Concerns Staffing Companies Need to Address When Returning to the Workplace
The road back to work is very complicated as states have issued differing governor executive orders and others are closely following CDC’s guidelines. Staffing agencies face an additional level of complexity as there are multiple parties involved in these conversations. Staffing agencies are not only worried about their own workplaces but also have their client's workplaces and workers to worry about.
Staffing agencies must start considering how to get their workers back to the workplace. Our recent webinar with employment experts from Becker legal addressed back to work best practice guidelines specific to staffing agencies and also answered some frequently asked questions on how to prepare your workplace for the road back to work.
According to Becker Legal, what considerations should staffing agencies take into account when making back to work plans?
Make sure your clients and their employees are adhering to the same back to work guidelines as your business
What happens if your workers at a client site are complying with all the back to work guidelines but the client's workers are not? It is important to partner with your clients and to educate them on the important role these guidelines play in protecting not only your workers but also their workers. You must have these conversations to ensure you are not exposing your workers to the risk of contracting COVID-19 when placing them in a role.
The importance of data security
It is important to talk about data security with your clients and to be aware of which computers are being utilized. You need to ensure that the devices your clients are using are sufficiently protected when they login to, for example, your companies intranet to avoid data breaches. Make sure you partner with your staffing clients to ensure their data security is as efficient as yours to avoid losing sensitive information to hackers when workers are working remotely.
Who should provide a safe work environment when workers are remote working?
You should start a discussion with your staff and clients about whether work can and should continue to be performed remotely. Look at the contract you have in place with your clients and decide who has the obligation to provide the safe workspace? How is this risk being handled and how are the obligations are being shared?
Previous contracts didn’t anticipate this new COVID-19 working from home territory, therefore, staffing companies should check their contract obligations with clients to see if these still apply and whether changes need to be made. You should review how the risk is mitigated between parties.
Be aware of the general and staffing specific guidelines when returning to work
Overall, is it important that staffing agencies are aware of the staffing specific considerations when deciding to return to the workplace along with following general back to work guidelines which we discussed with Becker Legal here.
To find out more information on how to prepare for the return to work watch our full webinar here. If you have any staffing specific questions feel free to contact us and we will be happy to advise.
Disclaimer: The information provided here does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice. Instead, the information and content available are for general informational purposes only.