covid-19 returning to work - deloitte united states · shane mohan valarie daunt partner, human...

COVID-19

Returning to Work

7 May 2020

2© 2020 Deloitte Ireland LLP. All rights reserved.

01The world remade

by COVID-19

05Q&A

Today’s speakers and discussion topics

Work

02Workplace

03

Discussion Topics

SpeakersHost

Workforce

04

Shane Mohan

Valarie Daunt

Partner, Human Capital

Deloitte

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +353 1 417 8633

Shane Mohan

Ciaran McGovern

Partner, Covid-19 Task Force Lead

Deloitte


Phone: +353 86 3238283

Shane Mohan

Suzanne McDonald

Partner, Healthcare

Deloitte


Phone: +353 1 417 2698

Shane Mohan

Dr. Deirdre Gleeson

Specialist in Occupational Health Medicine

Medwise Occupational Health Services

mailto:[email protected]



© 2020 Deloitte Ireland LLP. All rights reserved. 3

Introduction: World View


Transitioning back to work – a world viewGovernments across the globe have taken different strategies in response to COVID-19, resulting in large variation in reported cases and deaths. The below examples show how the road to recovery will also take different forms and timelines.

One of the epicentres of the pandemic with over 200,000 reported cases and 28,000 deaths. National lockdown in place since 9 March.

A success story in controlling the pandemic with 1,500 reported cases and 20 deaths. National lockdown in place since 25 March.

A relative success story in controlling the pandemic with 20,000 reported cases and 1,200 deaths. National lockdown in place since 13 March.

Italy New Zealand

Ireland

Plan for transition

• Schools: To remain closed until September

• Construction Projects: Certain projects can now resume activity

• Majority of industry roles: To restart from 4 May

• Retailers: To reopen on 18 May

• Bars, restaurants, hairdressers: To reopen on 1 June

• Travel: Movement between regions still heavily restricted

Plan for transition

• Staged easing of the restrictions

• Movement & Commercial Activity: “Level 3” measures now in place (down from “level 4”), with increased movement and commercial activity allowed

• Schools: re-opened 29 April

• Most public shopping areas and e.g. pubs: To remain closed for at least two more weeks

Plan for transition

• 1 May, Government issued a 5-phase transition roadmap over 100 days

• Outdoor Workers & Retail Outlets: Some to return to work, 18 May

• Non-essential retail: To reopen 29 June

• Sports: Some sports to return behind closed doors on 29th June

• Crèches, hotels, hairdressers: To re-open with in-country travel restrictions to ease on July 20

• Final stage: Most of the economy re-opened from Aug 10 with some restrictions to remain long term


Planning in a world remade by Covid-19Adapting the previously established 'Respond' Taskforce to focus on 'Recover' will require a change of focus and new capabilities.

W o r k

Strategic Evaluation

Work Design

W o r l d

W o r k f o r c e

Workforce Planning

Employee Experience

W o r k p l a c e

Enabling Technologies

Occupational Health and Safety

What does recovery mean for the organisation?

How relevant is the existing strategic plan?

Does the organisation currently align to the recovery plan?

What are the possible future scenarios, and which are most probable?

Keeping plans, policies and procedures actively under review.

Planning

Considerations


Workplace


Occupational health & safetyWhen the workforce re-enters the physical workplace, strong health and safety protocols will be crucial for prevention and containment of spikes.

SARS-CoV2

What is it?Facilitate cocoon, quarantine & self-isolation

Implementing infection prevention

and control

Screening and prevention at the point of entry

Reducing viral transmission in the workplace

The employee with suspected or confirmed Covid-19

Contact tracing of occupational close contacts

Absence management and

return to work

Coping with Covid -19 and building

resilience

Considerations


Work


Work designEven before the COVID-19 pandemic, the employment market was undergoing a transformation - a shortage of future skills across industries, and a fundamental shift in the expectations of employees, customers and citizens have all changed the game.

