Protecting Your Employees and Business in a Pandemic

Do not panic. Plan instead. That should be the mantra of businesses while preparing for a pandemic. Covid-19, as you might be already aware, has urged nations and governments to call for isolation and social distancing, which is why businesses are being impacted. Because of self-imposed curfews and increased risk of contracting and spreading the infection, businesses need to plan ahead and focus on continuing their critical operations. So what can businesses do in such situation?

By starting with basic hygiene and offering work from home options, businesses can do their bit to give back to the society during these troubled times. You can instruct all your staff regarding hygiene and prepare a contingency plan for the worst-case scenario. Let us look at the possible options that can be undertaken.

Encourage sick employees to stay home

Ask employees with any of the symptoms of acute respiratory syndrome, like fever, cough, cold, etc. to refrain from coming to office. Do not allow employees to visit the workplace until they are free from fever completely and do not show any symptoms for at least 24 hours without the use of medicines (cdc.gov).

Have flexible sick leave policies in place and communicate the same to all employees. Extend these policies to contract workers and outsourced employees and encourage your partner companies to do the same.

Include flexible leave policies for employees with sick family members so that they can care for them and reduce the risk of spreading the viral infection.

Work from home option

Establish a work from home policy wherever possible, for efficient business continuity. Companies who have explored this option earlier on may be able to do so without encountering many problems, but for others, it may be best to formulate rules regarding remote working.

1. Formulate guidelines with respect to login times and scheduling of online meetings.
2. Improve communication and set reporting guidelines according to your company’s operations.
3. Provide technical support to employees to facilitate a trouble-free and seamless working experience from remote workstations.

Improved hygiene

For businesses which may not be able to provide the option of working from home, like banks, clinics, grocery stores, etc., it is essential to sanitize the workplace regularly and increase hygiene parameters. Some of the steps that can be taken for protecting workers during a pandemic are:

1. Routinely clean the workplace, especially the doorknobs, counter tops and workstations, with proper cleaning agents.
2. Place sanitizers at entries, desks and customer interaction places.
3. Encourage employees to wash hands frequently and maintain hand hygiene.
4. Place posters of cough, sneeze etiquette, and hand hygiene for better awareness.
5. Provide tissues and no-touch disposal receptacles for use by employees.

Update and inform regularly

Managing staff during a pandemic means keeping them posted about all changes in the workplace. You may want to reassess your essential functions and focus towards maintaining your critical operations. Go through the CDC and WHO websites regularly and take the precautions suggested. Keep a tab on the Government guidelines and follow them without fail, like restrictions on mass gatherings or closure of malls and shopping places. Relaying this information to the managers and employees is of utmost importance too, so that the whole business can stand united and informed, and unnecessary panic can be avoided.

Go online: Avoid travels and meetings

The current times ask for greater isolation and keeping a safe distance from each other. For businesses, this is the time to become more tech-savvy and make use of the internet for web-based interactions, video calls and online conferences.

Introduce flexible work shifts and staggered shifts to reduce contact among employees. Arrange the supply chain in a manner to minimise contact and consider cancelling non-essential business travel. The Government of India has banned all international flights from entering India for a week, starting from 22^nd March 2020.

Refrain from dismissing employees

Our Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, has already addressed the importance of increasing isolation and self-imposed curfew, and urged businesses to refrain from reducing salaries and contributing to the society by saving jobs. Companies like Tata have promised to pay temporary employees in full for March and April, and others like Bajaj and Apollo have promised that they will save jobs (The Times of India, March 21, 2020).

The bottom line is that, though the pandemic risk for businesses is high, extensive usage of the internet and focusing on reducing contact among people should help. Ever since the COVID-19 disease was declared as pandemic by the WHO, the Prime Minister's Office, Group of Ministers, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) and Cabinet Secretary are closely monitoring the situation. The Government has declared this as a notified disaster and the Prime Minister had advised self-isolation or “Janta Curfew” on 22^nd March, 2020, from 7am to 9pm. Hence, closely following Government guidelines is the key, as standing together in these troubled times will help us all fight this deadly pandemic.