As waves of COVID-19 cross the country and state and local stay-at-home orders are phased in and out (and in again), employers have big decisions to make about not only when employees should return to work, but also how.

COVID-19 has heightened awareness of our health and safety like nothing else in recent memory, and it has left many to worry about the role that their surroundings play in terms of cleanliness and protection. One of the biggest fears that many are facing is the prospect of returning to work mid-COVID-19.

In a CBS News poll, 70% of respondents reported the top national priority should be to “try to slow the spread of coronavirus by keeping people home and social distancing, even if the economy is hurt in the short term.” In essence, the survey reveals a real-time conversation playing out in which many people are left speculating what the return-to-work plans will be in the coming months.

Some employers have already jumped in and called employees back to work, while some have extended work-at-home policies through the end of 2020. There is no one right answer for every employer. But if you do decide to bring employees back, or due to your industry your workplace never closed in the first place, you should be prepared to diligently implement the changing best practices to reduce workers’ exposure to COVID-19 in the coming months, or perhaps even year.

 The COVID-19 outbreak has caused a domino effect of unprecedented events to disrupt the global economy – massive layoffs, the plummet of the stock market, interruptions to supply chain and demand, and the closing of "non-essential" businesses – all of which have been defining the new normal for today's world.

As COVID-19 cases continue to grow worldwide, employers and employees alike are scrambling to adapt to the restrictive social distancing protocols and stay-at-home orders. The uncertainty of what the workplace stands to lose – and gain – from the changes brought on by COVID-19 has caused immense levels of stress about returning to work post-pandemic.  

While COVID-19 will inevitably leave its mark on the workplace, employers can use the pandemic as an opportunity to transform current challenges into something positive, to come out better on the other side. Through an idea known as post-traumatic growth (PTG), businesses can move beyond merely accepting the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and find the silver linings.

Communication with employees is the foundation of success for any business. It's even more crucial during a crisis.

With so much uncertainty surrounding the present and future impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders are forced to address issues they never have before. Some are finding that their current internal crisis communication plan needs tailoring to tackle the unique challenges posed by COVID-19. For others, this will be a crash course in crisis communications.

To effectively communicate with employees during difficult times, it's essential to keep employees' psychological wellness in mind by being transparent, empathetic, and responsive. Here are a few tips you can follow to keep workplace morale from sinking, promote productivity, and position your company to be an employer of choice on the other side of the crisis.

Owning a restaurant comes with responsibilities to both patrons and employees. For patrons, food quality, a clean environment, and friendly customer service top the list. When it comes to employees, a safe working environment, proper training and equipment, and friendly managers and coworkers are key to keeping them engaged and happy. But one thing outweighs all other worker benefits: meeting expectations on payday. If you don't provide employees with the right amount of wages at the right time, everything else becomes irrelevant.

Research from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) shows companies that invest in a detailed, effective onboarding program retain 50% more of their new hires than their competitors. Similarly, employees who have a positive onboarding experience are 69% more likely to stay employed at their current company for at least three years. With the unemployment rate reaching new lows, signaling a decrease in potential new hires, it’s more important than ever to invest time in crafting a good onboarding experience.

When a business reaches a certain number of eligible participants for their 401(k) plan, federal law requires an independent audit of that defined retirement plan. Larger companies are more accustomed to this annual requirement; however, owners and managers of smaller businesses may never have experienced a 401(k) audit or don't know nearly enough about it.

No matter the size of your business, or how good your retention rate is, from time to time, an employee resigns in favor of other opportunities. For them, it means a new chapter in their professional life. For you, it means closing the book on their employment with your company.

If you’ve been putting up with a payroll and HR system that no longer works for you and your employees, it’s likely time to take the leap and move to a new system. Switching systems can mean fewer manual processes and streamlined data flows, giving your team more time to focus on more strategic and people-oriented tasks within your department. If you’ve determined switching is the best option, you’re likely concerned about the work involved in moving to a new system. Working with unfamiliar technology and people, loading and mapping employee data and history, conducting user training on the new system…it can seem overwhelming. However, you can minimize the stress and workload by following a few essential guidelines for a successful payroll implementation.

On the surface, managing the payroll process may seem like a simple, straightforward task. You provide paychecks to all your employees on time, and everyone in your company is happy. That seems easy, right? In reality, there is a lot more to the process than meets the eye - and you’re not alone if you feel stressed trying to handle all its moving parts.

When you really get down to it, payroll processing for each of your employees involves in-depth knowledge of wage laws and payroll taxes at the local, state, and federal levels, employee deductions, your company’s internal processes, and most importantly – patience. That doesn’t sound so straightforward, after all, does it? In order to reduce your stress, here are guidelines for creating a more manageable payroll processing experience.

If you prioritized business owners' favorite responsibilities, payroll taxes would likely fall towards the bottom of the list. Unless you have a deep history in payroll processing, it can be difficult to stay on top of all the ins and outs of tax obligations—from Social Security and Medicare to federal and state unemployment taxes and beyond.

But it doesn’t have to be a burden. Here are essential elements to managing one type of employer tax, unemployment insurance, from filing the correct form to being proactive in controlling your tax rate.