As your organization considers reopening, you will want to be sure you communicate effectively with your staff and clients regarding reopening procedures and new protocols that will be in place. SKC has compiled the following templates and resources to assist you with some communication tasks related to COVID-19 that you may be undertaking as an organization in the coming days and weeks.

Tips and Resources for Reopening Your Office

Convey Workplace Changes in Writing

Before staff and leadership return to on-site work, make sure changes to the workplace are clearly conveyed in writing. Attached is a sample Return to Work Letter.

Communicate Who Has Been Exposed

If someone in your organization has contracted COVID-19, it is important to communicate with staff and visitors who may have been exposed ASAP. Attached is a sample Exposure Letter. Employees and clients will trust organizations when they receive timely and accurate communication about such exposures, including accurately expressing any uncertainly.

Limit Visitors

You can help stop the spread of COVID-19 by limiting visitors to your organization. You can provide a Health Screening Form for Visitors in order to help you decide whether or not to allow an individual to enter. Be sure there are policies in place to protect visitor’s privacy if you collect information from them. You may also choose to establish new parameters for visitors, including visits only for business-related things, as opposed to social purposes, as well as limits on the number of visitors at any one time and the length of their stay. Consider restricting visitor access to only certain areas or conference rooms for the time being.

In determining whether to restrict or screen visitors to the workplace, employers should consider visitors’ privacy. To that end, employers should post their screening policies so they are clearly visible to potential workplace visitors. Here is a link for a Stop Before You Enter sign.

Display or provide employees with a copy of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) information sheet.

Print Signs Created by the CDC

Another way that employers and leadership staff can communicate instructions and protocols about COVID-19 is through printable signs and posters from the CDC. All printable documentation from the CDC’s website are free for download. Examples include:

— Symptoms of Coronavirus
— What You Should Know about COVID-19 to Protect Yourself and Others
— What to Do if You are Sick
— Stop the Spread of Germs
— Please Read Before Entering

Additional Resources

Here are links to some of the resources we used in gathering information for this post:

— The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) website
— The SHRM Resources, Tools, & Samples page
— The CDC Coronavirus (COVID-19) resource page[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]