Implementing a government-issued mandate requires planning and attention to detail. It’s not enough to just announce it to your staff and expect them to fall in line.
These steps can help make the process easier when helping to maintain employee trust and compliance:
- Review existing policies regarding COVID vaccination and testing. Make sure they are up-to-date with federal requirements. Add any missing elements and alert employees about the changes. Consider creating a one-pager with information such as requirements for vaccination, applicable exclusions, how vaccine status will be collected and maintained, available paid time off/sick leave for vaccination purposes, etc.
- Decide whether masking and weekly testing will be an option. And to whom and how these policies will apply.
- If applicable, decide whether the mandate will be organization-wide and, if not, what exceptions there will be (i.e., workers functioning solely remotely).
- Establish a process to handle requests for reasonable accommodations.
- Communication with employees. This may seem like a no-brainer, but too often this is done ineffectively. The part that often gets missed is listening to employees and specifically addressing their questions, concerns, and objections. It also is essential to repeat information in various formats and on several platform over time. Communication isn’t one and done.
