As business owners we know things can change pretty quickly in this Covid era, and they have!
Phase 2 started at 11.59pm Tuesday 15th February, with changes including:
- Shorter isolation periods:
For cases and household contacts, isolation is reduced to 10 days.
For close contacts (but not household contacts), isolation is reduced to 7 days. - An increased use of rapid antigen tests (RATs) with a “test to return” policy put in place for critical workforces.
Asymptomatic essential workers deemed close contacts can return to work if they return daily negative RATs.
For full details about Phase 2, go to Our response to Omicron | Unite against COVID-19 (covid19.govt.nz).
Team communication is important
With an ever-changing landscape, it’s important to have a super-efficient way of communicating to our teams, so that we can quickly and easily update them when changes happen (like last night’s move to Phase 2). It prevents confusion and keeps everyone on the same page.
Keep the communications simple
It doesn’t have to be complicated. For my team, it is a one-page flowchart. It’s something I can update easily and give to them. I review it every 2 weeks, or more frequently as needed.
The flowchart quite simply is a step-by-step plan of our Covid response including:
- Planning for isolation and testing of staff e.g. what they do if they or their family have Covid symptoms; what they do if they are a close contact; if they have to self-isolate; etc.
- Adapting how we provide our services to our clients e.g. changing to online or contactless service.
Every business is different, so if you have questions about employees needing to isolate, including what financial support is available for employees in self-isolation or how to manage leave for isolating employees, simply email us on [email protected], we are here to help.
Disclaimer: Please note that this article is based on information available at the time of writing, but may change over time due to the rapidly changing Covid situation.
