Pennsylvania to lift telework mandate this weekend

Pennsylvania on Sunday will lift its mandate for businesses to telework when possible — instead, teleworking will be encouraged.

“Telework for businesses will be highly encouraged; previously, telework was to be used unless it was not possible to do so,” state officials said.

The mandate was placed early on in the pandemic to mitigate the transmission of covid-19. State officials said the progress of Pennsylvania’s vaccine rollout made easing the order possible.

“We are making tremendous progress vaccinating Pennsylvanians and are now able to accelerate our state vaccine plan,” Department of Health Acting Secretary Alison Beam said. “As we move forward, we are reminding Pennsylvanians that it is still imperative that they follow current personal mitigation efforts such as wearing a mask, maintaining social distance and following gathering and occupancy guidelines so we can protect public health while we jump-start our economy.”

Beam and other state officials reminded employers that health measures are still necessary in the workplace, including masking and social distancing.

“All businesses are strongly encouraged to conduct their operations in whole or in part remotely through individual teleworking of their employees in the jurisdiction or jurisdictions in which they do business,” the health department said.

The update effective Sunday coincides with the loosening of other restrictions to restaurants and businesses.

Pennsylvania bars and restaurants can resume bar service, sell alcohol without a food purchase and operate at 75% capacity beginning April 4, Gov. Tom Wolf announced two weeks ago. The curfew on alcohol sales in bars and restaurants will also be lifted, and capacity for other types of businesses can increase to 75%, including gyms, casinos, and malls.

“The best way to support our local businesses is to create a safe environment for everyone so that we can combat the virus’ spread, which will help position us to bounce back easier and faster long term,” said Dennis Davin, secretary of Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development.

Despite the mandate’s termination, remote work will remain the norm for at least a while longer at many businesses across sectors in Western Pennsylvania.

Larry Kleinman, chief human resources officer at Highmark Health, said employees of the health care giant have been working from home since March 18, 2020. Kleinman said the pandemic has inspired the company to “rethink how we work” even after covid-19 is under control, after some employees reported higher job satisfaction and productivity in the current model.

“For those employees who are able to do their job outside of the office, i.e. nonclinical, corporate staff, we’re moving to what we’re calling a Work From Anywhere model,” Kleinman explained in a statement. “While ensuring business and customer needs are met, we want to empower team members to think and work where and when they’re personally most effective—whether in the office or remote. At this time, we anticipate launching the new model as we begin inviting employees back to the workplace during the latter half of 2021.”

For employees working remotely at various Pennsylvania State University campuses, including their New Kensington site, telework will gradually come to an end throughout the summer.

During a webcast earlier this week, Penn State President Eric Barron said more employees will gradually return to campuses over the summer, with priority given to those who support and interact with students. A task force is drafting a transition plan for the increase of on-campus employees during the summer and fall.

Barron said the health and safety of employees — and the entire community — will remain the university’s priority. The school will work with immunocompromised employees and those who live with high-risk individuals to ensure safe work arrangements.

“I have been incredibly impressed by our faculty and staff and what they’ve done,” Barron said during the webcast. “Stepping up because of the pandemic, being fully productive, many people being innovative — it has just been so inspiring to watch the faculty and staff and how they have dealt with these issues. Counterbalancing that, and importantly, is what it takes to deliver the very best educational experience for our students. We want to keep in mind what the mission of our institution is.”

While Penn State officials are hoping to have employees fully back to campus by the fall, Barron said quarantine and isolation measures will likely continue.

For many Giant Eagle employees, telework will remain the norm. Giant Eagle is planning to use a hybrid working model for their corporate employees, who will work predominantly remotely even after the pandemic, according to Jannah Jablonowski, a Giant Eagle spokesperson.

“We’re going to be primarily based remotely and then have a lot of really great opportunities to meet in person and meet face-to-face,” she said.

Giant Eagle has office locations in Lawrenceville, RIDC business park and at several of their larger supermarket locations. Those spaces will be used to host meetings and allow people to interact in person, though remote work will remain the norm.

“At this point in time, we’re starting to slowly introduce that face-to-face interaction,” Jablonowski said. “We want to make sure everybody stays safe and healthy and comfortable.”

The decision to keep a predominantly work-from-home system comes after watching how well workers adapted to the circumstances throughout the pandemic, she explained.

“We have, like many businesses, been embracing this teleworking environment for the past year now since the pandemic hit Pittsburgh. We have had a lot of time for our team members to adapt and adjust to this new way of working. We’ve been able to make a lot of progress,” she said.

Teleworking has offered more flexibility, something many workers value, she said. It’s been particularly helpful for families with children who were learning from home during the pandemic.

“It provides a different level of flexibility and autonomy than a traditional in-office environment,” she said. “It helps us to help our team members maintain that work-life balance.”

Jablonowski said it may also help the company recruit their next generation of workers, who may be drawn to the flexibility and autonomy telework offers.

“We’re going to continue to evaluate things as we go, because this is something that’s certainly going to be new for us,” she said. “We’re definitely going to keep our ears open and invite feedback from our team members and make sure this is a sustainable model for us, but so far, this seems to be working.”