The toothpaste is out of the tube and it's safe to say that hybrid and remote workplaces are here to stay. Of the U.S. remote-capable workforce—about 60 million workers—39% work fully remote, according to a Gallup poll released in March 2022. Of that same group, 42% now work in a hybrid environment, coming into the office only on certain days.

In particular, hybrid workplaces are emerging as a popular setup. Fifty-three percent of remote-capable workers expect hybrid to be their work location going forward, with only 24% expecting full remote and 23% anticipate being fully on-site.

But a new workplace comes with new risks—and independent agents should make their employment practices liability insurance clients aware.

“There are always issues around, 'If I was in the office, would I have that promotional opportunity or is that choice work assignment going to someone else because they're there and I'm not?' Or do employees have the right systems or equipment or technology to perform their jobs from home versus being in an office?" says Manny Cho, executive vice president, executive lines, Risk Placement Services. “These are all potential areas where discrimination claims could arise."

“There are employment practices liability claims coming now with people suing because they were not allowed to work from home during COVID-19," Cho continues. “While as a whole we haven't seen a huge growth in discrimination trends specifically due to remote work, it is something on carriers' radars."

While the term “quiet quitting" dominated conversation in 2022, another trend emerged alongside it: “quiet firing," which Gallup describes as “how managers fail to adequately provide coaching, support and career development to an employee, which results in pushing the employee out of an organization."

“Some of the issues around quiet firing are no different than ones we'd have in an in-person work environment, where the communication is not good and goals and career development plans are not articulated well to the employee," Cho says. “You have to be very cognizant about communication and opportunities being provided to people both in the office and remotely. Otherwise, you run the risk of isolating a good employee."

But a lack of communication with remote or hybrid workers points to a bigger issue, Cho says. “When so many organizations were first starting these remote policies during COVID-19, everyone was tackling so many other issues they didn't really put their arms around some things they needed to change or improve within their internal practices regarding training for managers on communication, which is key to successful work-from-home environments," he says. He suggests that agents should tell employers to “look at their employee handbook, because it most likely does not pick up on some of the nuances of having a large hybrid workforce."

Remote or hybrid office environments also change harassment exposures for EPLI clients. “With written communication or Zoom calls, you're never quite sure about how the other person is reading what you're providing—people might read tone in an email that wasn't the intent of the writer," Cho says. “Those issues around someone feeling harassed or attacked are heightened because of remote work."

“It boils down to needing upgraded training for managers and supervisors, and reminders for employees, around communication to avoid creating a hostile work environment," he says.

Ultimately, “you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube—people are very much used to this hybrid work environment," Cho adds. “Employers are just going to have to figure out the best ways to balance this new workforce."

AnneMarie McPherson Spears is IA news editor.