The Next Wave: Duty of Care in the Face of the Coronavirus
With coronavirus active around the world and still no available vaccine, businesses should essentially consider their Duty of Care as though all employees are international travelers. That is to say, every employee is now facing unprecedented working conditions which are highly likely to impact their physical and/or mental health and well-being.
In a 2015 report on calculating cost-benefit analysis for business travel, it was stated “The two [risk] categories most strongly and consistently associated with the frequency of travel were infectious diseases and psychological disorders”. Now, with the coronavirus, these are considered to be common risks faced by the majority, if not all, workers.
The question is, in the midst of the biggest global health crisis in recent history, what is the responsibility of companies towards their employees under the Duty of Care.
What is Duty of Care?
The term Duty of Care refers to the moral and legal responsibility of employers to assess the risk posed to employees during their time at work and to implement policies that mitigate such risks. An important part of this also includes informing employees of the risks they face at work.
Some more classic examples of this would be to ensure fire safety in office buildings, protect employees from potential harm due to violence or harassment, and to address the impact of work-related stress on mental health.
Business travel, especially internationally, is also a big concern for companies when it comes to Duty of Care and ensuring the health and safety of their employees. Because international travel exposes employees to a host of unfamiliar situations, the Duty of Care for companies includes a wide range of responsibilities — from careful planning of itineraries to crisis management.
Now, in a time when all workers are essentially facing the same health and safety risks that were once faced by international travelers, what falls under the responsibility of companies?
New Duty of Care Concerns Posed by Coronavirus
With the emergence and continued risk posed by the coronavirus, employers need to address the risk their employees face in coming to work in the office and in interacting with the public. Especially for employers in service positions, it is the employers’ responsibility to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) for employees that are at high risk for contracting the coronavirus.
It’s important to realize, though, that the coronavirus impacts everyone including employees who are able to stay home and work remotely.
Ensuring Health and Safety of At-Home Workers
Many of the health and safety risks associated with business travel are similarly applicable to employees working from home; the need to adapt to a new working environment, maintaining open communication with colleagues and the physical distance from company offices plus decreased interactions with friends and family are all new challenges faced by at-home workers.
In terms of the working environment, this would most commonly be mitigated by providing equipment and information about taking breaks and limiting extended periods of time spent in front of electronic screens.
Business Travel During the Coronavirus
Under Duty of Care, a company is responsible for evaluating the risk of business travel, ensuring that employees are informed of risks and working to mitigate those risks with policies and advanced planning. Factors such as location and trip duration were important in considering the risk of terrorism and disease to workers. With the Coronavirus, this issue has been further complicated.
Each country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has varied and the current status of the virus varies as well. This must be a central consideration for companies considering corporate travel at this time, on top of the typical considerations of health and safety for employees traveling for work.
Furthermore, without an available vaccine and the varied state responses to the pandemic, situations can shift quickly and with little warning. To reduce risk to employees, it is the employer's responsibility to understand the dynamics of the virus in the destination country and prepare their employees for the situation they will face.
During the trip, location tracking, real-time alerts to emergency situations, and direct communication between the company and employees are critical to ensure continued safety.
Conclusion
What’s next? Where do we go from here?
Jason Veiock, Director, Workplace Experience, Security & Resilience at GoDaddy, says that in looking at a return to “normal”, his team is asking many questions about how he can reduce risk posed to employees. He poses questions such as, “What are the data points we use to identify if it is safe to bring people back? What are the business priorities in terms of essential services and locations? What are the compensating controls to mitigate the threat of infection when we bring people back to our facilities?”
It’s hard to overemphasize the importance of having a plan for how to maintain the health and safety of employees during these uncertain times. An unavoidable part of that is identifying the relevant factors that need to be addressed to mitigate risk. Part of that will be continued monitoring of the virus in areas where employees live and work.
The second part of effectively caring for employees is communicating that plan and offering continued support especially with the rate at which health concerns shift. Whether it’s educating employees on proper precautions to take regarding personal hygiene and social distancing, or caring for employees in new at-home working environments or traveling overseas, communication plays a central role in securing health and safety.
Together, formulating risk prevention policy and communicating that policy with continued support is what is expected of companies in regards to duty of care.
