As the human relations represen-
tative, you need to get at the heart of
why this manager wants to make this
change. Are there problems with her
performance? Does he have difficulty
managing someone who works remote-
ly? Are other people in the organization
upset that she is allowed to work at home
full time?
Understanding the problem can help
you determine a solution. It’s possible
her performance is fine, but it’s not great.
If she’s meeting her goals, but just barely,
while the rest of the team is soaring, then
his concerns are justified.
If he’s an old-school manager who
likes to manage by butt-in-seat time
and it frustrates him that he can’t see
her, it’s time for a management training
session. It’s 2019, and many people tele-
commute. Managing remote workers is
a critical skill for most managers. Sure,
there are some jobs that must be done
face to face, but many do not need to be,
and it’s a serious career-limiting move
for this manager not to have this skill.
If others are upset, you need to look
at the possibility they have good cause.
If a good portion of the work has to be
done on-site and it’s the unpleasant
tasks, and the remote worker never has
to do them, that makes sense. If they
want to work at home, and the manager
has said no, they can be legitimately
jealous.
The solution can be to allow the
other team members more flexibility,
require the woman in question to work
a couple of days a week in the office or
reorganize everything.
Remote workers can be great, but
there can be limitations. If the manager
sees issues, the solution isn’t to change
the telecommuter into a contractor, but
find a solution that works for the busi-
ness.
If there are serious problems with
her performance that the previous man-
ager ignored that could be corrected by
bringing her into the office, then it’s pos-
sible to issue an ultimatum — but not
one about being a 1099 worker. It would
be, “Either work in the office, or we’ll
have to let you go.” That can be a rea-
sonable thing to ask, depending on the
circumstances. However, if there have
been no problems and she’s continuing
to do a good job, her response will prob-
ably be, “Thanks, but no thanks.” Then
you will be faced with replacing a good
employee, and that is going to be expen-
sive and time-consuming.
So get to the bottom of the “why”
to help you come up with a solution. It
needs to be a good and legal solution,
and changing her to be a contractor is
neither good nor legal.
If you’re looking to hire a contractor,
remember that contractors must pay for
their own benefits and pay their own
self-employment taxes, so you need to
increase the gross salary considerably.
Generally, contractors should ask for
double their annual salary and settle for
nothing less than one-and-a-half times
it. So, even if it's legal, it wouldn’t be
cheaper. n
Suzanne Lucas spent 10 years in corporate
human resources, where she hired, fired,
managed the numbers and double-
checked with the lawyers. On Twitter
@RealEvilHRLady. Send questions to
[email protected].
Do you allow your employees to
work from home?
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