Jobhop Jobhop's blog : Employers And Coronavirus; What To Do

As coronavirus spreads across the world there is now the realisation that employers need to be on their toes, ready to act.

Health and safety should always be at the top of any employers list and regular risk assessments should be undertaken to protect staff.

Washing hands

Your employees should be well aware by now about the seriousness of washing hands but employers need to circulate good hygiene practices to all employees. There can be no doubt from an employee whether they were given the information about hand washing or not. To reinforce the message to stop the spread of infection have posters up in the workplace, in the bathrooms and the kitchen. As an employer, you must have hand wash stocked up in the bathrooms and hand sanitisers located around the workplace for employees convenience.

Cleaning

Perhaps your office is cleaned regularly, if so great but at this critical time step up the cleaning to daily. At the end of each day make sure all surfaces are wiped down and disinfected, as well as doorknobs, light switches and handrails. Because of the continued panic buying of products if disinfectant runs out just remember that white vinegar is just as good.

Remote working

To reduce the numbers in the workplace consider employees working remotely from home.

Many companies are already asking employees to work from home as a precaution to stop the spread of coronavirus. Meetings can be held online, projects can be collaborated on with tools such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, Trello, Facebook workplace and more. There will be businesses where remote working will be a challenge; perhaps remote working in shifts could be a consideration to reduce the numbers of people in the workplace.

Recruitment

Businesses still need to recruit, but inviting candidates to attend interviews during the coronavirus outbreak isn’t wise, especially if they have to travel from afar.

The safest way to conduct any interviews at present is to hold them online. Candidates will appreciate that you have put their safety first and you won’t be putting your employees at risk.

Skype or FaceTime are a couple of ways to hold job interviews but the most time effective and cost-effective way to hold them is to automate them. Opting for Gecko video interviews also gives you the added backup from artificial intelligence, helping you to make an informed candidate selection.