Coronavirus in the workplace

We have been interviewing our team of HR Directors and pooled together their thoughts on the top 10 conversations they’ve been having with clients.

Coronavirus in the Workplace- Top 10 Tips

Below are their ten top tips to ensure minimum disruption for your business. We have also collated FAQs around Coronavirus in the workplace at the bottom of the page.

1. Prepare a business continuity plan – Plan for the worst, hope for the best!

Prepare and plan for future events and scenarios
Assess the risks across the organisation, particularly to critical revenue driving areas
Your plan should be dynamic and flexible to adapt to the changing situation
The team overseeing your plan should meet regularly, continuously review the situation and be empowered to make decisions
Update your employees emergency contact details and test your methods of contact

2. Consult with your employees

Your employees will all have different situations, consult with them
Find out which of your employees might have caring responsibilities e.g. if children are ill or schools close. Can they work from home, can you cover their jobs?
Involve your employees in solutions that relate to their roles and how they can help maintain your business operations

3. Plan for absenteeism

Department managers should draw up plans for how they could carry on with 20%, 50% or even 75% of your workforce absent
Consider providing training so employees can cover multiple tasks
Be clear as to how you’ll pay employees for different types of absenteeism (sickness, self-isolation, caring etc)

4. Plan and prepare for home working

Identify which roles could be performed from home
Consider what you need to do to prepare for home working
Are there IT security issues?
Can employees access company systems?
Will employees need to use their own equipment or will you need to provide (e.g. laptops, printers)?

5. Categorise your employees

Category 1: employees who perform business-critical, time sensitive functions and must be on site
Category 2: employees who perform business-critical, time sensitive functions and can work remotely
Category 3: employees who do not perform business-critical, time sensitive functions and could work remotely if feasible
Category 4: employees who do not perform business-critical time sensitive functions and cannot work remotely

6. Show that you care for your staff

Be clear that you don’t expect employees to come to work if they are ill or need to self-isolate because of the risk of infection – this will help reduce the spread within your workplace
Have policies in place to support this (e.g. sick pay policies)
Implement home working when necessary and if practicable
Communicate and listen to concerns

7. Review critical supply chains

Who are your key suppliers?
What happens if a key supplier has to close? Are there alternative suppliers; can you overstock?
Consider your key customers, do they require you to have plans to continue supplying to them?

8. Plan for a sudden reduction in revenue and cash flow implications

Identify mitigating action to stay within banking facilities/covenants
Identify categories of creditor and decide how to prioritise payments
Talk to landlords/leasing companies, creditors (e.g. HMRC) about payment delays or Holidays
Consider different ways of getting cash in from your debtors

9. Promote good hygiene habits

Promote and encourage regular hand washing for employees and visitors
Have alcohol based hand sanitizer readily available for employees and visitors
Consider social distancing e.g. discouraging handshaking and keeping people two meters apart in meetings

10. Check your business insurance and your contracts!

Can you claim for losses incurred by business interruption resulting from Coronavirus?
Are their ways to reduce your costs if necessary? Check your contracts to see if they allow you to reduce your exposure

Useful links

This is a fast developing situation and some of the information in this article may change. Below are some useful links to help keep up to date

Download our Coronavirus FAQs

The contents of this guidance are not intended to serve as legal advice related to individual situations or as legal opinions concerning such situations, nor should they be considered a substitute for taking legal advice.