All the latest with Craig Silliman.

On today’s Up To Speed Live, host Andy Choi and Chief Administrative Officer Craig Silliman shared the following updates:

Return to office update

Craig announced that hybrid employees in the U.S. won't be required to start following their in-office schedules until early next year. The shift in timing will allow his team to review the forthcoming federal government requirements and understand how they may impact Verizon’s COVID-19 response.

The White House announced earlier this month that the federal government is developing a new rule that will require companies with 100 or more employees to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated or test for the virus weekly. The White House also announced a separate requirement that will apply to federal contractors.

There are many open questions about how the federal requirements will apply. Since the White House announcements, some further guidance has been issued and we expect that there will be additional clarity in the coming weeks.

Hybrid employees will be given at least 30 days notice before they are required to follow their in-office schedules. If you are a hybrid V Teamer and you have received your Work Forward Ready Badge, you can access the office at any time — and are encouraged to do so — as long as you follow the Return to Office certification process.

Policy change

One policy change that will take effect on November 1 — if an unvaccinated employee in the U.S. is exposed to COVID-19, but remains asymptomatic, any quarantine will be unpaid. Employees can use PTO or submit for an accommodation.

Of course, if you're sick or have any symptoms, our pay policies still apply. Make sure to contact your healthcare provider and stay home. We have teams standing by to help if you need any additional support.

Visiting customer locations

We have some workgroups that go on-site at customer locations where there may be vaccination requirements to access the premises. Right now, there is no update to our policies, but we’ll continue to work with the relevant operations groups and communicate directly with any impacted employees to ensure we’re complying with those requirements.

Worksite-based V Teamers

We will keep our teams inside our stores and in the field informed of any changes. As of now, we will continue to follow our current protocols and make any adjustments as needed to ensure our V Teamers are protected and supported. Craig emphasized the importance of staying focused on supporting customers and delivering our best-in-class products and services, especially as we enter the fourth quarter.

For international V Teamers

The information above pertains to U.S.-based V Teamers. Any changes for our international team members will be advised on a country-by-country basis.

Vaccinations

We continue to strongly advise employees who are not already vaccinated to speak with their healthcare providers to understand the benefits of vaccines to protect themselves, their loved ones and colleagues.

Work Forward

Work Forward continues to roll out globally. Work Forward is our future of work and critical to how we will continue to be an industry leader and top employer. We have launched the program to nearly 90,000 employees in the U.S. and in 48 countries, with many international groups receiving their welcome to Work Forward today.

Andy also shared some other news updates:

5G Home Nation

Our 5G Home is headed for Hollywood! Andy shared a behind-the-scenes look at Smart Home Nation, a new show on A&E’s FYI Network hosted by Tanya Memme. The show explores state-of-the-art smart houses with that wow factor, which makes 5G Home a perfect fit for the show. We’ll have more on this partnership tomorrow on Up To Speed. In the meantime, you can catch our Verizon 5G Home segment on Smart Home Nation tonight at 10 PM ET/ 7 PM PT on the FYI Network.

Global Citizen Live

If you caught any of the great musical moments at Global Citizen Live, you know that quite a few big stars took to the stage across the globe, as did our own Verizon stars. In New York City, Hans took the main stage with Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s Rachel Brosnahan. Diego Scotti caught up with some V Teamers who attended the concert live in Central Park. The night may be over but the memories and raised awareness of global issues like climate change and access to vaccines will last for a long time to come.

If you have any questions, email them to live@verizon.com.

Get the latest information on our Coronavirus Resource Page.

Tell us what you think of Up To Speed.

V Team, go to VZWeb to join the conversation