Ultimately a safe environment is a two-way street where everyone involved respects the new social contracts that have developed in response to COVID. You can follow all of the CDC’s guidelines and procedures in the restaurant, but if your staff aren’t following the CDC’s recommended social distancing guidelines in their personal life, they can put your restaurant at risk. A particularly vital element to your COVID response is making sure your staff know what to do if they are exposed or test positive for COVID-19.
Your Internal Policy Should Include:
- Employee behavior expectations
- How you will prioritize your employee’s health and safety
- Responses to a COVID exposure and/or positive test
- Updates to employee benefits from the Family First Response Plan
- Process for returning to work
- Out-of-state or international travel policy
- Local resources for testing
- Employee accountability
- How you plan to communicate any changes, including temporary shutdowns
Your staff must clearly understand expectations of their behavior both inside and outside of the workplace. In the workplace, that starts with distributing a copy of your COVID-19 response plan, and making sure every employee follows your guidelines while working. Outside of the workplace, that means making sure your employees understand how their behavior can increase the spread of COVID-19.
Emphasize the importance of wearing masks, washing hands, maintaining six feet of distance, and large gatherings. Let your employees know beforehand how these measures will be enforced, and what the consequences are if they are found putting themselves and others at risk.
Trust20 is the new standard of restaurant safety and diner comfort, based on 20 tactics by health and safety experts.
