they’re being forced if they don’t get paid. All the time between the start and finish of an employee’s workday must be paid unless it falls within one of the exceptions, such as meal breaks and when they’re off-duty.

In an April 2021 article, Bloomberg reported that many small businesses are struggling to find people who currently want to work—in fact, 42% say they have jobs they can’t fill. The number of people quitting jobs right now is also higher than average.

One culprit is likely COVID-19. For reasons related to the pandemic, a number of people are choosing not to work right now. They don’t want to risk getting sick, they have children at home, or they may be able to get by for now on unemployment insurance.

Some small businesses with positions to fill have turned to gimmicks like signing bonuses and free food, but these recruiting tactics are unlikely to be effective long term. They don’t address the risks, challenges and needs people have right now.

Fortunately for employers looking to hire, the problem of people choosing not to work isn’t fundamentally different from the problem of people choosing to work somewhere else. In both cases, the would-be employer has to convince prospective hires that working for them is better than the alternatives, and then they have to live up to those promises.

Those who choose not to work are missing out on many benefits. A job provides not only a paycheck but also opportunities for employees to do meaningful work, contribute to their community, make friends, develop skills, receive training, advance their career and fund their retirement. If someone isn’t working, they’re missing out on these and other opportunities. Employers may be able to leverage these benefits to appeal to those who have removed themselves from the workforce in order to show them that work is worth it.

Here are some universal hiring tips that can help your small business fill open positions:

Safety, Flexibility And Pay

Before employers can use benefits like friendship and skill-building to lure applicants, they must first address safety, flexibility, and pay. In a hierarchy of employment needs, these are foundational.

While vaccinations are proceeding at an encouraging rate and all adults are now eligible, COVID-19 remains a serious threat. It will be some time before vaccinated people develop immunity to the virus, and they may worry about infecting friends and family who are unable or unwilling to get the vaccine.

Because of these fears, some people aren’t going to work, period, and there’s nothing employers can do to persuade them. Others, however, may be open to working if they feel confident enough that the job won’t put them or those they care about in danger.

Flexibility is another key component for many potential applicants, much more so now that in-person school and childcare have become scarce. Since younger children cannot be left to fend for themselves while parents are at work, something has to give. Employers that provide flexibility—either through the initial scheduling of shifts or the ability to rearrange working hours on the fly—will likely receive more applicants and have a lower rate of turnover.

Other potential employees may be willing to work if they feel the pay is worth the risk and sufficient to cover the costs of working (transportation, childcare, insurance premiums, etc.).
Of course, most businesses don’t relish the idea of paying employees higher-than-usual wages, but there’s good reason to believe that increased pay is a good investment, especially for people in traditionally lower-paying jobs.

When people are preoccupied with bills, debts and other forms of scarcity, they tend to be less productive and make more mistakes. But, when scarcity isn’t taxing their mental bandwidth, they’re able to be more productive and proficient, therefore helping your business increase profitability. In essence, increases in pay can pay for themselves when your business begins to flourish from a better workforce.

Career Development Opportunities

It may be that the positions an employer needs to fill don’t come with an exciting career path or teach the kind of skills that employees are likely to put on future resumes. But that’s not set in stone. Both the employer and the employee choose what skills are learned and used in every position.

Imagine, for a moment, a local deli that needs to hire a person to take orders at the register. The job market might consider this job “low skill,” but the owner of this deli doesn’t think of the job that way or advertise it that way.

Now, the owner doesn’t use the gimmick of giving the job a fancier title than what it entails; instead, they set the job up to provide skills training for more advanced positions in customer service or sales. In the first few days, the new hire will learn the menu and the layout of the register, but then, in the lulls between rushes, they’ll learn techniques for talking to customers, de-escalating tense situations, upselling, and the like—training that people in customer service and sales would expect to receive. Later, the new hire might even learn some of the ins and outs of starting and running a small business.

This owner knows that high employee turnover is simply the nature of the business and that employees will, sooner or later, take their training and skills to other jobs. And that’s the point. The aim here is to cultivate a reputation in the community as an excellent place for customers to grab a meal and an excellent place for employees to start learning marketable skills they’ll use throughout their careers, increasing the size of both the applicant pool and the deli’s profits.

