Preparing for a return to the office
Arranged seating and contactless entry to buildings among changes
Since the coronavirus hit in the spring, about 35 per cent of American workers have switched to telecommuting, according to a recent survey by the National Bureau of Economic Research. And with the end of summer fast approaching, you may be wondering about your return to the office — should you return at all.
Or even if you continued to go into work, you might feel uneasy about the rising number of cases across the United States and the prospect that you or your colleagues may contribute to the spread of the virus.
In any case, “there’s no way you can just completely eliminate the risk, but what you have to do is minimize the risk,” said Wafaa El-Sadr, a professor of epidemiology and medicine at Columbia University. “It will require everybody doing their bit.”
Here are some things to take into consideration as you figure out your return to the office.
Be prepared for things to look different
Some businesses have set up contactless entries: employees in certain properties developed by Rudin Management in New York can enter the building hands-free by pulling up a QR code on an app created by its tech startup, Prescriptive Data, that also allows users to check the air quality and elevator wait times (some are limited to four riders at once).
Additionally, the developer has installed sanitizer dispensers at each entry point of its office buildings, as well as diagrams that illustrate how to enter and exit the building to prevent crowding. Once you reach the area where your desk is, you’ll probably notice that seats have been rearranged to ensure social distancing. “Any office that I’ve heard of that has hot-desking” — or unassigned seating — “as the basis for their layout has abandoned that,” said Colin Koop, a partner at the New York office of SOM, a global architecture and design firm.
His workplace introduced a checkered seating layout that allows for about 40 per cent maximum occupancy. The tentative plan is for employees to be phased back in progressively and eventually split into two groups that alternate coming in every two weeks to maintain that spacing.
You may not notice invisible changes, like improvements made to the space’s air quality.
Find out what’s expected of you Enforcing social distancing and the use of face coverings in the workplace are the most critical safety measures, El-Sadr said, but you may encounter other precautions, too.
For example, your employer may be staggering employees’ return dates. Will shifts be staggered throughout the week to reduce density in the office, or throughout the day so employees relying on mass transit can avoid commuting during rush hour?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests employees fill out daily health surveys and disclose whether they have COVID-19 symptoms before coming into work. But that comes with limitations.
“You have some people who may minimize the symptoms and you have some people who might exaggerate the symptoms,” El-Sadr said. But she has found that “most people will be quite honest.”
Employers may also implement daily temperature screenings.
While not all people who test positive for the coronavirus have a fever, if an employee is feeling feverish and knows her temperature will be checked before going into the office, she may be more inclined to stay home, said Joseph Gardner Allen, the deputy director of the Harvard Education and Research Center for Occupational Safety and Health.
It’s also important to understand how your company will respond if an employee tests positive for the coronavirus. In most cases, employers shouldn’t have to shut down their facilities, according to the CDC.
If fewer than seven days have passed since a sick employee has been at work, the CDC suggests closing off any areas she had used for prolonged periods of time. If possible, the employer should wait 24 hours before cleaning and disinfecting, lest other workers become exposed to the virus, and open doors and windows to allow for ventilation.
Employers should also alert workers who may be infected and ask them to stay home for two weeks while they monitor their symptoms.
Know your rights If you feel as if your employer isn’t taking the necessary steps to ensure your safety or is discriminating against you for any reason, read up on the applicable laws in your area.