CORONA VIRUS HR POLICY

PURPOSE

The purpose of this policy is to maintain a healthy and safe workplace, and particularly to minimize the transmission of the highly contagious virus known as COVID-19, which is a type of coronavirus (a virus that originated in animals and has been passed to humans).

POLICY STATEMENT

We believe that good health should be the rule, not the exception. We assure you that we will always treat your private health and related personal data with the highest degree of confidentiality and sensitivity. We recognize that an employee’s health record strongly influences the quality of his or her work, enthusiasm, and attention/involvement.

SCOPE

The policy applies to all employees of this organization, whether working on company premises or remotely, and we require everyone to read the plan of action carefully and make sure it’s understood in its entirety.

Policy Coverage

This policy covers the following ground:

1. Working Hours
2. Sick Leave
3. Work from home
4. Travellin/commute measure
5. General Sanitation as health and safety policy: COVID-19(Pandemic)
6. Measures that organizations take to prevent COVID-19
7. Special status and facilities
8. E-Tracking sick employees

SICK LEAVE

 If the employees are suffering from cold, fever, or sneeze, they can request work from home or sick leave.
 If suffering from COVID-19, return to the office only after complete recovery subjected to doctor’s confirmation.
 For employees with less accused sick leaves may use—-day(s) of additional leaves because of disruption of the COVID-19 virus.

• The organization reserve rights to recover this time from the final paycheck of employees who terminate before they rebuild their accrued sick leave

 If you are a parent and have to your family member(s) are to be vaccinated due to the outbreak or any other issue, the employee can opt for sick leave
 If an employee opts to work from home but for some of the other reason(i.e., family members are unwell, due to some emergency or any other reason), then it is considered to be a sick leave

REMOTE WORKING

 Employees who are well are expected to work as usual, unless

• They are caring for someone who is COVID-19 positive
• Instructed to hold back from work by a public health official.

 Employees who prefer to work from home will be working for 9 hours (Normal working hours) irrespective of the start time.
 If you have recently returned from areas with a high number of COVID-19 cases (based on CDC announcements), you can work from home for 14 calendar days, and return to the office only if you have no symptoms subjected to COVID-19 and also would recommend not to come into physical contact with any colleagues during this time
 Even if an employee is not sick and is recommended by the public health authority to take sufficient rest, such employees are advised to take sick leaves for self-isolation.
 If you’re a parent and you have to stay at home with your children or with your family members, request work from home, follow up with your manager to make arrangements, and set expectations.
 Those who prefer not to work from home – because their jobs require it and/or they are well, are advised to maintain a physical distance of at least 5 feet from others. If they have primary health conditions, they may request a change in job duties, working hours, etc. by the human resource manager.
 If the government announce a lockdown due to COVID-19 outbreak, the employee can work from home and he/she is advised to self-isolate

 The organization should provide re-embedment with the following structure

1. Personal Internet
2. Laptop
3. Telephone etc.

 If the employee is working from home and has to attend a visual meeting/conference the following protocols are to be maintained.

1. Wear formal attire
2. Turn on the camera during the discussion
3. Make sure the background looks formal
4. Clear and crip audio is mandatory

TRAVELLING / COMMUTING MEASURES

 All domestic and international trips/events will be canceled until further notice.

 In-person meetings are to be done virtually with non-organization parties.

 If an employee is reaching office through public transport and no other means are available, then work from home can be requested.

 If an employee is working abroad and that area is affected by COVID-19, he/she can request to relocate to a safe area (based on CDC announcement) or back to their home country
 If traveling is unavoidable then,

• Recommend the employees(s) to avoid visiting infected places in that location and suggest them to visit: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports/
• Encourage employees to use hand sanitizers regularly and avoid close contacts (1 meter or less) from unwell people (coughing or sneezing)
• Recommend to follow the instructions provided by the local authority( health authority)
• Once the employee is returning from the infected area, he/she should self-monitor for symptoms for 14 days. If symptoms are foreseen then self-isolation is mandatory and precautions are to be provided.

GENERAL SANITATION AS HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY: COVID-19(PANDEMIC)

 All employees are required to take basic preventive measures to avoid exposure to the COVID-19 virus.
 Wash your hands using hot water before eating and after using toilets for at least 20 seconds.
 Cough/sneeze using a tissue (or else sneeze into your arm on the side opposite
your elbow), discard it properly, and clean your hands immediately.
 Avoid touching your nose, eyes, and mouth with your hands to prevent infection. If you have an irresistible itch, wash your hands or use hand sanitizer first.
 Send home policy: If an employee falls sick at work, then the organization must make sure necessary medication has to be provided and has to sent the
employee back home and recommend returning once he/she is completely
recovered subjected to doctor’s certification
 During the outbreak, visitors are restricted to enter the organization without any proper diagnosis

MEASURES THAT ORGANISATIONS CAN TAKE TO PREVENT COVID-19.

 Wipe the surface and objects with a disinfectant that employees use regularly.
 Sanitize the lift operation buttons by regular cleaning.
 Employees should use hand sanitizer after using the lift.
 Do not touch your eyer, nose or face after touching any surface without washing/sanitizing hands
 Display posters promoting personal hygiene
 Advice to avoid close contact (1 meter or less) between the employees/family members.
 Recommend to use hand wash and hand sanitizers.
 Provide better respiratory hygiene to their employees by providing a face mask or paper tissues.
 Checking employee’s body temperature for low-grade fever( 37.3 C or more) using Infrared radiation thermometer.
 If the employee is designated at a high level, he/she should take necessary measures to communicate or be present at the premises during the outbreak
 If the organization is outsourcing its employees, then talk to them regarding their sick employees staying home and encourage them to develop non-punitive leave policies consistent with CDC guidelines
 The organization should encourage their employees to bring their own devices such as laptops, chargers, etc. to safeguard themselves and others from the virus
 Open door policy: The organization should make sure that if there is any general issue/ issue related to the outbreak, he/she can approach the concerned person to seek effective measures
 Even after all these precautionary measures if an employee turns out to be COVID-19 positive,then:

• Recommend the employee to undergo 14 days of self-isolation
• Ask the infected employee about the places in the organization where he/she had been so that those places can be avoided by the rest of the employees or take necessary measures to evacuate such a place.
• Cross-examine the infected employee to identify any individuals who came in contact, within the organization and e-track the employee and take required measures

Special status and facilities:

 Workers should be encouraged to work remotely when possible and focus on business activities. In-person, non-mandatory activities should be delayed until the resumption of normal operations.
 Employees, such as emergency managers, and the business community need to establish and maintain lines of communication
 If the employee has been working for more than a year in the organization, then according to Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) employers must provide employees with up to 12 weeks unpaid leave to care for a spouse, son/daughter, or parent with a serious health condition or the employee’s serious health condition.

 If an employee falls ill at work, then he/she will be sent back home
immediately and is recommended to self-isolate for 14 days and can return to work only once he/she is completely recovered along with the doctor certification. In such cases, cross-trained employees can take charge

E-Tracking sick employees

 Keep track of the sick employees using a relevant software or a spreadsheet
 Encourage the employees to keep track of their relevant sick records and the handover them to the HR manager
 The employee has to submit relevant documents( like doctors certification) once he/she is back to work
 If an employee is identified to take false sick leave, the organization can suspend them for—–days and /or take significant action against them