Diversity & Inclusion | Business Management & Strategy | COVID-19 | DEI
Like many other knowledge workers, my sister has been working remotely for the last two years. The organization she works for has suddenly decided to ditch its remote-work model and has communicated to its employees that they "will no longer support remote work or hybrid program." Employees will be expected to return to the office pre-pandemic style now.
LATEST UPDATE: On January 13, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld a stay on the vaccine mandate for private employers. An appeal against the vaccine mandates for federal contractors is currently in progress. On Thursday, December 2, 2021, Helios held a webinar for our clients and business colleagues on the Federal Vaccine Mandate: What Government Contractors Need to Know in partnership with NFP and Holland & Knight. We were fortunate to have Helios HR's Jenna Louis interview employment law specialist, Kara Ariail, Partner with Holland & Knight, to answer some of the most pressing questions on our minds today.
The national Covid-19 vaccination program has stalled, with just over half of Americans now fully vaccinated. As a result, the federal government has decided to step in. In September, President Biden ordered mandatory vaccination policies that would impact federal workers, government contractors, and some private firms.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, attention was focused on the virus itself and its immediate effects. But as the year rolled on, doctors around the world began to notice that some people were experiencing another illness that lasted for weeks, or even months after contracting Covid. Even those people who had experienced an asymptomatic infection were experiencing what we now recognize as Long Covid symptoms, such as heart palpitations and brain fog.
Best Practices | Talent Acquisition | COVID-19
Over the past 18 months, the companies I work with have done a remarkably impressive job of adjusting to the so-called New Normal of remote work, hybrid teams, and Zoom meetings. But there’s one issue that seems to come up time and time again. Whenever I discuss recruitment, the first thing they say is often, “I can’t wait to go back to in-person interviews.”
As more people receive a COVID vaccination, many employers are weighing their options and starting to make decisions about returning to the office. A colleague and I recently discussed what happens after you're vaccinated with a group of young professionals with the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce. We had a great discussion about considerations and forming a plan for returning to the workplace once more people are fully vaccinated.