Focus on these

New normal

Areas to consider

Survive or thriveRemote working New model of work

Build up virtual work capability

Continue to advance automation

Invest in reskilling in the short-term

Leverage knowledge management

Re-deploy resources to high-priority areas

Marketing & branding Enabling technology


Strategic evaluationA structured approach to re-entry planning focuses on critical functions and roles that require physical work environments.

Consider staggering return dates

Establish guidelines for safe return to physical/onsite

locations

Reassess appropriate size and composition of support functions

Adjust shift schedules or

working hours

Develop operational scaling plans for “must-

have” roles/ services

Individual work

Collaborative work

Must be onsite

Able to WFH

HR IT

Marketing

Facilities

Operations

Procurement

Customer service

Assessing critical business functions for re-entry

R&D

Practical considerations for re-entry

Manufacturing

Distribution

Finance

More focus and priority

support required

Less focus and support required


Enabling technologies

What tools and platforms best support a blend of physical

and virtual work?

How can you accelerate cyber, remote and digital capabilities

to prepare for a new future workplace model?

Have you seen system and cyber vulnerabilities while

working remotely that need to be addressed?

Where can you make enhancements if there are

persistent challenges employees are facing with

existing platforms?

Key tip: Maintain practices and tools that worked during

the crisis, reverse any shortcuts that needed to be takenChecklist

Prioritise and accelerate standardisation of remote working

Update digital properties to sync with availability

Design digitally-enabled flexible work arrangement

Optimise e-commerce and customer channel strategy

Evaluating the performance of current technologies and considering where to launch new ones will be critical for meeting evolving workforce demands.


Workforce


Workforce planningOrganisations must develop RECOVER strategies (in line with the IPC approach) to safely, responsibly and sustainably bring their workforces back to work.

Do our employees have the

skills and capabilities to

deliver in our new reality?

What size and composition of

workforce do we need to

deliver on our new priorities?

How can we optimise our

workforce spend?

What temporary workforce

reduction strategies can we

consider?

1

2

3

Re-skill/ redeploy

Contingent workforce

Compensation freeze

Voluntary time-off

What can you do?

Key tip: Assign a team that is able to think through the various considerations,

using a fluid scenario-based approach that is integrated to data models

4

Questions to be considered:


Employees will need to be highly engaged and informed during recovery, to build the trust and community necessary for effective re-integration. Employees well-being will also be a priority for employers.

Employee experience

Regular and consistent communication

Consider the bigger picture Career conversations

Recognition by highlighting weekly achievements

How should you manage annual performance

appraisal?3

1 Have employees needs evolved?

2 What initiatives should organisations be prioritising?

How best can organisations ensure employees

are aligned and engaged?4

Start with ...

How can organisations support a more mixed

workforce?5

Are employees well-being needs the same as

before COVID-19? 6 Be flexible and recognise

the diversity of workersMake sure policies meet your employees needs

Questions to be considered:


Final thoughts


Recovery

Resilient leaders understand that Recovery is a human experience and that trust needs to be embedded as the catalyst to recovery

• We have explored some of the main criteria to be considered within workplace, work and workforce

• Organisations should take measures to guarantee correct supports; command centres, wellbeing initiatives and leave policies are in place

• Careful consideration of career and performance management and communication around these should be carefully planned and implemented

• Organisations should strive to utilise enabling technologies to provide more options to accommodate various employee situations as they attempt to return to work

FINANCIAL

Trust that your

financial

concerns are

being served

DIGITAL

Trust that your

information is

secure

EMOTIONAL

Trust that your

emotional and

societal needs

are being

safeguarded

PHYSICAL

Trust that your

physical space

is safe

A number of factors will need to be considered before organisations can successfully ‘return to work’