Attractive Job Postings And Hiring Processes

Poorly written job postings can prove a serious obstacle to getting applicants. It’s important that recruiters and hiring managers understand what they’re looking for in a new hire and write job postings that are simple and effective.

If an employer offers some or all of the benefits discussed above, they should showcase them in their postings with concrete examples and as part of an engaging story. For instance, instead of the deli owner writing, “We teach valuable skills,” they can explain that downtime will be filled with instruction on sales and de-escalation techniques. And instead of saying, “We offer flexibility,” an employer can advertise that employees have a range of shifts to choose from on a weekly basis or will be able to complete their work at any time of day, so long as weekly deadlines are met.

But no amount of training opportunities will mean a thing if a business’s hiring process is a chore for applicants to get through. The more minutes it takes to complete an application, the more applicants will decide it isn’t worth it. And the longer a candidate has to wait for an offer, the more likely they’ll turn down that job offer—sometimes, as Adam Karpiak illustrates, even when they don’t have another job lined up.

COBRA Continuation Coverage

The Act provides a 100% subsidy of premiums for eligible COBRA recipients, beginning April 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021. The subsidy is no longer available once an individual becomes eligible for coverage under another group health plan or Medicare. It is also only available to employees and/or dependents who became eligible due to the employee’s involuntary termination of employment or reduction in hours and does not apply to employees who voluntarily resigned. Employers can claim a refundable tax credit against their Medicare payroll tax liability for the cost of the premiums.

Additionally:

• Individuals who did not previously elect COBRA or had COBRA, but dropped it prior to April 1, 2021, now have the opportunity to elect COBRA.
• None of the provisions extend the total COBRA continuation period.
• COBRA administrators and employers are currently awaiting final guidance which has not yet been released, but distribution of new/updated COBRA notices to those impacted individuals will be required. The Department of Labor (DOL) has committed to releasing updated guidance by April 10. For EmPower PEO clients who are in our master benefit plans, eligible potential participants will receive updated COBRA notices from our TPA, once final guidance has been provided by the DOL and their documents have been updated to reflect those changes. There is no action needed on your part.

Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts

The Act allows employers the option to raise the 2021 contribution limit for Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) to $10,500 for single taxpayers and to $5,250 for married individuals filing separately (or single filer). The provision raises the exclusion limits for the plan year beginning after December 31, 2020 and before January 1, 2022.

Extension Of Federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance

Benefit remains at $300/week through September 6, 2021.
Increases the total number of weeks from 50 weeks to 79 weeks for individuals who don’t qualify for regular benefits.
No changes to eligibility to benefits for individuals who don’t qualify for state unemployment benefits (e.g., self-employed, gig workers, and others in non-traditional employment).

Extension of Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation

Act extends CARES benefits to individuals who exhausted benefits to September 6, 2021 – from 24 weeks to 53 weeks.

Extension Of Emergency Unemployment Relief For Governmental Entities And Nonprofit Organizations

Increases Federal payments to nonprofits and government agencies from 50 percent to 75 percent after March 31, 2021 through September 6, 2021, for the cost of providing unemployment benefits.

The FFCRA Paid Sick And Family Leave And Employer Tax Credits

Extended tax credit period: The tax credits (subject to the below conditions) are now available to covered employers through September 30, 2021.

New leave year for FFCRA paid sick leave: The FFCRA paid sick leave allotment (e.g., 10 days) for which the tax credit can be taken, resets as of April 1, 2021. This means an employer can claim tax credits for FFCRA paid sick leave voluntarily provided to an employee on or after April 1, 2021, even though the employee exhausted FFCRA paid sick leave entitlements prior to March 31, 2021.

New qualifying reasons for FFCRA paid leave: FFCRA paid leave qualifying wages provided by a covered employer to employees for which the tax credit may be taken as of April 1st have been expanded to include the absences below and apply to both paid sick leave and paid family leave.

• The employee is seeking or awaiting the results of a diagnostic test for, or a medical diagnosis of, COVID-19 and such employee has been exposed to COVID-19 or the employee’s employer has requested such test or diagnosis.
• The employee is obtaining a COVID-19 vaccination.
• The employee is recovering from any injury, disability, illness, or condition related to a COVID-19 vaccination.

