COVID-19 Impacts on Business Operations and Human Resources
Understanding the current Leave Acts and other regulations in a COVID-19 environment is essential for Hawaii business owners
Many employers, especially small employers, are concerned about understanding COVID-19 Impacts on Business Operations and Human Resources and rightfully so. From a Human Resources standpoint there are several existing regulations as well as new regulations that are impacted including but not limited to:
- The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA)
- WARN Act/Hawaii Dislocated Workers Act
- Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)/Hawaii Family Leave
- Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
- Hawaii Workers Compensation Act
- Hawaii Leave for Victims of Domestic Violence
- Hawaii Donor Leave
- Hawaii Pregnancy Disability Leave
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
- Other Hawaii Job-Protected Leaves (Jury Duty, Voting, Military Leave)
This already complex alphabet soup of regulations, laws, and statutes that apply to your organization has increased in complexity with COVID-19 issues layered on top of them. Now more than ever it is important to understand the regulations and the HR and compliance impact they have on your organization. Having an expert in the form of in house counsel, HR or other compliance specialists is one approach. Another is to partner with an expert to help understand and implement policies and procedures to keep you in compliance with both Hawaii specific and Federal regulations. Even if you have in house employees responsible for compliance it is often a good idea to work with an external resource to ensure you are adhering to the applicable laws.
Create and implement a COVID-19 risk and response plan
So what should you do to minimize the physical risks for your employees and how should you respond if you have positive tests for COVID-19 in the workplace? When employees come back to work or if they already have, ensure you have a plan in place to keep both your employees and customers safe. In many cases, this means creating a new normal with things like:
- Providing and requiring Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
- Staggering shifts and/or breaks
- Implementing work from home policies
- Providing employees with health and safety training
- Enhanced cleaning procedures
- Clear rules regarding procedures if you get sick
Have a COVID-19 response plan in place before you need it
You should have a clearly outlined response plan that includes is specific to your business and identifies all individuals and job tasks with potential exposures to COVID-19. If an employee is diagnosed with COVID-19 or comes in contact with a customer who has been it is important to work quickly to minimize the risk. The plan should include, quarantining procedures, facility cleaning, contract tracing, a communication plan that complies with employee confidentiality laws at a minimum.
Minimizing the risk to employees and customers in a COVID-19 Pandemic
Both employers and employees have struggled to find a balance between mitigating risk and ensuring customer and employee satisfaction. As with all policies and procedures, it is important to not only make sure the programs and safeguards you put in place are documented but also that employees have been thoroughly trained on how to implement them in their everyday jobs. Setting clear expectations for how employees should act is one thing but in a COVID-19 world we can't always adhere to the philosophy that "The customer is always right".
Whether you use in house HR experts or partner with external ones ensuring you are compliant with employment laws and provide a safe working environment can reduce the COVID-19 Impacts on Business Operations and Human Resources functions.
Corresponding LinkedIn Post
With the COVID-19 pandemic, Hawaiian business owners are having to reevaluate business operations in many ways. In addition to physical safety measures that must be put in place including the use of PPE, modifying operational procedures businesses must understand and navigate the many employee leave laws currently in place in Hawaii as well as the new leave laws in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a business owner or HR professional, it is important to understand these statutes and rules and how they apply to your Hawaiian business. This can be confusing and time-consuming and as a result, many organizations choose to partner with an expert to help understand and implement policies and procedures to keep them in compliance. #Covid-10 #FMLA #FFCRA #HR