Travel companies yet to bring all staff back to the workplace are being urged to roll out Covid risk assessments and communicate openly with employees.
Legal and HR experts speaking at C&M Travel Recruitment’s Get Set For Travel webinar said it was unlikely furlough would be extended beyond September, meaning employers planning to bring staff back to the office should now be preparing to do so.
TravLaw partner Ami Naru said: “You cannot bring anyone back into the workplace until you have done a Covid risk assessment.
“There is a lot of government guidance on this, depending on what setting your workplace is and employers should look at that.”
Firms were also told to find out how staff feel about the return to the office, particularly when it comes to mental health concerns.
Some may not feel comfortable or ready to return to the work environment while there may also be resentment due to the different way furloughed and non-furloughed staff have been treated during the pandemic, said Naru.
She added: “You need to have open dialogue with your staff so they feel able and willing to come back to the workplace. Indirectly employers have split their workplaces into two; those who have remained at work and those on furlough.”
HR and talent professional Claire Steiner warned that reintegrating staff, particularly those that have been on furlough, was likely to be difficult.
She said: “As businesses bring staff off furlough, now is the time to start communicating properly about that reintegration. Even though they are excited, people will be nervous and anxious. There is a lot of work to be done in the weeks ahead.”
C&M Recruitment director Barbara Kolosinska agreed: “Mental health and well being is critical, especially for those coming back who have been not been in the office [during Covid].”
Naru encouraged businesses to think about training staff to help them get back to work. “Many employers will have staff who have been on furlough for the best part of the year. They can do training while on furlough.”
Steiner said some businesses were already bringing furlough staff back once a week or once a month and creating a “work buddy” to help get them used to the work environment gradually.
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