WITH
almost 35,000 of his company's
50,000 employees working from
home as of August, Albert Galarza has come to
know well the concept of remote work.
"Ninety to ninety-three per cent of our front
lines are working from home right now and
have been since late March, early April," says
the global vice president of HR at TELUS
International.
"It's been quite a reinvention of our HR
function over the last four months."
The workers are located in 20 countries that
include the Philippines, Guatemala, El Salvador,
India, Bulgaria, Ireland, the U.S. and Canada.
Any employees working on site were based in
countries that got a handle on the pandemic
early on, such as Germany and Austria, he says.
But recent surveys suggest the massive move
to remote work could have serious consequences.
TELUS International, for example, found that
half (51 per cent) of American workers said they
were feeling less connected to their company
culture while working from home. And a survey
by HR compliance training and data analytics
company Emtrain found workplace culture has
been impacted by both the coronavirus pandemic
and the #BlackLivesMatter protests in several
significant ways.
WWW.HRREPORTER.COM ISSUE 33.09
THE NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Strong culture needed
for remote work success
Salary history linked to inequality
But could a push for greater pay
transparency create more problems?
/8
Mental health a focus
as risks rise for retail
Alongside major safety changes, mental
health is becoming a priority as the retail
sector copes with the pandemic
/12
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Unless we prepare for the tech
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stress /20
Reversing the inevitable
Could diabetes be a preventable,
reversible condition that can be
addressed through an evidence-based
lifestyle approach? /22
Protecting remote workers
from violence
The obligation on employers to protect
the health and safety of employees may
be more difficult as more people work
from home /28
> pg. 2
At first, it was a mad scramble to get workers set up at
home. But months into the pandemic, with millions of
remote workers isolated at home, cracks are starting to
emerge in workplace culture. Sarah Dobson writes about
the ways employers can fight the erosion
Termination provisions
Employers should review their
employment agreements, judging by a
surprising appeal court decision
/26
