Vaccine mandates and office reopening schedules may vary among the nation’s leading accounting firms for now, but one thing they all agree on is a flexible workplace for the foreseeable future.
Firms have adopted a range of policies in response to the pandemic over the past year and a half, although they could soon have less choice in the matter. President Biden announced late September 9 that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration would soon issue guidance requiring private sector employers with more than 100 employees to mandate vaccinations or require weekly testing.
The White House said in its description of that plan that the rule would apply to more than 80 million workers at private sector businesses. It didn’t say when the rule would go into effect, just that OSHA would issue an emergency temporary standard to implement it. Failure to comply with the rule would incur penalties of $14,000 per violation.
Some top firms, like Deloitte, are already planning to go all in on requiring employees returning to the office to be vaccinated. “The science and data are compelling that vaccinations, at this time, are the most effective means of reducing the spread of COVID-19 and substantially reducing the likelihood of serious illness,” the firm’s Jonathan Gandal told Tax Notes.
Beginning October 11 — seven weeks after the Food and Drug Administration issued full approval of the first COVID-19 vaccine — all employees entering one of Deloitte’s U.S. facilities will need to be vaccinated, Gandal said.
KPMG LLP is similarly planning to require either proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within the last 72 hours before entering any of the firm’s U.S. offices, a spokesperson said. Full vaccination or a negative test is already required to enter the firm’s corporate headquarters in Orlando, Florida, although a mandate is almost a nonissue at this point — the spokesperson indicated that almost 90 percent of its staff already report being fully vaccinated.
No official reopening date has been set at KPMG, although its offices have partially reopened.
Other leading accounting firms have been more hesitant to mandate vaccination among employees, at least so far.
Before Biden’s announcement, Kathryn Kaminsky of PwC said that the firm opted to delay the official reopening of its U.S. offices until November 1, and in the meantime, employees aren’t required to be vaccinated to return to the office. However, that could change as that date gets closer, she said, adding that they would “continue to monitor the data and reevaluate our position,” keeping federal and local health guidelines in mind.
Grant Thornton LLP likewise doesn’t currently require proof of vaccination in its offices, although it strongly encourages its employees to get the shot, spokesman Adam Bond said. Face masks are required at all times in the firm’s offices, though, he noted.
More broadly, in a recent survey of over 1,007 employees and 752 executives across a variety of industries, PwC found that roughly two-thirds of respondents from both categories favored a vaccine mandate as a condition of returning to the office. But “that does mean that one-third of each group opposes a mandate,” Kaminsky noted during an August 19 call with reporters.
That same survey found that a substantial majority of employees are also looking for new jobs, while executives are reporting higher than normal turnover, for a variety of reasons, PwC’s Bhushan Sethi said during that call. With mandates proving contentious, companies will need to design their COVID-19 response policies around core themes like safety, employee preference, and inclusion.
“The unintended consequences of a vaccine mandate in some industries could drive involuntary or voluntary attrition, if you’re unable to work or uncomfortable working in that environment,” Sethi said.
Corporate Gymnastics
As companies in all industries have postponed office reopenings past Labor Day in light of the delta variant of the coronavirus that emerged, employers of all stripes are becoming more open to a permanent shift in the role of the office, Kaminsky said.
That’s certainly true at PwC, Kaminsky added, where a review of employee feedback found that the flexibility of remote work is popular, but many also miss the in-person opportunities to collaborate. “We recognize that the in-person experience is important to helping all of us all feel connected and engaged, but we need to proceed with the safety of our people in mind,” she said.
KPMG U.S. Chair and CEO Paul Knopp similarly shared recently that his firm’s employees who have returned to the office on occasion reported being glad to reconnect with colleagues. “I think there’s going to be a real mix, or a hybrid approach, for many years in the future,” he said during an interview with CNBC.
That hybrid model will be designed around bringing employees together with a focus on health, well-being, and connection, the KPMG spokesperson added.
Each of the accounting firms that spoke with Tax Notes signaled that flexible work arrangements would remain the norm.
“The future of work will be flexible, and so will we,” Bond said of Grant Thornton, adding that the firm has lifted its restrictions on meeting face-to-face, but on-site attendance isn’t required. Employees can meet with clients in person if they can do so safely, but at the same time, they have the option to arrange meetings and day-to-day duties remotely, he noted.
Gandal said Deloitte is also easing into “our vision of a hybrid workplace model,” one that the firm anticipates will “foster the best of both impactful in-person connections and mentorship along with ample ongoing flexibility.”
That model isn’t one-size-fits-all, Gandal added. Rather, it’s “intentionally flexible throughout our organization” to reflect people’s diverse choices and preferences, so the amount of in-person time spent at client sites or the firm’s offices will vary considerably, he said.
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