The CDC has some pretty good guidelines to help you keep your employees and customers healthy while keeping your doors open. You can read the full set of guidelines here, but we thought we’d list some of the highlights for you below. There are ways to navigate this pandemic safely and profitably. Let’s take a look.
Keeping Your Business and Employees Healthy During COVID
The CDC has some helpful guidelines to keep your team safe and healthy while operating during COVID. The key is to have plans and policies in place for many COVID contingencies and to ensure that your employees know these policies.
Here are some highlights from the CDC website:
- Update your PTO and Sick Day policies: “…policies should be flexible and non-punitive and allow sick employees to stay home and away from co-workers.”
- Identify your essential workers: those “required to maintain business operations. Explore ways you can continue business operations if there are disruptions.”
- Be prepared for the worst: Have a business continuity plan and a communications plan ready just in case things go from bad to worse.
Read all of the CDC’s guidelines for Small Businesses and Employees.
Specific CDC Guidelines by Business Type
Below are CDC guidelines for several different business types. Common to all of these are best practices that include having employees stay home when sick, proper hygiene (sanitizer, and washing), wearing of masks, stocking up on proper supplies (from garbage cans to PPE), and displaying signage and messages that let everyone know how to stay distanced and safe. Additionally, each business needs to stay clean and disinfected, pay attention to ventilation, identify and sanitize shared objects and areas, and consider modifying layouts and customer flow through the business.
In addition to those recommendations, here are the CDC guidelines for these business categories:
- Bars and Restaurants: Identify the risk levels in different areas of your business, from drive-throughs to kitchens to dining areas, and have specific plans for each. Promote best practices for your employees to keep them and your patrons safe.
- Casinos and Gaming Operations: Understanding how the virus spreads — through respiratory droplets — will help you identify the best way to operate, from virtual gaming to socially distanced games, spreading out of tables, etc.
- Manufacturers: Manufacturers, being such an important part of our economy and national identity, need to remain open and operational. In order to do so and keep employees safe, you need to keep employees distanced from each other, limit the time they spend together, and create a COVID assessment and control plan.
Get Your Office Ready for the Return of Your Workforce
Did you send your employees home due to the coronavirus pandemic and are now considering bringing some of them back to the office? If so, the CDC has some good guidelines for preparing your office space for the return of your workforce.
- Start off by reading the CDC Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers.
- Thoroughly check the building for safety and suitability.
- Identify high-risk COVID zones and create plans to address those.
- Mitigate the risk of the spread of COVID by reworking the layout, ventilation, and common areas.
- Consider having daily health checks for employees coming to the office.
- Split shifts to limit employee interaction.
- Be flexible with time and shifts.
Still, Have Questions?
The CDC has all kinds of answers on their COVID FAQs for Business page. And of course, we’re always here for you to help guide your business through these turbulent and unusual times. Give us a call at 888-297-3321 or schedule a complimentary conversation to discuss your situation.