Read: A survey has found that 58% global knowledge workers work in hybrid work arrangements
Hybrid work arrangements provide flexibility and variety for employees, but can also create more challenging environments to manage. These complexities include keeping employees engaged and connected with their teams and the organization; sharing effective information and maintaining safe environments away form a controllable location; and disability management.
Although there are both benefits and disadvantages to moving to a permanent hybrid work arrangement, one advantage is the accommodation for chronic medical conditions and disabilities. Remote work can remove physical barriers and provide better support for people with physical and mental disabilities.
Respondents in the 2021 Benefits canada Healthcare Survey confirm that working from home has helped them better manage their chronic illnesses. 77% of respondents agreed that working from home resulted in less time lost due to their condition.
Read: Remote working helps employees with chronic conditions to miss less work: survey
The survey also indicated that plan sponsors expect different health and wellness issues arising from a hybrid workforce. The top three concerns all relate to mental health: claims due to stress or isolation from working from home; anxiety among employees returning to the workplace because they’re unsure if co-workers have been vaccinated; and identifying employees struggling with mental-health issues. These concerns could also be a problem in disability claims. This could impact both the claimant’s recovery and the duration of claims.
Employees may be more interested than their employers in remote work after several years of working remotely for the pandemic. Employers may face the greatest disability challenge when they have to decide between preference and precaution.
Where technology changed the characteristics of work duties and task in certain occupations enabling them to be done remotely, the test for workplace accommodations becomes ‘why not?,’ says Jessica Gobran, senior director disability in group solutions for People Corporation. “Employers will now need to continuously assess how hybrid models of work can accentuate the inequalities under a duty to accommodate.
Read: Survey: Canadian employees are concerned about working with unvaccinated coworkers
Gobran warns about the double-edged sword when it comes accommodation. “The fact that a virus forced many organizations to push through the social and technological barriers that prevented remote work in the past, now has the potential of lending itself to discrimination based on the protected grounds described under a duty to accommodate. Employers will find it difficult to show how remote work affects their operations under a Duty to Assist if they are confronted with hesitation or reluctance.
A key consideration when adopting a hybrid arrangement is updating your HR policies to reflect the new realities. Your disability management policy is one of the most important HR policies that will need to be updated to accommodate hybrid work. At their core, HR disability policies lay out for both the organization and employees how a medically-driven absence will integrate with sick leave, salary continuance or short- and long-term disability adjudication, what’s expected of an employee and what an employee can expect of their employer and adjudicator.
Modifications to the work environment of an employee may need to be made to comply with legal requirements. This will also affect how disabled employees are expected to participate in the process. The policy should clearly define what a return to work will look for when work is done at home. When fully remote work is an accommodation, it is important to set clear expectations that this arrangement will be temporary and that the goal of the policy is to return to hybrid or in-person work.
It should also be noted that a permanent change to hybrid or remote work may have an impact on the terms of an employer’s disability insurance policy or rating. Organization should check with their insurer to make sure their policies are compliant with any go-forward work arrangement and that the change in risk is being accounted for correctly in the insurer’s rating. The first step towards a collaborative approach is to have a discussion about what total disability means under the contract, how it applies now, and how organizations can accommodate for the future pandemic and post-pandemic environments.
Read:56% U.S. white-collar employees report improved mental health as a result of hybrid work: survey
Organizations may require additional leadership training in order to help them understand the changes in policies, how to navigate a disability management environment in a hybrid environment, and how they can manage accommodation and return-to-work in this setting.
Hybrid work arrangements were probably already in demand by many organizations even before the pandemic. This arrangement can be beneficial to both employees and the organization, but it can also make it more difficult to manage and create more complex disability portfolios.
Clear and thoughtful design of HR policies and procedures in this new arrangement, along with collaborative conversations and discussions with disability insurers as it evolves will provide a solid foundation to help employees and employers navigate the new complexities that may arise in 2022 and beyond.
