Return to Work Checklist for Employers

I. Posting & Policies

• Post the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) poster in a visible place. Where employees will remain working from home, send by email or post to Company website.
• Review and revise hiring practices and policies:
  • Have staffing needs changed?
  • Do you need to change benefits or pay to become more competitive?
  • Use remote interviewing techniques as much as possible.
  • Update onboarding practices
  • If you are recalling only some workers that were laid-off or furloughed, ensure your practice for determining who to recall do not discriminate against any group of employees.
• Review and revise leave policies:
• Know how the FFCRA affects your previous policies and practices.
  • Consider implementing PTO/vacation rollovers, grace periods, and revise guidelines for usage if vacation is forfeited if not used by year end.
  • Consider implementing or revising bereavement leave policies.
  • Ensure that all employees have access to and an understanding of all leave policies that may apply to them.
  • Review and revise work from home and child-care policies.
• Update work travel policies in light of any new orders in your state and any new practices being implemented in the workplace to keep employees/customers safe.
• Review rehire/reinstate provisions for your benefit policies (eligibility/waiting periods).
• Distribute all new or revised policies to all employees.

II. Health & Safety

• Explain the company polices and procedures related to illness, cleaning, and disinfecting, and work meeting and travel.
• Educated employees on how to reduce the spread of COVID-19 at home and at work (follow Centers for Disease Control Prevention recommendation).
• For employees returning to a worksite, make sure they understand what’s expected of them in the workplace. For example:
  • Must they wear face masks or face coverings?
  • Will protective items and hand sanitizer be provided?
  • Are workplace hours different?
  • Will you be taking employees temperatures each day when they arrive?
  • Is teleworking or staggered shift work allowed/encouraged?
• Ensure that all employees who are currently ill or have contract with an ill family member stay home (follow CDC recommendations for length of time.)
• If an employee becomes sick at work, sent them home
• Promote safe social distancing in the workplace by encouraging employees to:
  • Remain at least 6 feet from each other
  • Email, message, call or video call rather meet face to face
  • Clean computer equipment, desktops, phones and workstations often
• Provide hand sanitizer, cleaning supplies, face masks or face coverings and no-touch or disposal receptacles.
• Discourage handshaking
• Place posters throughout the business to encourage social distancing and hand hygiene

III. Best Practices

• Be aware of any local public health or other orders related to COVID-19 that may affect your business.
• Ensure your workplace cleaning company is up to date on current methods of safely removing COVID-19 hazards
• Communicate frequently and as transparently as possible with employees
• Train managers on dealing with employees that may face increased personal challenges during this time, such as bereavement and loss, childcare and school-cancellation challenges, financial stress, and other dependent care and support needs.
• Offer flexibility wherever possible and adjust workloads to be reasonable
• Be prepared to quickly investigate and stop discriminatory speech or acts in the workplace
• Consider contracting with an employee assistance program EAP if you do not currently have one
• Designate a workplace coordinator who will be responsible for COVID-19 issues and their impact at the workplace
• Develop a plan to operate if absenteeism spikes or another shelter-in-place or stay home order occurs in the future:
  • Implement a plan to continue essential business functions
  • Implement flexible work schedules and leave policies
  • Cross-train employees on performing essential business functions
• Develop emergency communication plans, including a way to answer workers’ concerns
• Communicate your appreciation and welcome employees back to work

– THOMAS SANDS