Don't wait; plan ahead

RCS Influencer Trent Cotney says that when it comes to workforce disruption and labor uncertainty, the key thing is to be prepared to mitigate whatever risk is out there.

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Trent Cotney of Adams and Reese LLP. You can Read the interview below, Listen to the podcast or Watch the recording.

Jenny Yu: My name is Jenny Yu with RoofersCoffeeShop® and I'm here with a February influencer response with Trent Cotney of Adams and Reese. How are you today, Trent?

Trent Cotney: I'm doing pretty good, thank you.

Jenny Yu: So this month we're talking about something that's really important, workforce disruption and labor uncertainty. Lots of people are feeling this. So Trent, can you share what your thoughts are, especially on navigating these labor shortages and meeting compliance pressures?

Trent Cotney: Absolutely. Obviously, immigration is top of mind. You can't turn on any news channel without hearing about ICE raids, and obviously that's impacting the labor force within construction significantly, especially roofing. Regardless of whether you have 100% e-verified crew that you know are legal citizens or not, to the extent that others are being removed, it's a zero sum game. We can't replace that labor with domestic workforce. So what it's doing is it's putting pressure on labor rates and it's also meaning that you've got your crews — whether it's W-2s or subs — not showing up, partially showing up or being afraid to be mobilized.

A handful of things that you can do as an employer is just make sure that, compliance-wise, you're doing what you can to make sure that you are onboarding employees correctly, that you are properly obtaining documentation for I-9s, that you are storing your I-9s separately from the rest of the employee files. We recommend from a compliance standpoint that you do an annual audit of your I-9s just to make sure that you're crossing your T's and dotting your I's.

In addition to that, from an employee standpoint, you want to make sure that you're being supportive of your employees and your crew. There's a variety of resources that you can offer them, everything from rights cards to access to employee-friendly legal counsel in the event there's an issue.

The key thing is be prepared. Plan ahead. Don't wait for something to happen, and that way you will do your best to mitigate whatever risk is out there.

Jenny Yu: Thank you so much, Trent.

Trent Cotney: Thank you.