Making Your Employees Safe as They Return to Work in Retail

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Photo via Wikimedia Commons Victorgrigas

Making Your Employees Safe as They Return to Work in Retail

Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a lot of changes to the retail industry. More and more retail businesses have found themselves facing the need to move to online shopping as physical stores were temporarily closed and customers were asked to stay at home as much as possible for their own safety and the safety of others. While essential retailers have done well over the pandemic, non-essential retail businesses have a different story to tell. But as the world begins to get more control over the coronavirus and the vaccine begins to take effect, retail business owners, employees, and customers are hoping to return to some type of normality as soon as possible. Keeping your employees safe as they return to working in retail should be one of the main concerns right now for your business. Here are some of the main ways to achieve this. 

Business Insurance

The right insurance can make all the difference to how well your company is able to cope during the reopening period after the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s important to take the time to research the different types of insurance policies that are available and make sure that you have the ones that your business needs to keep your equipment, employees and customers safe and ensure that you are financially protected in a wide range of situations. Along with the usual business and product liability insurances that are often required for retail companies, it’s a wise idea to consider retail shop insurance that will cover you in the event of a temporary closure due to COVID-19. Check out Next Insurance for more information on the type of policies available. Using Next Insurance, you can compare different insurance policies, work out which ones are best for your store, and get a quote.

Social Distancing Measures

Indoor spaces are some of the most likely places for COVID-19 to spread, and social distancing is one of the main ways to combat this issue. Despite the fact that an increasing number of people have had the vaccine and are no longer required to social distance or wear a face covering according to the CDC, it’s a good idea to continue social distancing measures for some time for additional protection and to keep those people who have not yet had the vaccination safe. Putting strategies in place to keep numbers low in your store at any one time, and measures like plexiglass screens at checkout points to protect employees and customers with an additional barrier between them, will help reduce the risk. 

Remote Working

Not every employee that works for a retail store needs to be on the premises, so it’s a good idea to keep your employee numbers and the risk of COVID-19 low by allowing any employees who can do so to continue working remotely for the time being. Admin support employees, for example, or employees who look after your website, may not need to be on the premises in order to continue effectively doing their job. 

COVID-19 Screening

It can be a wise idea to regularly screen your employees for COVID-19 to ensure that everybody is safe when they return to work. Having policies in place to support your employees if they are infected with COVID-19 and need to self-isolate, such as offering full pay for the employee while they are recovering at home, will encourage employees to be honest about any symptoms that they may be experiencing without any worries regarding their financial situation should they have to take time off work. Temperature checking at the beginning of a shift can be an effective way to determine if an employee might have the early symptoms of COVID-19, since a higher-than-usual temperature is often one of the first symptoms and might not always be noticeable. Finally, consider asking your employees to take rapid COVID-19 tests on a regular basis so that you can stay updated on their health and quickly respond to any COVID-19 infections in your workplace. 

As the world starts to try and get back to normal after the COVID-19 pandemic, retail employees are on the front line. You want your retail store to be back in business and thriving as soon as possible – but to do this, protecting your employees in terms of both their health and finances has never been more important. 

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