Now that the new corona virus is also in the Netherlands, a lot of practical questions for employers and employees are becoming urgent. How do I prepare as well as possible as an employer? What do I do if an employee has to be in quarantine? And can you stay at home as an employee if you are afraid of catching the virus?
Several large companies are already taking measures to protect personnel. Unilever, Vattenfall and Nestlé let employees who have been in risk areas work from home for two weeks. Business trips are also being postponed.
But for smaller employers or institutions, it is often not an option to let people work at home for so long. Marco Zannoni, director of the Institute for Security and Crisis Management, said during the extra NOS broadcast last night The Coronavirus: Facts and fables that there are many questions: “I am a company, I am a school. What can I do?”
A list with frequently asked questions and answers has been published for educational institutions. Zannoni hopes that this information will also be available soon for events, companies and healthcare institutions.
The technical information about the virus and how it spreads is in good order according to Zannoni. But that is if very practical questions are not sufficient. “For example, if an employee is potentially ill and goes into quarantine, you have to wait 24 hours for the result,” he says. “Am I going to close my building in the meantime or not?”
Be prepared
According to Zannoni, the most important advice for employers is to think about what they can do now and what they can do if there is an infection. And that happens too. “We are being called flat,” says Jurriaan Penders, medical director of HumanTotalCare, the largest occupational health and safety service provider in the Netherlands that includes Arboned. Don’t just call employers. Employees also have many questions.
RIVM does not have specific advice for companies. Washing your hands regularly, sneezing in your elbow and using paper tissues applies to everyone.
Because of the infections in the Netherlands, HumanTotalCare also recommends additional measures: namely no shaking hands, with a maximum of two people in the elevator, with fewer people meeting and flexible lunch times, so that people are less close to each other. “But also look around you,” says Penders. “A jar with liquorice at the counter that everyone is grabbing in may also need to be closed.”
According to Zannoni, it is also wise to take another look at the so-called continuity plans, “but with the coronavirus on.” According to Zannoni, such a plan often states how the most important processes within a company can continue if a fire breaks out. “But a disaster due to a lack of staff is something completely different.”
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