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The move to more remote working is shaping up to be one of the biggest long term impacts globally of COVID-19 for employers. Stats NZ said in September 2020 that more than 40 percent of employed Kiwis did at least some of their work from home during the COVID-19 level 4 and level 3 lockdown. Looking ahead, remote working will be a key change for post-pandemic New Zealand. There are some important considerations for New Zealand employers around remote working. What does it mean for your business, and what do you need to do to be successful in 2021 and beyond?
In this report we explore the issues and impacts of the longer term move to remote working, and what leaders need to do across four key areas:
- Organisational culture and and workplace transformation - the need to maintain connectivity and culture as well as supporting professional development of staff, particularly new joiners
- Employment law - the good faith principle still applies so employers must consider whether employment documentation needs to be updated, and revisit health and safety in the workplace, even if that workplace may be at home
- Employment taxes - Inland Revenue has released new temporary guidance while it considers a public statement on “new ways of working”, so employers must be aware of the current tax position and also prepared that there may be change
- Distant (and overseas) employees - with a rise in remote working and a tight domestic labour market, employers are more willing to hire distant workers, but managing tax in different jurisdictions comes with a number of obligations.
Six key actions for employers in 2021:
- Go beyond internal policies that enable flexible working arrangements and revisit the organisational structures. This includes delegations, processes, systems, technology, communal spaces, manager training and tools to ensure that they support the new hybrid working model. What is valuable enough to keep your employee’s coming into the office?
- Invest in both creating an environment that enables flexible working, and growing leadership capability and capacity to manage this new sort of workforce.
- Focus on remote working possibilities, and continue to push the paradigm further. The experience of the past year has highlighted the strengths of New Zealand’s people leaders, their teams and our organisations to quickly adapt and keep on going. It is time to build on these and enable them to be ready for the next challenges that come their way.
- Question whether new ways of working could impact your organisation’s ability to meet its legal obligations, both from an employment law and a health and safety perspective. While there has been a significant change in the way people work, the legislative framework that governs employment relationships is the same as it was before the pandemic.
- Ensure you have an understanding of your employee entitlement to work data. This will be key for managing remote workers, ensuring compliance and navigating upcoming changes to immigration policy anticipated to be introduced in mid-2021.
- Be mindful that tax law often does not keep pace with our fast changing world - when considering flexible and remote working policies, ensure that tax implications are considered (and ideally at the planning stage).
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