The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the world in many ways. Social distancing is becoming an ingrained part of life, and furloughs have caused many people to seek out an Ocala Workers Compensation Lawyer. If you’re unsure about the future of your career, here are some of the ways the pandemic is changing the workforce.

Shifting Work Environments

More people are working from home now than ever before. In fact, 3.4% of all employees in the United States are working remotely for at least half the week. While this may work well for some whose jobs can be done from home, not everyone has the luxury of virtual job retention right now. This massive shift has also saturated the job market with furloughed workers looking for alternate sources of income and taking new jobs that are vastly different than the ones they may have been doing for years. Lack of proper training by employers and rushed onboarding can contribute to workplace injuries.

Changing Policies

The coronavirus pandemic has caused many employers to update their absence policies. Disciplinary action for absences and tardiness has been loosened or removed entirely from some companies, and many are allowing employees to take paid leaves of absence if they fear catching the virus on the job. Bonuses have also become commonplace for essential workers as a reward for working through the pandemic, and as incentive to continue working. However, accommodations must be made to prevent injury and illness.

Going Online

To help reduce the number of employees furloughed or on leave, many businesses encourage employees to perform as many tasks as possible remotely. Meetings and other work-related activities that call for large gatherings have been replaced with virtual meetings, and communication now consists mostly of video calling and messaging. Bookkeeping, data logging, customer service and even some sales jobs are now being done online all across the world. Of course, work-related injuries can still occur, and require the assistance of a workers’ compensation lawyer in Ocala.

In the face of a global pandemic, the workforce is still trying to adapt. If you need a workers’ compensation lawyer in Ocala, contact the Law Office of JW Chalkley III, PA at (866) 629-7511 or fill out the contact form online.