The pandemic may be waning, but long COVID is an ongoing concern and is even affecting people who didn’t have severe infection. In fact, it is estimated to occur in 10-30% of COVID survivors.
Here are a few issues you need to consider to develop a long COVID strategy:
- Long COVID may affect productivity. Identify workplace issues affecting performance. Consider how you might shorten hours, break up tasks and responsibilities into smaller pieces, etc.
- Workers with long COVID may need disability accommodations. Find out what kind of accommodations may be necessary and how you can provide them.
- Meet with employees who have long COVID diagnoses in private. Give them an opportunity to talk openly about their issues and concerns. Listen with empathy and not judgment.
- Long COVID affects everyone differently, so avoid trying to implement a one-size-fits-all approach to address it.
- Encourage employees to seek ongoing medical care for their long COVID symptoms.
It is important to have a strategy in place to address long COVID. Ignoring complains or penalizing a worker for any negative effect long COVID has on their performance could put your organization at legal risk.
