The last few months have seen tremendous disruption of our society and our economy. Many businesses have been shut down or suffered drastically reduced revenues, and many had to find ways to reduce their labour costs accordingly. Unfortunately, the swiftness with which COVID-19 caused our economy to shut down meant that many employers had to take action without getting proper advice, which led to potential liability and to less than strategic decisions.
We are happy to say that after months of discussing layoffs and pay cuts, the discussion is shifting to getting back to business, if not quite back to normal.The return to work raises a whole set of new questions, such as:
- how do we decide which workers to recall?
- what if I am scared to return to work?
- what is the employer’s responsibility to prevent the spread of the virus?
- what if an employee cannot leave home due to childcare obligations?
There is more time to plan this phase, and we are hopeful that organizations will make more informed decisions as they bring their workers back.
We’ve created a detailed guide with answers to some of the questions you may have about getting back to business.