Q&A


Q&A

Question Answer

1

Temperature Checks- Updated Guidelines- Realism- Specific guidance

Temperature checks can be a useful measuring tool but should not be used in isolation, as temperature checks are neither 100% sensitive or 100% accurate. As with any test, there will be false negative and false positive results. The presence of a high temperature or symptoms of Covid-19 indicate suspected infection and require further medical evaluation, before the employee can safely enter the workplace. However, screening at the point of entry into a workplace will not be effective unless implemented as part of a comprehensive infection prevention and control IPC programme that involves a multi-faceted approach incorporating engineering, administration, PPE and other controls. For organisations, regardless of size, checks should be carried out at the point of entry. Larger organisations may operate a drive-through style check point. Temperature checks may not be realistic for all organisations but the employer does have responsibility under The Safety Health and Welfare at Work (Biological Agents) Regulations 2013 to implement a comprehensive infection prevention and control (IPC) programme to reduce the risk of the Covid-19 entering the workplace and to eliminate as far as reasonably possible viral transmission in the workplace. Therefore if temperature checks are not in place, other measures need to be implemented. The screening process should be communicated to employees so that they are aware in advance of the protocols, ideally both verbally and in a follow-up written notice. As with any health and safety measure, the employee is expected to co-operate with the employer (Section 13, SHWW Act, 2005). The employer must ensure that it is has clearly communicated the rationale for doing this screening and how the data will be managed. After that, it will be up to the employer whether they wish to take disciplinary action or not.In terms of physically taking a temperature, it is at the discretion of the employer and employees can take their own temperate or designated employees can do so or a third-party contractor. No qualification is needed; rather the person

taking the temperature should be trained in how to use the thermometer and look for relevant signs. A temperature

over 37.5oC is clinically a high temperature (pyrexia) and a bar to entry, since this indicates an infection (although not necessarily Covid-19). If the first reading is elevated, repeat and take the average of 3 readings to minimise false positives. Temperature can rise and fall during infection and paracetamol or Ibuprofen can mask a high temperature.Temperature checking advice is ever-changing. It is only effective if used as part of a screening and prevention

programme. It can also indirectly be a deterrent to sick employees coming to work and reassures other employees that

the employer is doing everything to prevent the virus from entering the workplace. The health protection surveillance

centre, HPSC, which gives advice for health professionals, recommends temperature checks of health care staff twice

daily, especially in the situation of an outbreak.

It is recommended that each employer needs to do a risk assessment and make a decision based on the nature and size of the workplace and seek occupational health and public advice.


Q&A

Question Answer

2What number is considered a cluster?

A cluster is an incidence of cases greater than the background community rate i.e. refers to a small group of people

in a particular space who all have the same disease. For example, a cluster of people in nursing homes or hospitals.

3

What is the definition of close contact? Are there notification requirements for individuals who have not been in ‘close contact’ but have been in the same workplace as a confirmed case?

A close contact is somebody who has been within 2 metres of a suspected or confirmed case of Covid-19 for an

accumulation of 15 minutes over one day. Close contacts also include people who have spent more than 2 hours with

a suspected or confirmed case in a confined space such as an office. Anyone who has been a close contact of a

suspected or confirmed case of Covid-19 during the infectious period (from 48 hours prior to the onset and 14 days

from the onset of symptoms or 5 days since the last high temperature) must quarantine for 14 days from the time of

the last contact.

Close contacts also include people who have spent more than 2 hours with a suspected or confirmed case in a

confined space such as an office. Therefore, if staff have been in an office with someone who has a suspected case

for more than 2 hours, they would also need to restrict movements.


Q&A

Question Answer

4

If using this as an opportunity to really build our workplace of the future -smart working - any tips?

We predict that the future workplace will be a blend of the physical and virtual environments and so on this vein we recommend:

• Apply what you’ve learned in practices, places, and with technology by taking the learnings from these assessments (digital and people) and implement the desired improvements. Consider what worked well for your organisation during the crisis and what did not - keep what worked, and get rid of what didn't work. Collaboration tools and platforms will support dynamic work locations and asynchronous collaboration.

• It's important to understand the digital capabilities you need to scale success for new ways of working: assess your digital ways of working, and the digital technologies currently under exploration, in order to determine next wave automation and the organisational capabilities you need to thrive.

