COVID-19 FAQs

Whether you are conducting a furlough, a layoff, or temporarily reducing employee hours, your workforce is not the same as before COVID-19. As a result, you need reliable metrics to help you make data-driven decisions about the workforce.

Payroll is often an organization’s largest expense, so it’s helpful to measure overall payroll costs, as well as healthcare and training expenses. Because you rely on your best employees to help the organization get through tough times, voluntary turnover is another important metric to help you see where you are losing good people. Additionally, changes in business operations can impact employee scheduling and overtime, so you should measure the hours and associated cost of employee overtime.

When employees are working remotely, you want them to have the tools and support they need to feel connected to the workplace. Technology configured for mobile access is key to helping employees understand their pay and benefits, no matter where they are based.

By choosing a cloud-based human capital management (HCM) platform, you can give employees access to information, such as:

• Payroll: Pay stubs and W-2s
• Health and retirement benefits: Current elections and coverage details
• Time and attendance: Time-off requests and accruals

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) provides employees with paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave for illness related to COVID-19. To comply with the FFCRA, you need to grant paid leave to employees who qualify. You also need to track the days of paid time off and associated earnings for each employee who goes out on leave. 

In addition to the FFCRA, there are state-specific COVID-19 laws for paid sick leave. Make note of applicable laws for the state where you do business, and update your payroll system for easier employee time-off tracking.

You can effectively hire and onboard remote employees by ensuring the free flow of job-related and new hire information. Available technology connects remote hires with resources that provide a solid foundation for job success.

The actions you can take to successfully onboard remote employees include:

• Making it easy for new hires to submit forms and get payroll and benefits information through your human capital management (HCM) system
• Conducting virtual orientation and training meetings through pre-recorded and live video
• Helping new hires get to know coworkers by setting a schedule for virtual introductions and team meetings

Even managers that supervise a remote team can have honest, constructive performance discussions with their employees. When managers are well-prepared and have access to relevant performance data for their teams, they can conduct performance reviews with individuals based anywhere.

An HCM system with performance management features gives managers of remote teams 24/7 access to:

• A performance profile for each employee on their team
• Job descriptions and productivity reports
• Goal-setting and feedback tools

As the recipient of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), your organization is among the many organizations receiving federal loan assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the PPP, organizations with less than 500 employees are eligible to apply for a federally funded business loan, a portion of which is forgivable when used to cover qualified payroll expenses.

To determine how much of your payroll expenses can be covered by the forgivable portion of your loan, you need to track your payroll expenses starting from the date you received your loan. Because not all payroll expenses are eligible for reimbursement under the PPP, you should use a payroll system with customizable PPP loan reports that categorize eligible payroll expenses for you.

When you resume hiring activities after a pause, it can feel like you’re starting a new recruitment function all over again. You may need to hire contract recruiters, post positions online, and re-engage with candidates in the talent pipeline. To manage your open positions and the candidates that will soon come flooding in, you need easy-to-use technology that coordinates applicant tracking, screening, and selection. 

By managing all recruitment activity on one platform, you can see where every candidate is in the hiring process. You can also track key metrics that highlight overall recruitment effectiveness, for example:

• Time to hire
• Sources of hire
• Applicants per hire

Any decision to keep certain positions remote should take into account the short-term and long-term implications for individuals, teams, and the broader organization. Some individuals and teams can thrive when team members work remotely, while others rely more on face-to-face supervision and communication. If you decide to keep some positions remote permanently, you’ll need to keep in mind the following implications:

• Some employees may not perform well in a permanently remote situation.
• Teams will need to find new ways to build rapport and stay connected.
• Remote employees will need ongoing access to employee self-service for activities such as benefits enrollment.

When employees come back to work after furlough, the main change is their return to active payroll. Before their return, you should prepare for any other changes to employee work schedules, time off, and benefits. The actions you can take include:

• Preparing reinstatement letters and noting any changes to hours, shifts, and workplace safety protocols
• Setting a return-to-work date and resuming employee vacation accruals in your time and attendance system
• Determining if there has been a change in healthcare payroll deductions during the furlough

Whether COVID-19 has caused you to cut staff, add staff, or redefine jobs in the organization, you need to have the tools to measure and report on ongoing changes in the workforce. All-in-one HCM software has features and dashboards that help you plan activities across every area of human resources. 

One workforce management tool gives you the flexibility to develop employees and keep the organization adequately staffed for the future. HCM software helps you:

• Track staffing activity and hiring metrics.
• Create employee development and succession plans.
• Record employee training and certifications.