Remote work should be a permanent employee benefit  (iStock) | Given the resurgence of coronavirus cases, it's clear that the way we work must change. Covid has taught us that workers want more than just a bigger paycheck, they also want flexibility, which for some is a priceless benefit. When I became pregnant with my first child, I developed multiple clots in my left leg. One clot — a deep vein thrombosis — traveled to my lung. By the time I arrived in the emergency room, barely able to breathe, a physician bluntly said, "You should be dead." Testing found that I had protein S deficiency, a disorder that makes me prone to blood clots. I had to have anticoagulant medicine pumped into me constantly and was put on bed rest for the rest of my pregnancy. I recovered and delivered a healthy baby. After giving birth to two more children, I realized that commuting every day — for an hour or more each way, depending on traffic — was just too stressful. Between my continued health challenges and those of my children, including having a child with autism, I began working from home full time. That was more than 20 years ago, when working remotely was, for the most part, by special permission only. It could have been a career killer. Fortunately, for me, it wasn't. There's a work benefits revolution coming. Companies that accept the changes will prosper. Those that don't will lose their competitive edge. When possible, companies should allow employees to opt for full-time remote work or a hybrid option. If employees can't work from home, there still needs to be flexible scheduling to allow them to take care of their families when the need arises. Covid has delivered devastating losses, but one outcome that I hope lasts is the realization that the way we work has taken a toll on our bodies and family life. For so long, many employees have been pushing for flexibility in their work schedules. But for many companies and managers, there's still a stigma attached to employees who want a work/life balance. Gallup's State of the Global Workplace 2021 report found that even before the pandemic, nearly half of employees in the United States and Canada reported experiencing a lot of stress. "Physical health, loneliness, financial hardship and community support, among other factors, affect the involvement, enthusiasm and productivity of workers in both good times and bad," the Gallup report said. "Successful corporations of the future not only will generate profits, but also will generate thriving employees who are capable of weathering crises." I'm moderating a Washington Post Live discussion on Aug. 18 at 1 p.m. (you can also view it later at washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live) on how the pandemic has changed the benefits landscape. Many employees are no longer afraid of asking for remote working options, family-friendly policies, and health and wellness options. (You can register for the discussion at personalfinanceaug2021.splashthat.com/washpost.) In prepping for the discussion, I read a report, "The Future of Benefits," from Care.com. This report and many others unequivocally show that having the flexibility to care for yourself and others without the stress of worrying about keeping your job or forgoing promotions makes you a better employee. "One of the few benefits of the covid-19 pandemic is that it has put a spotlight on the challenges and vulnerabilities that workers have faced all along," the Care.com report said. "While employers had seen statistics demonstrating that juggling work and care responsibilities adversely affects productivity, retention, absenteeism, and employee health, the pandemic has brought that to the forefront with unprecedented clarity." Here's another important observation from the report: "In our understandable hunger to get 'back to normal,' we may want to forget the unsolicited insights this crisis has generated. But we can't, and we shouldn't, because the 'New Normal' need not look like the old one." Recommendations from the report include making permanent many of the temporary remote work options companies instituted to avoid increasing the number of covid cases. What more proof do businesses need than the last 18 months, which showed many workers can do their jobs from anywhere. Why have rigid return-to-work policies? Actually, I work harder from home, always trying to prove that I can be just as productive working remotely. Follow the lead of LinkedIn, which is giving its 16,000 global employees a choice of how to work. "We've learned every individual and every team works differently, so we're moving away from a one-size-fits-all policy," LinkedIn chief executive Ryan Roslansky wrote in a blog post last month. "We're embracing flexibility with both hybrid and remote roles, expecting more of us to be remote than pre-Covid and removing the expectation of being in the office 50% of the time." A lot of workers don't have a choice. They can't work from home. But among those who can, many don't want to return to their cubicles, or if they do, they only want to do so a few days a week. A Gallup poll from October 2020 to April 2021 found that roughly 4 in 10 white-collar men (41 percent) and white-collar women (39 percent) said that, if given a choice, they would rather continue remote work. When coronavirus cases again decline, we shouldn't go back to the old normal. Flexible work shouldn't be just a crisis go-to. It should be a permanent employee perk. Reader Question of the Week If you have a personal finance or retirement question, send it to colorofmoney@washpost.com. In the subject line, put "Question of the Week." Please note that questions may be edited for clarity. Q: A family member has both physical and mental health issues and is not managing his financial matters well. He will not buy health insurance and put a hospital bill of $30,000 on a credit card. It is very difficult to approach these matters, especially mental health when the sibling will just shut down. I will probably end up paying off the credit card myself. I know you have been a caregiver. Do you have any advice? A: One of the things I learned as a caregiver is you can't fix everything, especially people's financial situation. You can't make folks do what you think is right with their money. I took care of my disabled brother from the time he was 18 until he died at 32. He fought me constantly about helping him manage his money. It was exhausting. I wrote a column about helping my disabled brother. Read it: How to help when it's not your money In that column, I also referred people to a series of free guides published by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on managing someone else's money. Although you don't have control of the person's finances, you may find the information useful if and when your family member allows you to provide the help he needs. One final thought. Unless you just have an extra $30,000 you can give away, I wouldn't take on the financial responsibility of paying off the credit card bill. Why? Because when you are the fixer and you jump in to try to save people, you sometimes get in the way of them fixing things themselves. In Retirement News Part of planning for retirement and then living on the money you've saved or invested is keeping up with the issues that you need to know. In this section, I feature blogs, news stories, new research, surveys, and government policy changes that could affect your retirement. If you see a news story or issue you think would help folks, let me know and I'll check it out and share it with newsletter subscribers. In July, the Senate held a hearing on retirement titled: "Building on Bipartisan Retirement Legislation: How Can Congress Help?" You can watch the hearing here, and I would also recommend you read the testimony of the witnesses appearing at the hearing. You'll find links for the written testimonies below the video link. In particular, read what David Certner, legislative Counsel and Policy Director for AARP wrote. Certner argued in favor of legislation that would require the Social Security Administration to resume mailing annual earnings statements to 180 million American workers. "This legislation would once again place vital, paper Social Security statements in the hands of millions of Americans to help them more effectively plan for retirement, ensure correct earnings records, and better understand their stake in Social Security," Certner wrote. "The Social Security statement is an essential financial planning tool that provides key information on an individual's earnings and payroll tax contributions record, as well as an estimate of their earned monthly benefits." People can get their statements online, but I agree that the mailed statements remind folks to include Social Security in their retirement planning. Until this happens, read: Yes, the Social Security Administration should mail out paper statements again. Here's why. Retirement Rants and Raves What are your thoughts about saving for retirement? If you're retired, how is it going? What advice would you have for others about retirement? This is your space to rant or rave about anything related to retirement. Send your comments to colorofmoney@washpost.com. Please include your name, city, and state. In the subject line put "Retirement Rants and Raves." Responses may be edited for clarity. Larry Fent of Council Bluffs, Iowa, retired in 2006. What he thought would happen didn't. "I think I am like most folks that didn't really plan for life after retirement," he wrote. "My house was paid for and I had a newer car. I thought I was at the end of my consumer years; how much money would I need?" Well, a lot more than he thought, Fent said. "Whatever your yearly income is when you retire, you will need to approximate that unless you lower your standard of living," he wrote. "Your kids still have birthdays, your grandchildren want Christmas presents, a storm blows the roof off your barn, inflation takes its bite. So, I say to everyone when the subject comes up, 'save and invest. . . like your (retired) life depends on it.'" | 
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