• Explore your people experience and analyse the ways in which your people engage with each other and their changing work environment. This will help you determine practices, organisation and team constructs, and capabilities to improve upon and scale.

• Consider how your organisation could be structured in a way that enables innovation and allows for a more adaptable organisation. The alternative workforce can create opportunities to solve problems, get work done, and help leaders build more flexible and agile organisations in the future.


Q&A

Question Answer

5

Privacy concerns- GDPR & contact tracing- Temperature checks- Employee rights

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) stated on March 19th, underlining that even in these exceptional times, the data controller and processor must ensure the protection of the personal data of the data subjects. The EDPB also stated that “emergency is a legal condition which may legitimise restrictions of freedoms provided these restrictions are proportionate and limited to the emergency period”. For this reason, a number of considerations are necessary to assure the lawful processing of personal data. Regarding the legal basis, employers and public health authorities do not have to rely on the individual’s consent to process personal data within the scope of a pandemic but can rely on Article 6 and 9 of the GDPR.

Regarding temperature checks on employees in their place of work, employees need to give their consent/agreement to undergo screening for COVID-19 but also to abide by the employer’s safety and prevention policy. They need to also agree to have the information gathered as a result of the screening retained for 3 months in line with GDPR. The employer has responsibility under The Safety Health and Welfare at Work (Biological Agents) Regulations 2013 to implement a comprehensive infection prevention and control (IPC) programme to reduce the risk of the Covid-19 entering the workplace and to eliminate as far as reasonably possible viral transmission in the workplace and this may include temperature checks.

Data protection law does not stand in the way of the provision of healthcare or management of public health. Measures taken in response to Coronavirus involving the use of personal data, should be necessary and proportionate and informed by the guidance of relevant authorities. You may process health data i.e. temperature check results, under art 9(2)(i) GDPR once suitable safeguards are implemented (e.g. access limitation, strict time limits for erasure, adequate staff training). However, employers have a legal obligation to protect their employees, therefore data may be processed under 9(2) GDPR where necessary and proportionate. The principles of transparency, confidentiality, security, data minimization and accountability apply.


Q&A

Question Answer

6

Providing flexibility to employees who are paid in Ireland for working in Ireland but are not from here was always a risky tax issue...Where do we stand from a tax perspective on facilitating people to return home to work remotely until we get back to a normal working cadence?

Unfortunately not a straightforward answer to this question as there continues to be risk in this area.

There are possible tax, payroll, social security and corporate tax implications in relation to employees working from home in another country. These depend on each countries’ domestic tax rules and where applicable the clauses in the relevant double tax treaty. These must be considered in conjunction with the amount of time the employees spend working in that country. It should be noted that some countries have issued guidance outlining concessions in relation to Covid-19, however for many countries there is still no specific guidance/concessions. It is hoped that other countries will issue concessions, but this remains to be seen. There is also helpful guidance issued by the OECD recommending that Covid-19 arrangements should not be regarded as triggering permanent establishments. However it will be up to each country to decide whether to adopt this guidance.The query raised refers to people now returning to their homeland. Where countries have issued concessions it would be important to ensure the concessions extend to employees now choosing to travel to another country to work remotely for a period of time as a result of workplaces continuing to remain closed in Ireland due to Covid 19. Ensure that these arrangements are tracked so that you are aware of who is working where and for how long. It’s important that the business is aware that they could trigger obligations for the company abroad and therefore additional compliance costs.Other risks may arise and need consideration, e.g. immigration/ability to work, data protection, insurance etc.


Get in touch

Shane Mohan

Valarie Daunt

Partner, Human Capital

Deloitte


Phone: +353 1 417 8633

Shane Mohan

Ciaran McGovern

Partner, Covid-19 Task Force Lead, Deloitte


Phone: +353 86 3238283

Shane Mohan

Suzanne McDonald

Partner, Healthcare

Deloitte


Phone: +353 1 417 2698




covid-19 returning to work - deloitte united states · shane mohan valarie daunt partner, human...

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