Following the announcement last night outlining the roadmap for our route out of lockdown, business owners up and down the country are making considerations as to how, if and when their staff can safely return to the workplace.
The effects of the coronavirus pandemic mean that life simply will not go back to normal, at least, in the short term. Many businesses have seen the positive impacts of imposed homeworking and for some, there will not be a return to full time office-based working.
The CIPD have offered some guidance which depend on the type of closure arrangements you have been operating and classify these as:
- Business not trading at all (all staff furloughed)
- Business trading on a limited basis (some furloughed, some working from home or in company premises) or where only ‘essential’ workers are currently in work
- Businesses trading fully but all staff working from home.
We share our top tips on measures to consider in your “return to work” plans:
Health and Safety
Top of the list is consideration to the physical and mental health and safety of your staff. This might include measures such as taking temperature checks upon entry to the office; closely managing the flow of people into and out of office space; ensuring rigorous and robust cleaning procedures and providing hand sanitizer for regular and effective handwashing. If your workplace has been closed for some time, you should arrange to carry out a deep-clean before you reopen.
The CIPD recommend considering provision of additional PPE (depending on your working environment) so you should think about what training or advice staff will need if you want people to wear these. The same principle applies to larger scale COVID-19 testing if and when this becomes a key requirement in facilitating a safe return to the workplace.
Consider the impact of the pandemic on people’s mental health and wellbeing as well as the physical. Many will have experienced increased anxiety, fear of infection and social isolation due to lockdown. Some will unfortunately have become victim to domestic violence, experienced significant financial challenges or be experiencing bereavement and/or illness. Be supportive. If your business offers an Employee Assistance Programme, make sure employees know how to access this support. You could also implement Mental Health First Aiders or champions in your organisation.
Social Distancing
Business owners will need to evaluate their existing workspace and its suitability for effective social distancing measures. Will staff be able to maintain a 2m physical distance between each other? How will meetings and interviews be managed?
You could consider how teams interact with each other. Do all teams need to be in the office to run cohesively? Can you stagger working hours so that not all staff are in at the same time? Many businesses have benefitted from the forced implementation of homeworking and it may be a practise that is here to stay.
How will you manage staff that need to travel to other company premises or locations? What additional equipment may they require? Can any of their travel be minimised or replaced with remote or virtual meetings to reduce the need for staff to travel and/or use public transport?
Policies and Communication
Communication to your staff is essential. Reassure them that you place their health and safety as paramount. Explain the measures that you are taking to minimise the spread of infection. Remind staff of the importance of maintaining their own protection and hygiene measures as outlined above.
You will also need to review your existing policies. Sickness and absences policies, flexible working and home working policies may need to be reviewed and updated to reflect any statutory changes and to include the changes you may implement in the business.
Transitioning back into the workplace can be every bit as challenging as the initial lockdown measures were to impose. EmployAssist offer a wide range of support to organisations as restrictions begin to lift across the country.