b"WORK CULTUREA major consideration for flexible working must be whereconsiderations, and send instantaneous updates as to which coun-the work is being done. If it is across state or provincial lines,tries are permitting access to which skilled professions on that there may be payroll tax implications for the individual andparticular day.company; and if it is across country lines, the implications may be even more serious, says Black. Only a solution thatIn other words, continues Greenberg, the technology is there can pull in data from multiple sources, such as travel booking,to drive the whole global process through an online platform, HR systems, compensation and benefits, and other considera- which is especially valuable at a time like this. Thats what were tions can provide the automatic analysis to surface risk asdeveloping right now, and its the way things are going.employees move and travel across the world for work. Remote working technologies will only evolve as the trend Managing a remote workforce relies on the means to tracktowards working outside of the office grows. In the meantime, the the status of every last employee. To that end, a number ofbiggest priority for employers is to adopt the tools and resources employers are adopting toolsthat will help them manage a to help track and monitorglobally dispersed workforce. employees progress as they moveAnd while no technology will in response to COVID-19 andever replace the value of genuine transition to remote workinghuman support, digital tools arrangements. The idea ofand systems are going a long employee tracking has been longway towards keeping teams considered before the pandemic;connected, engaged and safe however, now more than ever,under ever-changing conditions.companies need this data, espe- We now know this isnt some-cially with more workers workingthing thats going to end in a remotely, says Black. Issues likecouple of weeks, so now were payroll tax compliance on a statealways looking at how we can use or country level come into play intechnology to support our remote these situations, and when organ- employees more effectively izations allow their employees tonow and over the course of this work from anywhere, the level ofpandemic, says Duran. Were risk skyrockets. still figuring this out. Tracking and monitoring technologies are also key to keeping remote employees updated on COVID-19 condi-tions and feeding them the information they need to mitigate the spread of infection. For those going back to the office, location data now has a health and safety component. This is likely to include gathering more data around destinations employees have traveled to in their personal time, explains Black. As well, location tracking can help identify high-risk individual spreaders and support suggested work-from-home populations.As one of many Canadian employers tasked with safeguarding their teams during the pandemic, Lululemon's Duran agrees that the ability to keep tabs on team members and stay in constant communication is a significant advantage, noting, At the end of the day, we just want to make sure that wher-ever they are we have the ability to communicate with them directly to make sure they are comfortable and safe.A WFH FUTUREAccording to the same Statistics Canada study, nearly 40 per cent of the countrys working population is in a role that can be feasibly performed from home. So, while its likely a number of employees will return to their traditional offices or assignment locations when safe to do so, its not a stretch to assume that many WFH arrangements will become permanent. Recognizing this, Howard Greenberg, partner, national prac-tice leader, immigration, with KPMG Law LLP, says that cloud-based HR platforms are poised to become common-place, if not a necessity: With an online platform that controls, supervises and allocates resources to assignments worldwide, you never have to leave your chair. HR does not have to physically be in the HR department of a company. That function can be performed through a dashboard, where companies can manage employee resources, address health Fall 2020PERSPECTIVES21"