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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

State’s Labor Laws Need Updating

Steps taken by employers nationwide to keep staff safe during the pandemic have created a workforce and work environment that looks today much different than years past; in a word, flexible. 

This flexibility means many more companies, including the one I am affiliated with, Child Care Resource Center, are now creating permanent plans for remote or hybrid work when it never before felt possible. But the change to new hybrid work models comes without the support and flexibility of updated state labor codes that govern overtime and breaks. It’s time for lawmakers to update these policies in the interest of the employee and employer.

When the pandemic forced Californians to stay home in 2020 and well into 2021, CCRC leadership quickly transitioned a majority of the agency’s 1,000 staff members to remote work. What hadn’t seemed feasible in the past is now the norm for not just CCRC, one of the largest resource and referral agencies in the country, but 71 percent of workers nationwide, according to Pew Research data from December. Even with an increase in the nation’s vaccination rate, nearly half of employers surveyed by Tiny Pulse revealed they don’t expect to return to “business as usual” after the pandemic ends. As the analytics company summarized, remote and hybrid work models are here to stay.

CCRC is in the process of creating four different categories of work among our nonexempt staff – full time in office; hybrid, which works one to three days in office and the rest at home; remote, which occasionally works in office; and field-based, designated for those working in the community with occasional office work. We’ve been operating with this structure unofficially through the pandemic and have used staff surveys to understand the reception and effectiveness of these models. In a survey of CCRC staff, 90 percent of employees working remotely or partially remote said they were satisfied with their work arrangement, largely due to the support of managers and co-workers. 

This new reality has proven beneficial in many ways for employees, who note reduced commutes, more flexible hours and increased time with family. The situation also has benefited employers, who like us have seen increased worker productivity. In fact, the Tiny Pulse survey shows 68 percent of human resource leaders experienced optimized employee performance through the hybrid or full remote models. Conversely, California labor codes that dictate the nonexempt employee lunch break and overtime have proven even more cumbersome in a remote environment where manager oversight is at a distance. As noted in a previous Business Journal op-ed by Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, the legislature could’ve taken up the outdated existing labor laws during last session but declined to order an analysis or hold a hearing.

State law requires nonexempt employees to take a 30-minute lunch break for every five hours worked. When employees work remotely, this can be impossible to manage. A supervisor working in the same office setting as staff can see who has taken a break and remind those who haven’t to set aside work for the half hour period. Remote work creates an opportunity for missed breaks and missed punches, where an employee takes a break too late, resulting in a meal penalty. Lawmakers should consider allowing remote employees to elect to waive their lunch break in order to create more flexibility.

Furthermore, guidelines for a nonexempt employee include paid overtime for hours worked beyond an 8-hour day. For professionals in an industry like ours, where clients may call during irregular times for assistance, requests for service can demand after-hours attention. CCRC case managers and other staff members working outside scheduled hours currently log in their timecard even a 5-minute phone conversation, which creates tedious work for the finance team. Applying the overtime rule to a 40-hour work week instead of an 8-hour workday means employees still earn overtime pay for additional hours worked but would give employers and employees more flexibility. 

Ultimately, the restructured work environment has been well received by staff at CCRC and other companies across the San Fernando Valley and beyond. Our agency has gone to great lengths to keep staff informed on pandemic-related issues and the status of the remote work situation, utilizing videos from me, the president and CEO, along with virtual all-staff meetings and regular email updates. The remote and hybrid designations are likely here to stay for years to come and may well be adopted by even more employers in the future. 

These workforce shifts necessitate a change to labor laws and the way employees and employers are required to manage time worked. Legislators should consider updating an antiquated set of policies that stand in the way of truly flexible work, striving instead for policies that both protect and empower workers.

Michael Olenick, Ph.D., is president and chief executive of the Child Care Resource Center Inc.

 in Chatsworth.

 

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