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About WFH - Microsoft to let employees work from home permanently

Software giant Microsoft will let employees work from home permanently if they choose to, US media reported on Friday, becoming the latest employer to expand work-from-home provisions prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
美國媒體週五報導，軟體業巨擘微軟將允許讓員工選擇永久在家工作，在武漢肺炎（新型冠狀病毒病，Covid-19）大流行疫情下，微軟成為最新擴大讓員工遠距上班的雇主。

US tech news website The Verge said most Microsoft employees are still at home as the health crisis drags on, and the company doesn’t expect to reopen its US offices until January of next year at the earliest.
美國科技新聞網站The Verge稱，在這場健康危機拖延之際，大多數微軟員工仍在家辦公，微軟預期最早明年1月才會重新開放在美國的辦公室。

But when it does, workers can choose to work from home permanently with their manager’s approval, although they will have to give up their office space.
但當它重開，員工經主管批准，可以選擇常態性在家工作，儘管他們將必須放棄他們在辦公室的空
間。

Next Article

Working parents’ woes deepen as schools shut down again 學校再次關閉在職父母的麻煩加深

Working parents of kindergarten and elementary school students are struggling again to find suitable childcare options, as all schools in the Seoul metropolitan area have been ordered to move classes online until Sept. 11.
（南韓）幼兒園和小學學生的在職父母，正再次努力尋找合適的育兒選項。因為首都圈的所有學校，均已被通令將課程改為線上，直到9月11日。

Although the measure was in response to the recent surge in the number of infections among students, teachers and other education workers, remote learning poses a burden to working parents as younger children are less likely to stay focused on lectures for a longer time.
儘管這些措施旨在因應最近在學生、教師與其他教育工作者中，感染人數激增的疫情，但遠距學習對在職父母造成負擔，因為較年幼的孩童，比較不可能長時間專注於課程。

The only option for working parents is sending their children to "emergency child care" classes, set up at schools for kindergarteners and younger elementary students who are in need of care during the day.
在職父母的唯一選項，是將他們的小孩送到「緊急托兒」班，學校的緊急托兒班是為了有日間照顧需求的幼兒園生及低年級小學生而設。
Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1410043 ; https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1396438

Next Article

Topic: The New, Hip Co-Working Spaces

Technology has upended where we work. The line between work and play has been blurred, and the difference between the office and home has all but disappeared.
As a result, there's a new class of white-collar workers who roam the earth looking for places to get their jobs done.
科技顛覆了我們工作的場所。工作與玩樂之間的界線模糊了，辦公室和家的區別也幾乎消失了。
因此，出現了新一類的白領工作者，他們在地球上四處遊走，尋找完成他們工作的地方。

Some of them work from home, curled up on the couch or in a home office — maybe with a drone hovering nearby. Others camp out at expensive cafes, refilling their mugs of fancy coffee throughout the day.
But increasingly, these untethered employees are gathering in a new kind of office known as the co-working space.
他們當中有些人在家工作，蜷縮在沙發上或是家庭辦公室裡，或許還有架無人機在附近盤旋。其他人則是在昂貴的咖啡店內紮營，整天將他們的昂貴咖啡不斷續杯。
然而，這些不受束縛的員工正聚集在一種被稱為共同工作空間的新的辦公室，而且此風日盛。

Surely, you've heard of these places. But their numbers have multiplied across the country in the past few years, filling a niche for those who need more than a cafe but less than an office.
They now come in a wide range of options. Some are fancy; some are not. Some require memberships; some do not. Some target technology workers; others are for writers or small businesses. And in the Los Angeles area, there seems to be a co-working option for every neighborhood and every profession.
你肯定聽說過這些地方，然而它們的數量過去幾年裡在全國卻呈倍數成長，滿足了那些需要一處不只是咖啡店，卻又不像辦公室的場所的小眾的需求。
這種場所如今可有多樣的選擇。有些很昂貴，有些則不會。有些需要是會員，有些則不用。有些瞄準科技業員工，也有些針對作家或小企業。而在洛杉磯地區，每個區里和行業似乎有都共同工作空間可供選擇。

Before you rush out to join a co-working space, there are pros and cons to consider.
Some believe working away from a traditional office improves productivity. A study published last year in The Quarterly Journal of Economics examined Ctrip, a 16,000-employee Chinese travel agency, where call-center employees were randomly assigned to work in either the office or the home. Those who worked from home were 13 percent more productive, the report found. When Ctrip gave all its workers the option to work from home, productivity grew even further, to 22 percent.
在你急著加入共同工作空間前，必須考量其中利弊。
有些人認為不在傳統辦公室工作能提高生產力。去年發表在經濟學季刊的一項研究報告對於攜程進行了研究。攜程是家有1萬6000名員工的中國大陸旅行社，其客服中心員工被隨機分配到辦公室或是在家工作。這篇報告發現，在家工作的員工生產力多了13%。當攜程讓所有員工在家工作時，生產力更進一步成長22%。

