As vaccines continue to rollout across the nation and South Florida, companies that have been forced into remote work arrangements for the past year now face a complicated decision: Should bosses let workers stay at home, bring everyone back to the office or find a solution in between?
For some employers, like Google and Amazon, the future is starting to look like the pre-pandemic days, calling for an “office-centric” return to work.
But at some smaller firms like Mark Migdal & Hayden, employees have options.
“Right now our office is technically open and people come to the office, if they want to come to the office. That is the type of company we are,” said Etan Mark, with Mark Migdal & Hayden.
Etan is a founding partner of MM&H, a Florida boutique litigation law firm located in Brickell.
“We are a complex commercial litigation law firm, which basically means we deal with complicated business dispute. We represent clients throughout the country, primarily throughout South Florida,” he said.
Etan said he isn’t requiring his employees to get vaccinated in order to work at the office, but it is encouraged.
“Obviously getting a vaccination is a little bit of a personal choice. Our company is that we treat people like professionals and we expect people to behave like professionals and that really bleeds into the vaccination discussion. If they’re not vaccinated, then we would expect them to come to the office with a mask on or a double mask on to protect themselves and others,” he added.
Our Melissa Marrero spoke with Labor and Employment attorney with Joe Santoro at Gunster Law Firm earlier this month about vaccination requirements at the workplace. He says employers do have the right to require the COVID-19 vaccine, but says most employers are incentivizing their employees instead of mandating.
“The reason for that and the policy reason for that is that there’s a pandemic and there are threats. The direct threat of an employee bringing the virus into the workplace [and] affecting others," he said.
Michelle Bernstein is a new hire at MM&H, relocating from New York, and said working at the office is a personal choice. She believes it’s important as a new member of the team.
“It was important to me to make sure that I was getting to know the people that I’m working with and in turn they get to know me. And the best way to do that is in person,” said Michelle.
“We trust people, we support people and if people are more comfortable working from home at this time then people are encouraged to work from home. At the end of the day our objective is to provide the best service possible to our clients and I think as anybody in the service industry knows, the happier your employees are the better service they provide,” said Etan.
If you don't feel safe going back into the office or workplace, it’s recommended to approach your supervisor.
MM&H is hiring. For more information on positions available and how to apply, click here or email mish@markmigdalhayden.com
