Most of us figured that reopening workplaces as the COVID-19 quarantine eases would require a lot more planning than just turning the lights back on.
For many businesses, it may also require different types of planning than has been done in the past.
Reopening preparations was the subject of a Providence Business News virtual Getting Back to Business Summit on June 4 that featured panelists in the areas of health insurance, technology and human resources.
Panel members noted the many details that companies must attend to as they reopen workplaces, from simple matters such as spacing desks to complicated ones such as liability in potential lawsuits for wrongful termination.
Companies must communicate clearly and humanely with workers, and workers must make a good-will effort to cooperate with rules and protections, panelists said.
“We all have ownership of this,” said Karyn H. Rhodes, vice president and director of Complete HR Solutions.
Rhodes was joined on the panel by Lee Biron, director of claims for Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC; Dr. Matt Collins, executive vice president and chief medical officer of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island; Sarah Fleury, manager of behavioral health for Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island; and Todd Knapp, CEO of Envision Technology Advisors LLC.
Rhode Island is now in phase two of reopening, allowing restaurants, salons, offices and other nonessential businesses to open but with strict conditions. The state is requiring all companies to create a COVID-19 Control Plan, for which a template exists on ReopeningRI.com.
Knapp presented reopening as a positive opportunity for companies to further develop their use of electronic-communications technology to make work more flexible and liberating, even after quarantine ends.
‘There is a whole world of new opportunities for employers.’
TODD KNAPP, Envision Technology Advisors LLC CEO
He mentioned the value of “incidental interaction” in a physical office space, meaning the exchange of a nod or smile or few words. He called these interactions important, but said those connections that happen throughout the day could be achieved online through informal check-ins.
“There is a whole world of new opportunities for employers to do innovative and smart things,” Knapp said.
He encouraged optimism and counseled against a workplace where “every minute of the day we are reminded of how different things are and how limited we are.”
In the meanwhile, back at the physical office, managers are having to hustle to achieve safety protocols. Rhodes ticked off a list of recommendations for safety that included putting space between desks and cubicles; creating sneeze barriers; offering protective gear; closing smoking areas, lunch rooms, coffee pots and microwave ovens; improving ventilation; creating a single entrance and one-way travel patterns; discouraging handshaking and carpooling; creating small “pods” of work groups that interact only with each other; designating one delivery area; and much more.
Collins talked about screening employees as they enter buildings. Daily health screenings are recommended. Collins suggested a questionnaire, with models to be found on ReopenRI.com and the Crush COVID RI app.
Experts do not recommend testing employees, Collins said, because test results can be inaccurate. Similar problems exist with antibody tests. Collins said his organization was undecided on the value of taking employees’ temperatures.
Fleury discussed the psychological strain of the COVID-19 crisis, and the impacts on returning to work. She said managers should check in with employees, including those working from home, and try to get a feel for whether people are anxious, agitated, or dealing with risky substance use.
Employee assistance programs for behavioral health care could be a resource for people dealing with stress, Fleury said. She also noted that ordinary laypeople can get training in first aid for mental health.
She also recommended that employers who have TVs at the office should shut them off to keep anxiety levels down. And “encourage people to take breaks and walks,” she said.
Much of the policymaking for reopening workplaces falls on the shoulders of human resources. Rhodes said companies must have a COVID-19 policy that covers a range of health matters, including guidance about who an employee should report to if he or she feels ill; how the company responds to a sick worker; how to notify other workers; and how to conduct cleaning.
Other HR policies must take a stand on remote work, how to manage workers’ child care needs if day care is not available; rules on business travel; and rules on personal travel.
All panelists emphasized that policies should be communicated clearly to all workers and should be applied consistently, not the least for the sake of protecting the business.
“I hate to look at this from a litigation standpoint, but we all want to protect [companies],” Rhodes said. “Wrongful death lawsuits have already started.
“[Companies] want to be able to say they did everything they could to protect workers. There will be charges of liability if companies are not taking precautions.”
Rhodes brought up the topic of people who may try to game the system by double-dipping on unemployment insurance while they are being paid by their employers, in some cases through the federal Paycheck Protection Program that loans or gives companies eight weeks of payroll, with generous forgiveness terms.
Also, if an employee is offered the opportunity to return to work but refuses to do so because he or she is making more money from unemployment insurance, that person is committing fraud, Rhodes said.
Other reasons people may decline offers to return to the job could include a mental condition or simple fear. The way to handle some of those circumstances could be requiring a note from a doctor, in case of illness, or referring to terms of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.
Workers who say they cannot come back to the job because they have children at home who need supervision could possibly work out a “reasonable accommodation” with the employer, Rhodes said. One option is to apply for temporary caregiver insurance.
Biron predicted the potential for employee churn since lots of people got onto unemployment insurance at the same time, and many will be coming off benefits at the same time.
“This could be a whole new demographic of good people looking for positions,” Biron said.
Employers might be open to legal challenges the likes of which they have not seen before, said Biron.
He advised companies to closely review their liability policies. “Businesses will be dealing with problems of emotional distress and wrongful termination,” Biron said. “These claims may occur over time and they will have to be reported in a certain time and manner.”
He said companies should be familiar with their vendor contracts to learn if the company itself could be liable for illnesses when third parties enter buildings.
Asked if employers could be held liable if a worker contracted COVID-19 at the job site, Biron said it would be very hard to prove where the illness was contracted.
Biron also counseled great care in applying COVID rules consistently. “When you get inconsistencies, you open yourself to exposure,” he said. “We have already seen [class-action lawsuits].”
