What should employers take away from the latest federal COVID-19 plan? – Part 2
U.S. organizations have joined the momentum to reopen physical workspaces after more than two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier in March, the Federal administration laid out a plan titled the National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan that, in part, sought to clarify the government's approach to supporting those efforts. Check out part 2.
Funding for COVID-19 testing, treatments
In January, the administration announced the purchase of at-home, rapid COVID-19 test kits to be delivered directly to U.S. households. Its latest plan includes a proposal to expand on that initiative by setting up "One Stop Test to Treat" locations at which the public will be able to receive free testing as well as free antiviral treatment pills.
Preparing for future variants
Other elements of the plan have a less direct impact on employers but lay out additional steps the administration may seek to address potential new COVID-19 variants, such as data collection, sequencing, wastewater surveillance, and response playbooks.
Each of these components may serve to reassure employers in the event of another outbreak, but the current moment provides an important opportunity for employers to formulate their own contingencies.
The big thing for employers to do now is to use this lull to plan so that they can be ready if and when there is a new wave. Employers being ready for this actually makes their employees feel substantially more confident.
To that end, specialists advise employers to be transparent with workers about these preparations and mitigation strategies, some of which they say may not be well-publicized or recognized.
That is not always an easy task around topics such as masking, particularly given evolving guidelines from the CDC and other public health authorities. Employers tend to rely on the CDC in particular as a "north star" for their own policies, but public health guidance could be met with apprehension from employees.
Source: https://www.hrdive.com/
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EPIA inc. is a private Insurance Agency with no ties with legal entities. The information contained in this article is based on information provided by the hrdive.com Official Website. Consumer questions on how to proceed with the new guidelines must consult official governmental sources or labor and employment attorneys.
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