It would be an understatement to say that the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak is causing a lot of concern worldwide for both individuals and employers.  Whether this virus has you in panic mode or you’re rolling your eyes at all the hubbub, it’s a good idea to know how to prepare in the event the outbreak reaches your town. Let’s take a look at some best practices for keeping employees safe and businesses running smoothly.

Limiting Contact with Others

It is common sense that limiting physical proximity and contact with other people also limits the opportunities to spread or catch germs.  Some ways to do this in the workplace include:

  • Implement temporary telework guidelines. According to CNN, many tech firms in Seattle (which is currently experiencing an outbreak), including Amazon, Google, and Facebook, are encouraging their employees to work from home if possible through the end of March. If a liberal telework policy is to be implemented, communication is key to letting employees know who is eligible to telework and how long they are able to do so.
  • Implement flexible sick leave policies. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that employers actively encourage employees to stay home when they are sick, as well as separate and send home employees who have acute respiratory symptoms.  During SHRM’s COVID-19 Webcast, it was recommended that employers consider putting into place temporary flexible sick leave policies for employees who do not have enough paid leave to cover a potential multi-week illness.  These may include allowing access to a negative leave bank, exploring short term disability and/or FMLA options, and leave donation.  These policies alleviate the financial burden for employees if they need to take time off when sick.
  • Limit in-person meetings. SHRM recommends avoiding face-to-face meetings and instead conducting meetings over the phone or by video conference.  If an in-person meeting cannot be avoided, choose a large conference room and sit at least a yard away from each other if possible, and keep the meeting short.  Many businesses are also cancelling non-essential trainings or conferences in an effort to limit mass gatherings at this time.
  • Encourage other social-distancing measures. As much as employers normally would encourage social interaction and engagement with other employees, an outbreak is a time to limit these close interactions.  Employers may encourage employees to eat lunch at their desks in lieu of eating in a shared kitchen, lounge, or cafeteria.  If there is an onsite cafeteria, salad bars and other self-serve stations may be closed.  Employers may also urge employees to make requests and ask questions over email or the phone instead of in person.

 Keeping it Clean

It is critical to clean surfaces and hands where viruses can live.  Some ways to encourage this in the workplace include:

  • Keep cleaning supplies handy. Have ample supplies of hand sanitizer, hand soap, tissues and disposable cleaning wipes available and consistently replenished in all offices and shared rooms.  Encourage employees to frequently clean “high touch” surfaces and objects such as keyboards, phones, remote controls, countertops, door knobs and handles.  The CDC has additional specific guidelines on cleaning and disinfecting an area once there has been an individual confirmed to have COVID-19 who has been in the facility.
  • Display hygiene posters. The World Health Organization recommends prominently displaying posters in the workplace to promote both hand washing and respiratory hygiene, as well as to provide visual reminders to employees.

 Nip Discrimination in the Bud

  • COVID-19 does not discriminate. As scientists are still learning about this virus, it is only natural for people to have anxiety about the unknown.  The CDC warns that fear and stress about a disease can lead to social stigmas.  Groups of people who may be experiencing these stigmas include:  people of Asian descent, people who have traveled recently, and emergency responders or healthcare professionals.  These groups may be subjected to disparate treatment, harassed, or avoided in the workplace.
  • Educate employees. According to The National Law Review, employers must work to proactively curtail discrimination by educating employees about COVID-19, its symptoms, and the proper workplace precautions. It may also be helpful to be direct when framing the communications to emphasize that discrimination and/or harassment of stigmatized groups is inappropriate and will not be tolerated.

Travel Considerations

Many organizations rely on their employees traveling in order to conduct business, but fears over COVID-19 transmission have forced employers to make some difficult decisions in terms of their travel policies.  There is no U.S. government-mandated travel ban at this time, however, there are some guidelines and suggestions employers may use to help them navigate this area.

  • Check CDC for most recent travel updates. Employers should advise employees to check the CDC’s Traveler’s Health Notices for the latest guidance and information for country-specific travel watches, alerts, and warnings, and adjust travel plans as necessary.
  • Establish and communicate temporary travel policies. It is up to employers to decide how to proceed regarding business travel.  According to NPR, many businesses are curbing travel to only certain areas and some are banning it altogether.  Salesforce, for example, has prohibited all international travel and has restricted “all but the most critical” domestic travel, while Apple has restricted employee travel only to South Korea, China, and Italy.
  • Self-quarantine after travel to affected areas. The CDC recommends a 14 day self-quarantine at home from the time an individual left an area with widespread or ongoing community spread of the virus.  Employers may choose to enforce this policy, not allowing employees to come to work during this period, but must abide by wage and hour laws to determine leave and pay while the employee is on quarantine.
  • Legal considerations for employers. There are several legal considerations when implementing a temporary travel policy.  The employment law firm, Littler, has addressed the following:
    • Travel to high risk areas for personal reasons: Employers may not prevent employees from traveling to affected areas for personal reasons, but may deny time off if the denial is based on the destination, business cost of a resulting quarantine, or other legitimate business-driven reasons.
    • Families of employees who traveled to high risk areas: Employers may also request that employees advise them of family members with whom they have close contact who have traveled to high-risk areas in order to determine if the exposure has resulted in the employee posing a direct threat to the health and safety of others. Employers should refer to the CDC guidelines on how to conduct a risk assessment of potential exposure.
    • Potential worker’s compensation claims: If an employee travels for work and contracts COVID-19 while on travel, the resulting sick time off may be potentially subject to coverage by worker’s compensation. Any contagious disease contracted at work or while traveling for work would be industrial, and therefore may be covered.  Although it may be difficult to determine for sure where the employee contracted the illness, many disputes are resolved in favor of providing the employee with benefits.

 When Infection Happens

Despite the best preventative measures, it is important to have a plan in place if COVID-19 does make a significant impact on your workforce.

  • Consult your business continuity plan. SHRM recommends that your organization already have a business continuity plan in place for operation during emergency situations, but if not, now is the time to create a response plan for the interim.  It is important to keep in communication with and even involve employees in creating the plan so they understand what benefits will be available to them during the outbreak.

 The CDC recommends that the plan should include how to:

    • Monitor and respond to absenteeism at the workplace
    • Implement plans to continue essential business functions
    • Cross-train personnel to perform essential functions in the event key staff are absent
    • Assess essential functions and be prepared to be flexible on business practices if needed.

Planning and communication are key when responding to a potential health crisis like COVID-19.  As a leader in your organization, you can ease your employees’ minds by communicating what your organization is doing to keep them safe before, during, and after an outbreak.