Cambridge University Press The Virtual Workplace: Public Health, Efficiency, and Opportunity

The recent pandemic has clarified the overwhelming connection between the workplace and technology. With thousands of employees suddenly forced to work at home, a large segment of the workforce quickly received crash courses in videoconferencing and other technologies, and society as a whole took a step back to redefine what employment actually means. The virtual workplace is the blending of brick-and-mortar physical places of business with the advanced technologies that now make it possible for workers to perform their duties outside of the office. Trying to regulate in this area requires the application of decades old employment laws to a context never even contemplated by the legislatures that wrote those rules. This book explores the emerging issues of virtual work―defining employment, litigating claims, aggregating cases, unionizing workers, and preventing harassment―and provides clarity to these areas, synthesizing the current case law, statutory rules, and academic literature to provide guidance to workers and companies operating in the technology sector. Book Description Explores the emerging issues of virtual work and looks at how employers have turned to technology during the pandemic. About the Author Joseph A. Seiner is a Professor of Law and the Oliver Ellsworth Professor of Federal Practice at the University of South Carolina School of Law. Professor Seiner has been featured in a number of national media sources, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, ProPublica, The Atlantic, and Fortune. He routinely gives presentations on labor and employment related issues, and teaches classes in the area of workplace law. Professor Seiner has published numerous books and articles on employment topics, and his work is widely cited in academia and by the federal courts.