COVID-19 Return to Work Planning - Expert Advice

Added by Love Business East Midlands | 22 May 2020

UPDATED: 22 May 2020

The return to work journey for business managers and owners post lockdown

A briefing for business owners, by business support experts, they discuss the challeneges businesses face returning to work - and more importantly, what to do about them!

There’s no denying that Covid-19 has impacted businesses and their employees in a number of ways, and one common thread has been the sudden need for employees to work remotely. But as we enter the reboot phase and lockdown restrictions ease, those who cannot work remotely are slowly returning to the workplace.

A panel of experts who support businesses discuss the questions most business owners and managers are asking:

• What are the steps you should take to prepare for a staged return to work?

• How can you ensure you are compliant with the new health and safety measures?

• What new policies are needed to cover changes to sick pay and home working rules?

• How can you meet new employment laws in a rapidly changing legal landscape?

• What can you do to support our employees during this challenging time?

With some form of lockdown set to continue indefinitely, it's clear the situation will be evolving for many months to come. This panel has the answers to how you stay tuned to the changes most relevant to your business.

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We now have a plan to return to work post COVID-19

Employers need to plan now for what is likely to be staged return to the workplace over what could be prolonged periods. Their guiding principle should be how organisations take care of their people and safeguard their health and well-being. Many people will be concerned and anxious about being in workplaces or travelling to workplaces. They will want to know that their organisation is retaining their support for physical and mental health and its current thinking about flexible and remote working. This should be at the heart of any decisions and plans that organisations make.

Return To Work After Lockdown - Expert Advice For Business Owners‎

As well as keeping you up to date with the latest Government guidance on returning to work, the panel recommends employers should start thinking about the following areas:

1 - Managing returning to the workplace

2 - Dealing with redundancies and related issues once the furlough scheme ends

3 - Managing holidays, sickness and other absences.

Whilst bearing in mind that the physical, emotional and mental well-being of the workforce must remain the key focus.

Who's who on the panel

Lucy Robinson
Director of Resources East Midlands Chamber

Lucy works alongside the senior leadership team on developing the culture of the Chamber and its strategic human resources.

Lucy's background in HR consultancy across all sizes and types of business has enabled her to quickly build relationships and define key focus areas within the Chamber resource.  

Lucy is responsible for full HR support both within the Chamber and the wider group of organisations.  This includes ensuring legal compliance, training and development, internal communications, recruitment and inductions, employee relations, reward, organisation design and change management. She also oversees the Chamber's back office functions including IT and the Chamber's property portfolio including managed workspace.

Along with the operational functions, Lucy also chairs the HR Forum, manages stakeholders and member relationships, sits on the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire CIPD committee and volunteers as a Partner Governor for the Nottinghamshire NHS Trust.

Hema Mistry
Operations Manager at QUEST Business Services Limited

Hema is an HR and Employment Law professional and plays a lead role at Quest. Quest offers a range of services covering HR, employment law, health and safety, legal, insurance and tax to trade associations, affinity groups, Chambers of Commerce, insurers, accountants and other organisations throughout the UK.

Quest (formerly Qdos) is a partner of the Trade Association Forum and has been the preferred supplier of HR services to the British Chambers of Commerce for over 10 years.  From 2017 we have been the exclusive approved supplier of HR, health and safety, legal and tax services to the UK Chamber network. We are also an approved partner of the Trade Association Forum.

Quest is also partnered with Rhino Trade Insurance, providers of tradesman insurance.

Stephen Megson
Managing Director at Quiet Storm Solutions & founder of Love Business East Midlands. Fellow of the RSA

A business owner since he was 21, Steve was one of the 'enterprise allowance' generation and started his business back in 1987. He's ridden the waves of a few recessions and overcome plenty of unknowns. He understands the pressures of employing people and the emotional rollercoaster times like this crisis put business owners through. Steve's been very fortunate in my career to work with many brilliant visionaries. I've learnt much from them, but for those who know me well, know my quest for learning is never satisfied.

Richard Shakespeare
Award-Winning Diversity & Inclusion Consultant, Managing Director of Workplace Diversity Solutions & eLearning Provider.

Richard hit the headlines in 2010 after being made redundant from the financial services sector, when he applied for 1,923 jobs over the coming 11 months before deciding to go self-employed. Richard, who has Cerebral Palsy, found that many businesses lacked awareness of how to support people with disabilities in the workplace and decided he had an opportunity to support businesses in becoming more inclusive. His company has provided diversity awareness training to more than 43,000 people across the UK. He has worked with many leading brands including Eurostar, Standard Life Aberdeen and Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks.

COVID-19 Business Support Hub

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