As the federal government has repeatedly emphasized, getting to the other side of the COVID-19 outbreak is a marathon, not a sprint. Recent reports of plans from different provinces to loosen restrictions reiterate this sentiment, with many of the plans emphasizing a multi-stage re-opening combined with cautionary checkpoints to evaluate progress.
Balancing economic realities with the health and safety of Canadians will be a difficult task — and many federal and provincial experts are reluctant to even set timelines on loosening restrictions at this point. However, using this time to prepare your business for a post-coronavirus world will mean being able to respond quickly when governments eventually lift restrictions.
Keeping in mind that there will not be a “return to normal,” and, instead, we’ll see a fundamental shift in the world of work for the foreseeable future, restarting responsibly will require advance planning to protect the health and safety of your employees and to make early investments that will benefit your employees and business for the long road to recovery.
Following best practices from official sources is our best bet for safely returning to work. Take your cue from the Canadian government and the Public Health Agency of Canada as well as provincial and municipal governments. You should also consider the advice of industry leaders. The Adecco Group, together with other key members of the HR industry, recently released best practices for organizations preparing for the new normal and looking to get people back to work safely. Read more about the mission of this unprecedented alliance of industry leaders here.
In the rest of this article, we take a look at how you can plan for the post-coronavirus world in conjunction with official instructions from the Canadian, provincial and municipal governments for getting back to work safely.
Communicate effectively
In an uncertain time, it’s important to be as communicative as possible with your employees. Among many other concerns, your employees are likely worried about their jobs. Help ease their concerns by being open and clear about your back to work plans and the safety measures that will be put in place to protect your employees. You want to reassure your employees that their safety is being addressed while also having predictable plans in place that they can prepare for.
Physical distancing protocols
In the intermediate phase between the current lockdown and a complete re-opening of business, we can expect a continuation of physical distancing. While we don’t know what these intermediate restrictions will look like yet (or how it will differ between provinces or regions), we can expect thateven if facilities are allowed to re-open, companies will need to keep in mind that physical distancing will still be a reality for quite some time.
This means that as an employer, you will need to ensure that your employees can maintain proper physical distancing in your facilities. What this looks like for your organization specifically will vary depending on many factors such as space availability, operational requirements, and sector-specific best practices, but here are some possible configurations to consider:
- Staggered opening: Bring back employees gradually. Choose the roles or departments that are most essential to your organization’s in-person operations and bring those individuals back first.
- Rotating schedules: Stagger employees’ schedules or the days that individuals come into the office in order to lessen the number of people who are in your office or facilities at one time.
- Eliminating overlap of shifts: If your company has shift work, rearrange shift start and end times to reduce contact between individuals working different shifts and to lessen traffic around common areas and entrances/exits.
- Limit employees’ exposure to each other: One example from production facilities in China has been to split employees into a few groups so that individuals in a specific group only come into contact with other individuals in the same group. In the event that an employee tests positive for COVID-19, the whole group can be quarantined without impacting the work of the other groups.
- Limiting or restricting external visitors for a specified time frame.
- Rearranging desks or other work areas: Increase the space between desks so that employees can maintain a 2 metre distance between each other. If space is limited, consider installing plexiglass dividers between work areas.
- Preventing large groups of people from congregating: Help your employees avoid gathering with groups of people by officially limiting in-person meetings, assigning separate entrances and exits to control the flow of traffic, and establishing rules around use of common areas such as the lunchroom.
Cushman & Wakefield has gathered a thorough guide on readying your workplace for a return to work that is a helpful starting point for creating your back-to-work plan.
Continuance of work from home arrangements
For those organizations that adapted to lockdown requirements by enabling their employees to work from home, this arrangement (or a modification of it) will likely need to continue indefinitely. Recognizing this, the above measures to ensure physical distancing in your facilities can be supplemented by including work from home arrangements. This is especially useful for providing accommodations to high risk groups, for whom returning to the office may still not be safe.
You’ve likely already addressed many of the technical issues and immediate concerns of working from home (and if you haven’t, check out Adecco’s guide to working from home here). But it doesn’t hurt to check in with your remote workers to ensure they have everything they need to continue the arrangement.
PPE equipment & hygiene protocols
As staff re-enter the workplace, organizations need to think about the types of personal protective equipment (PPE) they’ll provide employees. Options can include providing hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes and masks for employees, and it can even include providing face shields for employees who regularly come into contact with others.
Extra hygiene protocols will need to be implemented for the long run. These should include frequent facility cleanings and sanitization as well as promotion of personal hygiene protocols (such as hand washing and use of masks).
Health monitoring
Health monitoring plays a large part in many return-to-work plans. Some organizations that were deemed essential and continued operating during the lockdown have implemented a health screening model that involves checking the temperature of each employee in order to mitigate risks associated with an infected employee coming into work. You can learn more about this health screening model here.
In this intermediate phase, health monitoring can involve temperature and visual checks at the entrance of your facility and randomly throughout the day, but it can also mean requiring employees to self-monitor and refrain from coming into work when showing any symptoms associated with COVID-19.
Have a plan in case of infection
In the intermediate phase, you will still have to be mindful of the possibility of someone contracting COVID-19. Having preventative measures in place is important, but addressing the safety of your employees after an infection is just as important. Having a plan in place that reflects guidelines established by your municipal or regional governments is important. The plan should include the following procedures: instructing the employee who has symptoms or is diagnosed with COVID-19 to stay home, communicating the infection to your other employees, and disinfecting your facilities.
Flexibility and well-being for parents who have to work from home
The re-opening of schools is still up in the air, depending on your province. If schools don’t re-open for the rest of the school year, your organization will need to consider what accommodations can be made for parents. Working from home and flexible work days/weeks are two options that can be provided to parents. And, of course, demonstrating continued understanding of the challenges parents are currently facing can help create goodwill towards your organization and encourage loyalty among your employees.
Continuity
The initial response to the restrictions put in place to stop the spread of the coronavirus had to happen quickly. As your organization eases into a “new normal,” maintaining a sense of continuity can be psychologically healthy for your employees. For example, continue with scheduled training for your employees or, if your budget allows, proceed with implementation of new software as planned.
Don’t let this stop you from providing resources to your team about things they need now — for example, remote work tips, training for new remote working tools, updates on operational procedures — but don’t lose sight of the positive impact of signaling your confidence in the future of the business to your employees.
Evaluate current processes
As we move into the “new normal,” take some time to evaluate what’s worked and what hasn’t for your team. Certainly, this time has been a good test of working from home arrangements. Perhaps you’ve also expanded your payment options or eSignature capabilities in the face of physical distancing rules — has this worked for you? This time can be an opportunity to determine the procedures and tools that have really helped your team thrive so that you can make plans to focus attention on the things that matter going forward.