Facilitating Healthy Business Operations
23
TIP 2
Develop and implement flexible leave policies.
Your employees and their families have varied levels of compromised health concerns. It is essential to support them by aligning sick leave policies with, at minimum, local public health guidance. If none are required, draft emergency sick leave policies that do not punish employees for becoming infected or needing to take care of their loved ones and bereavement policies that reassure employees of your support in case a loved one passes. Send to a HR professional to review for liabilities.
The Society for Human Resource Managers published a sample request for emergency paid sick leave form, and Mercer, a human resource consulting firm, provided some recommendations for designing a COVID-19 emergency leave policy. For additional federal guidance, refer to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act Q+A page.
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Some well-capitalized employers, such as Rite Aid, have launched “pandemic pay” to offer their employees full or partial pay if required to stay at home while sick or caring for loved ones. While “pandemic pay” may not be an option for your business in the initial months after re-opening, as revenue stabilizes you may consider creating a fund with excess revenues to pay staff. Another option could include creating a system where healthy employees can cover leave hours at reduced pay to donate to families dealing with infection firsthand, or toward advances on future sick leave. For at-home care providers (but NOT for recovering staff members), consider assigning a task that can be completed remotely, such as ordering supplies or managing online orders. Back to Brick & Mortar Guidebook
