Maine employers navigate complexities of office reopening
Companies would like to start bringing more workers back to the office, but the process is fraught with legal, ethical and health concerns.
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Tyler Carr, a senior finance director for Wex Inc. in Portland, has worked remotely for most of the pandemic but started coming into the office a few days per week. Many Maine employers would like to start bringing more workers back to the office, but the process is fraught with legal, ethical and health concerns. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer
After months of working from home, Tyler Carr leapt at the chance to come back to the office when Wex Inc. tentatively started allowing some employees to return in the fall.
Maine employers navigate complexities of office reopening pressherald.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from pressherald.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
One year with COVID: Pandemic changed how Mainers work Work from anywhere likely to be permanent way of doing business Share Updated: 10:31 PM EST Mar 10, 2021 Work from anywhere likely to be permanent way of doing business Share Updated: 10:31 PM EST Mar 10, 2021
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Show Transcript FOREVER? REMOTE WORK WAS HAPPENING EVEN PRIOR TO THE PANDEMIC STEVE. BUT THE PANDEMIC, YOU KNOW, HOWEVER UNFORTUNATE IT. IS THAT ONE OF THE SILVER LININGS IS IT HAS REALLY ACCELERATED TRENDS OF REMOTE WORKING BY AT LEAST A DECADE RAJ CHOUDHURY HAS BEEN STUDYING REMOTE WORKING AS A PROFESSOR AT HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL LONG BEFORE MOST US KNOW WHAT ZOOM WAS OR HOW MUCH OUR LIVES WOULD ALL CHANGE IF BUSINESSES ARE JUST TRYING TO GO RIGHT BACK TO THE WAY IT WAS BEFORE. IS THAT A MISTAKE IN YOUR VIEW? IS I DON’T THINK WE SHOULD RUSH BACK TO WHERE THE WORLD WAS IN 2019. WELL MANY OF US WERE FORCED TO ADAPT TO WORK FROM HOME DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS. HE SAYS
EqualityMaine, in the Equality Community Center in Portland.
In addition to embracing just people from out of state, companies need to attract and retain a broader mix of diversity to survive and thrive.
The larger companies in the state, which have large human resources departments to build diversity training, have been on the forefront of DEI efforts in recent years, says Gia Drew, program director of Equality Maine.
“Major corporations have driven DEI. There’s pressure globally to be a good corporate citizen. People are making an effort and making steps in the last few years,” Drew says.
Still, work needs to be done. For example, nationally, 46% of LGBTQ+ employees are not open about their sexual orientation at work, Drew says.
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As COVID-19 vaccinations become more readily available to the general public, companies will be facing a decision: In order to ensure a safer workplace, should employees be required to show proof of inoculation?
Also, would such a mandate be lawful?
Laura Rideout, an attorney with Portland law firm Preti Flaherty’s labor and employment practice group, said certain industries indeed may impose such requirements in order to slow or stop the spread of COVID-19. Still, an informal survey of major employers in Maine by the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram found that none have any immediate plans to require their workers to be vaccinated.