COVID-19: Sample Employee Communication

This week has been busy with employers scrambling to determine a plan for a potential work shut down. Below is a sample communication for you to use with your employees. If you need help drafting a formal work from home policy, please reach out.

Subject: How [Company] is prepared for COVID-19

Hi [Company] Team,

With the coronavirus outbreak dominating headlines, we wanted to share [Company]’s specific COVID-19 guidelines and recommendations for health best practices. 

As the CDC emphasized, there is not currently a coronavirus pandemic in the United States. A pandemic occurs when a disease is spreading from a variety of sources across a large region, and the number of cases across the US is still small. However, given how quickly the global situation is evolving, we are monitoring new developments and will continue to reevaluate our steps and actions daily.

While the immediate risk of COVID-19 to those working in the U.S. is relatively low at this time, we ask that you follow these policy guidelines. Our goal is to help keep you safe.

Travel Restrictions

·       Based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Travel Health Notices (Warning Levels 2 & 3), personnel may not travel for [Company] business to China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, and Japan. 

·       Any personnel travelling to or transitioning through any of the above countries for personal reasons must inform HR and work from home during the first 14 days after arrival to their home country. After this 14-day period, if they do not exhibit any COVID-19 symptoms, they may return to their place of work. For the safety of all employees, we thank you in advance for following these requirements.

·       We will provide updates via email based on further recommendations from the CDC, World Health Organization (WHO) or other agencies.

General Health Best Practices

·       If you are sick or show symptoms (cough or fever), please stay home and notify your manager.  Seek prompt medical attention if needed. [Company] fully supports you working from home if you are willing and able, and your client assignment allows you to do so.

·       If you need to stay home to care for a sick family member, notify your manager that you need to work from home. This will also help reduce the spread of germs.  

What you can do now to prepare for a possible outbreak

·       Please take the time now to test your VPN from your home connection in the event you will need to work remote

·       Make sure you have a supply of all essential medications for your family

·       Make a child care plan if you or a caregiver are sick

·       Make arrangements about how your family will manage a school closure

·       Make a plan for how you can care for a sick family member without getting sick yourself.

·       Follow basic health best practices like:

o   Enforcing great hygiene, like washing hands thoroughly for at least 20 seconds

o   Not touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands

o   Coughing/sneezing into your elbow, not your hand

·       Try alternatives to shaking hands, like an elbow bump or wave

We’ll continue to closely monitor this evolving situation and are prepared to alter our procedures and planning should the situation change.

Thank you for doing your part to support a healthy environment for all of [Company]’s employees, clients/customers and vendors.

To stay up to date on the evolving landscape, additional information can be found here:

Center for Disease Control https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

San Francisco Department of Public Health https://www.sfdph.org/dph/alerts/coronavirus.asp