Three weeks ago, the UK Chief Medical Officers raised the UK risk of a Covid-19, commonly known as Coronavirus from low to moderate. Their decision was supported by the following statement, “This does not mean that we think the risk to individuals has changed at this stage, but the government should plan for all eventualities.” One has to consider that if the government is preparing for a potential outbreak, businesses should too.
Forearmed is forewarned, so having the correct strategies and mindsets in place can not only ensure that should the virus spread your business can keep running, but also that in the meantime your team feel safe and secure in their workplaces. There’s nothing wrong with having a contingency plan.
Employees arriving from infected areas and employees who travel for business
As Covid-19 spreads it is worth considering how you will deal with employees who have returned from infected areas and also those who may be required to travel on business. The last thing you need is for your whole workforce to potentially become infected. Where possible it’s a good idea to implement strategies that make it easy for your team to work from home. Introducing flexible working isn’t such a bad idea anyway and can help when recruiting new staff.
The NHS recommends that anyone returning from infected areas should notify the emergency services via 111 and should stay indoors for 14 days. Obviously, in some industries such as manufacturing or hospitality, it’s impossible to allow all your team to work from home. In these cases, you need to decide whether to suspend them on full pay for the quarantine period or, alternatively, check to see if they have annual leave that they would be happy to use. You should also ensure that anyone returning to work with symptoms (these include a fever and a cough) shouldn’t return to work, although in fairness, you wouldn’t want a member of staff working with a fever anyway.
Develop a flexible contingency plan
How many staff do you need to have to deliver a skeleton service? You should identify the key roles that need to be covered to keep your business running and ensure that you have team members with transferable skills who can slot in as and when needed.
Again, making sure that there are transferable skills within your workplace isn’t such a bad idea and can provide support in other instances of staff absence or during busy periods.
Put measures in place to avoid discrimination in the workplace
You should obviously already have policies in place that focus on discrimination in the workplace and there should be procedures for reporting, but it is important to be especially vigilant at this time. On LBC Radio last week, a caller rang in to say that he thought that all people holding Chinese passports should be banned from entering the UK. He was, thankfully, informed that this was a ludicrous and discriminatory idea. However, if this kind of rhetoric is being used by callers to talk radio shows, there is a distinct possibility that similar conversations could take place in the workplace.
Additionally, jokes and banter relating to Covid-19 and anything to do with Asia shouldn’t be tolerated.
Keep calm and carry on
It is entirely likely that over the next few months more cases of Coronavirus will hit the headlines. Ensure that your team is kept up to date and understands what measures there are in place. We always recommend good workplace communication, but in this instance, it is vital that your team are kept up to date.
Make sure that you have up to date information
Staying up to date and on top of the latest information releases can help you to make your contingency decisions. We recommend the following:
World Health Organisation Website
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office
If you would like to discuss your concerns about how Coronavirus could affect your staff and business, get in touch.