It’s Time to Prepare for Your Optometry Practice’s COVID-19 Contingency Plan
On March 8th, we brought you this PECAA blog post with some CDC guidelines for hand hygiene, cough and sneeze etiquettetips on planning for a flu pandemic, and more.*
Just like you, PECAA is closely monitoring updates and recommendations from public health agencies regarding the global outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and working to keep our member’s businesses operating as smoothly as possible. We will be sharing business-related articles and updates to the membership as they become available.
It’s time to develop your practice’s contingency plan and communicate your plan to your staff ASAP.
Here are some things to consider as you create a plan specific to your practice:
- What is your current PTO/sick leave policy?
- Will you be sending home employees who show symptoms of illness (not just COVID-19)?
- What is the plan if your schedule is significantly impacted? Will you be changing employee schedules?
- Will you require employees to exhaust all available PTO before unpaid time off?
- Will you pay employees if your practice is forced to change operating hours or close for a short time?
- Work with your medical insurance provider to see what benefits, such as telehealth or mental health services, are available to staff members. Share this information with your employees.
- Be sure your policy follows local, state and federal laws – you can verify by communicating with PECAA vendor partner AmeriBen (contact the HR support center hotline at 888.716.4482 or via email at resourcecenter@ameriben.com – let them know you are a PECAA member to avoid charges).
- Be prepared for employee leave: COVID-19 & paid leave scenarios and health & safety procedures.
PECAA’s Human Resource partner AmeriBen has provided resources for your practice regarding the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act, the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act, Planning for a Flu Pandemic in the Workplace, a Sample Pandemic Flu Leave Policy and an Update on Best Practices.
*The information provided to you via PECAA email and blog posts should not be taken as medical or legal advice, please consult the CDC, your local COVID-19 response teams, and human resources professionals as needed.