Expansion of FFCRA paid family leave to include paid sick leave qualifying reasons: Qualifying paid family leave reasons now also include all the qualifying paid sick leave reasons. Previously, only absences for childcare due to COVID-19 school or place of care closure or childcare provider unavailability, qualified for the 10 additional weeks of FFCRA paid family leave beyond the two weeks of FFCRA paid sick leave.

Amount of Paid Leave for Which Tax Credit is Available

Paid sick leave: As noted above, beginning on April 1, 2021, covered employers are eligible to receive tax credits for up to 10 days of paid sick leave for qualifying sick leave reasons. Also as noted above, covered employers’ entitlement to FFCRA paid sick leave tax credits reset as of April 1, 2021. Paid sick leave tax credits are based on an employee’s regular rate of pay and capped at either $511 or $200 per day, depending on the nature of the absence. The $511 daily cap applies for (a) any of the expanded absences described in the “New Qualifying Reasons for FFCRA Paid Leave” section above and (b) the first three covered absences under FFCRA’s original paid sick leave mandate (i.e., absences for the employee’s own needs related to COVID-19). The $200 daily cap applies for all other covered absences under the FFCRA’s original paid sick leave mandate (i.e., absences to care for another individual related to COVID-19).

Paid family leave: An employer also can receive up to a $12,000 tax credit per employee for qualifying FFCRA paid family leave absences. This maximum cap has been increased from its prior ceiling of $10,000 per employee. Additionally, the Act has removed the initial two-week unpaid period of family leave under the FFCRA. The tax credit for qualifying paid family leave wages, which includes covered absences under the FFCRA’s original paid family leave mandate and expanded absences based on the Act (see above), is calculated at 2/3 of the employee’s regular rate of pay, capped at a daily maximum of $200.

Employee Retention Credit

The Act extends the employee retention credit through December 31, 2021. The employee retention credit was originally enacted in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, P.L. 116-136, and it allows eligible employers to claim a credit for paying qualified wages to employees.

Additionally, it expands eligibility for the credit to:

• New startups that were established after Feb. 15, 2020 with gross receipts up to $1 million. The credit is capped at $50,000 per calendar quarter for startups.
• “Severely Financially Distressed Employers” whose revenue declined by 90% compared to the same calendar quarter of the previous year.

https://www.eeoc.gov/wysk/what-you-should-know-about-covid-19-and-ada-rehabilitation-act-and-other-eeo-laws

EEOC COVID-19 Guidance on Reasonable Accommodations
One of the main focuses of the EEOC’s new guidance is the accommodation of employees with various COVID-19 concerns after they have returned to work. One new question addressed by the EEOC is whether an employee is entitled to a reasonable accommodation to avoid exposing one of their family members who is more at risk of the coronavirus. The new guidance informs employers that they do not need to provide accommodations to employees relative to their family member’s at-risk status under the ADA.

The Commission also advises employers that they may issue general advisories to their employees informing them of who to contact in the organization to request accommodations or other flexibilities in working arrangements. Further, the new guidance cautions employers that employees who need alternate screening measures due to a medical condition could be protected by the ADA, and employers should engage in the interactive process to identify a suitable accommodation for such employees.

Accommodations for Employees More At Risk Of COVID-19
The Commission’s newest guidance also addresses questions regarding accommodating employees who are more at risk of the virus, including employees over 65 or pregnant employees. The EEOC advises employers that they cannot exclude at-risk employees from the workplace or other work-related activities involuntarily, as such exclusion could run afoul of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”), the ADA, or the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (“PDA”).

Pandemic-Related Harassment And Discrimination
The EEOC’s guidance further addresses issues related to harassment in the workplace or via email for teleworking employees. The Commission cautions employers to be alert for pandemic-related harassment, particularly harassment of Asian employees. The EEOC recommends that employers train their managers and executive staff to recognize and address such harassment, even harassment from third parties coming into the workplace. Further, employers should consider issuing a statement reminding employees that harassment is not tolerated in the workplace.

Finally, the Commission’s latest warns employers to keep an eye on any disparate treatment of employees in granting flexible work schedules or telework arrangements, advising that employers should not grant such benefits on the basis of any protected status, including gender.