Covid-19 Employee Notice
CLIENT PARTNERSHIP LETTER REGARDING THE CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)
Dear Optimus Employment Business Partner:
As a valued client and partner of Optimus Employment, we wanted to take this opportunity to apprise you of our efforts with respect to the coronavirus, COVID-19, outbreak.
Our temporary workers’ safety and well-being is paramount to us, as is the safety and well-being of your employees. Therefore, we have advised our temporary employees about how to take care of themselves, protect others, and monitor the latest developments. Per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we have informed our employees that they should:
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick
- Avoid touching their eyes, nose, and mouth
- Stay home when they are sick
- Cover their cough or sneeze with a tissue, and immediately discard any used tissue in the trash
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe
- Not wear a face mask unless they show symptoms of respiratory illness, including COVID-19
- Wash their hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing their nose, coughing, or sneezing (if soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol)
Optimus Employment employees have also been advised to not report to work, and instead, contact Optimus Employment immediately to be advised of next steps, if they are showing symptoms of fever, cough, or shortness of breath, or have traveled to China, South Korea, Japan, Iran or Italy in the past 6 months, or have been on direct contact with someone that has. At that point Optimus Employment will reach out to any of our customers where the sick employee has been assigned, interviewed, and/or visited on the last 14 days. For everyone’s convenience and protection, multiple communication options have been made available to all our employees such as phone call, text, email, application on mobile device, etc.
We also have encouraged our temporary workers to keep up-to-date on developments by visiting the About Coronavirus Disease 2019 and CDC’s Frequently Asked Questions and Answers webpages.
We trust that you are advising your employees similarly and that you will apply the same safety policies and procedures to Optimus Employment’s temporary employees that you apply to your own employees.
Note that we stand ready to assist you in navigating this public health challenge and furthering the well-being of all employees and we ask that you, like we did, adjust your sick policy to be consistent with public health guidance on being flexible and non-punitive in the interim. The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention recommends that employers do not require a healthcare provider’s note for employees who are sick with acute respiratory illness to validate their illness or to return to work, as healthcare provider offices and medical facilities may be extremely busy and not able to provide such documentation in a timely way. They also advise that employers should be aware that more employees may need to stay at home to care for sick children or other sick family members than is usual.
Optimus Employment is committed to do our very best to help reduce any disruptions that an increase number of absences due to this virus may cause to your business. That being said, Optimus Employment will make every possible effort to backfill any position in the interim and continue our open line of communication with our client contact(s). Likewise, we ask that you, as our business partner, keep us informed about any staffing needs, layoffs of any issues that in one way or the other affect the health and well-being of our temporary and internal employees and Optimus Employment in general.
Should you wish to discuss this issue or have any questions at all, please let us know, and we will be happy to help.