Coronavirus: Recommendations & Risk Management for Employers
The World Health Organization (“WHO”) declared the Coronavirus disease (now officially called COVID-19) an international public health emergency on January 30th, 2020. Since then, 10 cases have been confirmed in Canada and 53 confirmed in the US.
While the public risk associated with the Coronavirus in Canada and the US is considered low, with so many unknowns and questions buzzing around, it can't hurt for employers to prepare for several issues that can arise in the workplace in the wake of possible large-scale threats to health.
Below are some practical recommendations and risk management tools to help employers manage concerns relating to the Coronavirus in the workplace.
Practical Recommendations & Risk Management for Employers
Legal Considerations
Be aware of legal considerations that fall under employment standards, human rights, occupational health and safety, privacy legislation and workers compensation.
- Reinforce your sick leave policy. Currently, whether your employee is unable to work because they catch the common cold or flu, or they fall ill and self-quarantine as a result of potential exposure to the coronavirus – your sick leave policy determines their benefits. If your policy is broadly worded it may provide benefits to employees who are not sick but subject to potential quarantine so it’s best to update your policy with respect to diseases such as the coronavirus.
- Review applicable legislation and policies to determine if employees are entitled to family responsibility leave or other legislated leaves in order to care for themselves or sick family members.
- Contact your insurers to determine STD/LTD coverage. This includes coverage for employees who have been asked or ordered to self-quarantine but who are not sick.
- Familiarize yourself with work refusal obligations and steps that are required under applicable health and safety legislation.
- Be aware that statutory requirements may be subject to change, as they did during the SARS outbreak.
Prevention
- Educate employees of the symptoms and criteria to watch for, and the actions that the employee and employer are required to take if symptoms become apparent. Post a notice or simply send out an email that links to official health sources such as the Public Health Agency of Canada, the CDC and WHO.
Find more Helpful Links at the end of this article!
- Encourage employees to wash their hands frequently by posting notice(s) in appropriate areas.
- Encourage employees not to touch surfaces that may be contaminated with the flu virus and to avoid close contact with people exhibiting symptoms of the virus.
- Review cleaning procedures in place to regularly disinfect equipment, workstations and the general workspace.
- Make employees aware of notification requirements and encourage them to voluntarily quarantine themselves if they exhibit symptoms.
- Establish common-sense business travel policies with respect to high risk areas to minimize the risk of your employees being infected with the coronavirus.
Containment
- Require remote work for at-risk employees to limit person-to-person contact.
- Reinforce sick leave policies and confirm when you will require an employee to stay home when remote work is not an option.
Communication
Regardless of what you as an employer are able to do, the most important thing is that you’re effectively communicating any steps you’re taking to ensure a safe workplace for your employees and how you’re responding to any new coronavirus developments.
- Determine who will be responsible for issuing communications.
- Clearly communicate information, policies and procedures to all employees.
- Establish a system for employees to report their status during a pandemic. This includes what information they are required to communicate, how they will communicate it, and at what point they are expected to self-quarantine.
However, avoid communicating to the point where people are overreacting. A new virus outbreak such as this one is understandably accompanied by a lot of unknowns – creating a certain level of fear and paranoia. As an employer, you want to avoid any unnecessary panic.
Employers should regularly monitor updates, relying on concrete information and facts from reliable resources to communicate only what is necessary.
Helpful Links
World Health Organization (“WHO”)
WHO: Getting Your Workplace Ready for COVID-19
Canadian Resources
Government of Alberta: Information on 2019-nCov for Albertans
Saskatchewan public health information
British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (Coronavirus)
US Resources
CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Sarah Visca is the Operations Manager at ConnectsUs HR, a company that provides tools & resources to quickly set up a Human Resources department.
You can contact her here.