Another study published last year in the journal Sleep Health, found that people who had flexible work schedules slept better than those who had to report to the office at specific times.
But there are studies that raise doubts about working remotely. "How Effective Is Telecommuting?" published last year in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest, found that working from home can make people feel sad. The report says this is likely because of the social and professional isolation experienced from being home alone for too long.
另個去年發表於睡眠健康期刊的研究報告發現，享有彈性工作時間的人比那些必須在特定時間向辦公室報到的人睡得更好。
但也有研究對於遠距工作提出了質疑。去年發表於公共利益心理科學期刊的研究報告「電子通勤效果如何？」發現，在家工作會讓人感到悲傷。報告稱，這很可能是孤獨在家太久而產生的社會與職業隔離感造成的。Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/293698/web/

Next Article

What can employers do if workers avoid COVID-19 vaccines?
若員工不想打疫苗，雇主可以採取哪些措施應對？

What can employers do if workers avoid COVID-19 vaccines?
美國企業雇主可以要求全體員工打疫苗並開除那些不願意配合的人，或是取消公司福利、加收健康保險金等。

They can require vaccination and fire employees who don’t comply or take other actions such as withholding company perks or charging extra for health insurance.
企業在過去數個月以來一直鼓勵員工打疫苗，有時更會祭出休假、發放禮卡等獎勵措施。不過，現在有更多企業採取強硬的立場要求還沒施打的員工完成接種，這種做法在輝瑞疫苗獲得美國食藥署（FDA）核准通過後變得更加普遍。

Businesses for months have been encouraging workers to get vaccinated, in some cases offering incentives like time off or gift cards. But more are taking a harder stance and requiring vaccinations for any remaining holdouts, a push that has gained momentum since Pfizer’s vaccine recently received full approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
美世諮詢公司（Mercer）的合夥人西蒙斯（Wade Symons）表示，「雇主認為除非公司採取重大的措施，否則這些員工不會去施打疫苗」。

Employers “feel like they’ve sort of hit that point where the unvaccinated are not going to do it unless there’s something significant making them do it,” said Wade Symons, a partner with Mercer, a benefits consultant.
目前，雇主要求員工打疫苗在美國是合法的，他們也有權開除不願意配合的員工。在一些企業裡，未接種疫苗的員工會被要求戴口罩並定期接受篩檢，有的公司則考慮提高未接種者的健康保險金額。

It’s legal for businesses to require the shots, and they could fire employees who don’t comply. In other cases, workers might be required to wear masks or get regular tests for the virus. Some companies also are considering making the unvaccinated pay more for their health insurance.
在達美航空，公司的健康計畫則針對未接種疫苗的員工加收一個月200美金的費用，以分擔未來可能染疫住院所需的開銷。

At Delta Air Lines, unvaccinated employees on the company health plan will be charged $200 a month to help cover costs for possible COVID-19 hospital stays.
西蒙斯表示，其他公司則多會從員工每個月的薪水中小額扣款20-25美金費用(約等同於新台幣600元至750元)，並在員工接種完疫苗後將款項退還。

Symons said other employers will more likely add smaller charges of $20 or $25 per paycheck that might be refunded once the employee is vaccinated.
雇主也可能限制公司的公共空間使用權，只允許打過疫苗的員工上公司健身房運動，或進行商務旅行。在拉斯維加斯，美高梅國際酒店集團（MGM Resorts International）則規定未接種疫苗的員工若被確診出染疫，公司將不會在其隔離期間給薪。

Employers might also restrict the use of office space, company gyms or business travel only for the vaccinated. In Las Vegas, MGM Resorts International has said unvaccinated employees will not be paid for time off to quarantine if they test positive for the virus.
西蒙斯也指出，這類強制員工打疫苗的規定大多來自需要員工在辦公室工作的企業。

Vaccine requirements will mainly come from businesses that need workers on a job site, Symons said.
不過，針對一些因醫療或宗教因素不打疫苗的員工，雇主必須提出豁免或調解方案。

Employers have to offer exemptions or accommodations from vaccine requirements for some who don’t get the shots for medical or religious reasons.
迪士尼和俄亥俄州立大學（The Ohio State University）是強制員工打疫苗的機構中規模較大的集團，他們表示輝瑞疫苗已經得到食藥署的完整批准，因此將強制要求員工施打。美國國防部長奧斯丁
（Lloyd Austin）也表示，軍人必須立刻開始接種疫苗。
Walt Disney World and Ohio State University are among the large employers that said they’ll make vaccination mandatory since Pfizer’s shot was given the FDA’s full approval. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also has said that military troops must immediately begin to get the vaccine. Source article: https://chinapost.nownews.com/20210903-2749357

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