With many businesses beginning to reopen offices and storefronts while the coronavirus pandemic persists, they are implementing new guidelines and policies designed to keep employees safe. Large and small businesses alike are adopting measures to encourage social distancing and enhanced sanitization as outlined by state governments, with some companies going above and beyond local ordinances to take precautions.
Here are seven businesses that are making adjustments to protect employees from the COVID-19 pandemic as workplaces reopen across the U.S.
Denver Broncos
While professional sports have not resumed play in the U.S. due to COVID-19, sports organizations are transitioning some employees back to offices. The Denver Broncos football organization recently began bringing workers back with a “maximum of 75 employees” allowed at their facilities. New safety precautions for workers include a health questionnaire and temperature checks upon walking in each day, face coverings in communal spaces, plexiglass barriers in open offices and more. The Broncos even posted workers coming back to their facilities on Twitter, featuring them wearing masks and getting temperature checks.
Technology giant Google has announced its initial plans to reopen offices and bring back thousands of employees gradually throughout 2020. The company is targeting early July 2020 for its first phase, with reopened office buildings only allowing 10% capacity. Google then intends to increase building capacity to 30% by September. Reopened offices will have “rigorous health and safety measures in place to ensure social distancing and sanitization guidelines are followed,” Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in a blog post. Notably, Google also said that because it expects the majority of its workforce to work from home in 2020, it will give each employee $1,000 to “expense necessary equipment and office furniture.”
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
While New York-based financial institution JPMorgan Chase & Co. has not yet revealed when employees will be allowed back to offices, it has begun creatively planning how to bring workers back safely. JPMorgan’s large offices will only be allowed to be at half capacity, and it plans to get rid of lobby furniture and limit elevator capacity. Additionally, to prepare desks for a new flexible seating arrangement for employees, the company has been placing workers’ personal items into boxes and sanitizing all office surfaces.
At the start of each shift, The Daily is checking employee temperatures and asking health questions to screen for COVID-19 symptoms.
Magnolia Market
Magnolia Market — a popular shopping and dining area in Waco, Texas — has announced its reopening plans with a strong emphasis on keeping employees safe. All on-premise buildings will be limited to 50% capacity, all staff will be required to wear masks and gloves, the market will be deep cleaned every evening, dining and drink vendors will all have single-use menus and a one-way flow will be created in many spaces, the company said in its reopening announcement. Additionally, all employees will get health and temperature checks before starting shifts.
Six Flags St. Louis
Six Flags St. Louis is one of many theme parks around the country beginning to map out plans to reopen sometime this summer. Naturally, with theme parks usually attracting dense crowds, Six Flags has announced many new actions to protect workers and customers. Upon entering the park, employees and guests will have their temperatures checked, every person older than two years old will be required to wear masks, and social distancing will be strictly enforced in both outdoor and indoor areas. Employees will also receive a “Team Member Action Pack” that includes a face mask, safety glasses and gloves.
The Daily Creative Food Co.
Miami-based The Daily Creative Food Co., a restaurant that recently was allowed to reopen its dining area, has made lots of changes to create sanitary and distanced spaces for workers and diners. At the start of each shift, The Daily is checking employee temperatures and asking health questions to screen for COVID-19 symptoms. To protect workers, employees are required to wear masks, as well as change gloves and wash their hands every 30 minutes. And to keep an adequate social distance for everyone under the roof, comically sized “inflatable cupcakes” are placed on tables where people aren’t allowed to sit.
Under Armour
Baltimore-based sportswear maker Under Armour, which has more than 180 North American retail stores that have been closed since March, has announced reopening plans for roughly half of its stores. To keep workers and customers protected while COVID-19 continues to threaten the public, stores will reduce hours, add new cleaning protocols and hand sanitizer stations, limit the number of people allowed in-store, hold returned products for 72 hours before allowing them to be sold, close all fitting rooms and enforce mask-wearing for customers and employees.
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