Swine Flu - Staff Issues
Every business owner will have responsibilities and indeed liabilities towards their staff in the event of a pandemic. To really understand what these are, consult your GP/company medical adviser and your lawyer. It pays to know now.Your employees are your most important resource during a pandemic and they will need to be looked after. You will need to plan for absences due to illness, having to look after loved ones who are ill, or to quarantine. You may be able to reduce these absences by taking appropriate hygiene precautions at the workplace, and to reduce the risk of transmission of virus by allowing those who can to work from home. Decide who is essential for the office versus who can work from home. This is your safest way of minimising risk of transmission.
Have a duty roster of those who need to be in, and make sure that they know who should be in and when. If necessary/possible, segregate critical teams (e.g. financial control). You will need to plan for "worst case" scenarios where only a bare minimum of staff can come in.
Communication is vital - make sure your employees know what is happening and why. Get their feedback and buy-in. A good idea would be to have a GP come in and talk to them about precautions to take at home and in the workplace. Have details of employees' phone numbers (home, mobile) and personal email addresses (data protection permitting - they are not obliged to give you this information in the UK). However, it is a good way of sharing information in the event that you have to go into "crisis mode". If they have company mobiles, you will have records of these numbers.
Delegate responsibility for planning and risk assessment to your team (if you have one). Have regular meetings and updates. The more information is shared, the less room there is for rumour and panic.
Labels: Crisis Management
posted by William Martin @ 22:36
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