COVID-19 Staff Management

COVID-19, interesting (for a word!) times for businesses (and schools, families, individuals, government, health system and society in general) and there has been a lot of information about it as well.

We’re not going to tell you more of what you have already heard in the media but what we thought might be useful at this time is to know what other businesses are doing and things to consider in preparation for a downturn in business if needing to look at redundancies.

This is a situation we’ve never been in and there is little guidance given in legislation to tell employers what they have to do or pay if employees are quarantined or a school closes.  There are also casuals & contractors to consider.   These are not necessarily legislative considerations but rather ethical or moral challenges for businesses.  Having a plan in place is necessary and so if you are still in the midst of planning, this might help.

Here is some things we’ve heard other businesses are doing to ensure the health and safety of their employees and customers / clients:

• Educate your team on precautionary measures to take that are important at work and at home, provide all employees with disinfectant wipes or similar, encourage the use and bin of tissues, encourage coughing into elbow and ensure they understand when to self-isolate and restrict meetings, travel etc.
• Working from home, – although we appreciate that not all roles or businesses can be performed at home, there may be some things that have been on the to do list that you could get these employees to start to think about, work on or plan for whilst they have some mental space, if they continue to feel well of course.
• Splitting work teams, half to work at home one week and the other half to work in the office alternatively so if someone is sick the whole business isn’t quarantined and can better implement social distancing.
• Ceasing all travelling for work.
• Ensuring that anyone experiencing any cold or flu symptoms works from home or doesn’t return to work until they have recovered and have provided a medical clearance.
• Ensuring better housekeeping & cleaning, limiting or cancelling all external customer visits, meetings in exchange for phone or skype meetings and cancelling any events and unnecessary meetings.
• It’s also important to understand who your high risk staff are – whether it is them or a family member who may present a risk to others (e.g. because they have been travelling) or who are particularly at risk should they become ill (e.g. the elderly or immunocompromised).

Some other things to consider are; review your contingency plans as it’s a changing landscape, test the capacity to work remotely all at once in case it’s needed, consider essential roles and who can undertake these roles if someone falls ill, support staff during this period.

You may think redundancies are a bit premature but unfortunately it is looking like reality for some businesses and something to at least be prepared for.  There are also things to consider before effecting redundancies if it unfortunately comes to that:

• Asking employees to take leave or directing them to take leave where possible, there are some specific requirements around this.
• Asking employees to reduce hours for a period to assist until things pick up again.
• Considering different income streams.
• Standing employees down (although this is not likely to be possible unless a government-ordered lock down is imposed and affected employees are not able to work from home).

Remember, now is the time to consult and communicate with your team – and your clients.   If you require specific advice around what to do to ensure you team’s health & safety, how to effect redundancies or any other questions around this issue please let us know, we are here to help.

We also have put measure in place to protect our team and clients, however, we will remain available via email or phone – leisa.messer@hrbd.com.au or 0401 271 616 | 07 3890 2066.