health care – Page 2

December 8, 2020December 14, 2020

How SMBs can survive and thrive during and after COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown a curveball at businesses, but small and medium-sized organizations have found themselves in a unique predicament. With limited resources, smaller organizations need to realign their priorities given current market conditions and quickly do so.

A crucial part of the economy

As the pandemic continues, governments are focused on more stringent health and safety protocols. But at the same time, they try to keep the economy moving despite restrictions. SMBs are a crucial piece to doing this.

There are 31.7 million small businesses in the United States, accounting for 99.9 percent of U.S. businesses. SMBs also account for 45 percent of total employment in emerging countries globally and 60 percent in the U.K.

Governments have offered different forms of aid for SMBs. While helpful, such assistance is more focused on helping SMBs survive in the short term. It’s essential to recognize that the speed of recovery will depend on the ability of SMBs to return to sustainable operations post-pandemic after current stimulus measures run out.

Here are some ways SMBs can quickly adapt and remain on track for recovery.

Reopen safely with technology

According to a Salesforce Research survey, 64 percent of SMBs have focused on safety and health policies due to the pandemic. Cleaning physical spaces is a huge part of it, but another way to promote health safety is to enforce social distancing and manage the number of customers coming in.

Reopen is a free tool that lets customers make appointments. Through the platform, businesses can set their operating hours and customers can book a time slot that’s suitable for them to visit. With bookings set in advance, businesses can control foot traffic, anticipate demand and let clients know that they are safely open for business.

Make cost-efficient decisions

Cost efficiency is crucial for SMBs, especially when demand tends to shift depending on changing restrictions. They need a mechanism that will enable them to optimize quickly to save on costs.

Workforce.com’s live wage tracker enables small businesses and their managers to make cost-efficient decisions on the fly because it tracks demand and labor costs in real time. Managers can see staff count, exact costs and spot potential areas for overspending.

Create schedules that stay on budget

Scheduling for SMBs can be more challenging these days. There has to be a balance between having enough staff, ensuring team safety and staying on budget.

Workforce.com offers a scheduling platform that allows managers to input their labor budget to create a schedule that stays within a set amount. The platform can also pull in data from their POS, which can help forecast demand based on historical data.

Ensure staff safety

Health issues are detrimental to how SMBs operate, especially now. Creating rotational shifts to minimize contact is a good step. It also pays to conduct health check-ins during each shift where employees can declare any symptoms they’re experiencing. This will help managers optimize operations, conduct contact tracing and assist employees should they need to be tested and isolated.

Also read: Staying resilient: 10 ways to use Workforce.com to manage the impact of COVID-19

Workforce.com provides ways to keep track of these things automatically. Managers can create and track qualifications for safety processes such as COVID-19 test results and quarantine expiration dates within the platform. They can also set shift questions that remind staff of sanitation requirements or ask them if they’re experiencing any symptoms.

Adapting to market volatility with technology

SMBs that utilize technology are better poised to overcome market challenges. According to the same Salesforce Research survey, technology influences SMB operations in different ways, especially with customer interactions (51 percent), the organization’s ability to stay open and in business (46 percent) and growth of customer base (40 percent).

The Workforce.com platform is designed to meet the workforce management needs of businesses of any size. It has different functionalities that can help SMBs thrive even in today’s volatile market. See how it can equip your team to make cost-effective decisions and optimize operations promptly. See it in action and try Workforce.com for free today.

December 7, 2020

Coronavirus update: Vaccines

We are days away from the FDA approving two different COVID-19 vaccines, and it is being reported that the first people could start receiving the vaccine as early as Friday, Dec. 11.

While I covered the topic of employer-mandated vaccines earlier this year, I understand that everyone doesn’t necessarily see or read every post I write. Thus, because of just how important this issue will quickly become for employers, today I’m directing you to my thoughts from three months ago: Coronavirus Update 9-1-2020: Vaccines — can an employer require them; should an employer require them?

The TL;DR: Employers can legally require that employees get vaccinated, subject to reasonable accommodation exceptions under the ADA for disabilities and under Title VII for sincerely held religious beliefs.

But can doesn’t necessarily mean should, and employers should be wary about requiring what employees do with their bodies; instead, employers should be strongly encouraging employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine when they qualify to do so.

November 23, 2020January 25, 2021

Coronavirus update: Thankful

It’s clear that 2020 has certainly been a year like no other. People are sick and dying. Hospitals are filling up. Our essential workers are stressed and tired.

I’m tired, too. Part of what’s making me tired is continuing to hear people complain about “2020” when we have so much for which to be thankful.

Here’s my list of everything for which I have been and continue to be thankful during the pandemic.

That no one in my very immediate world has become severely ill with COVID-19, or worse has died from it. I pray every day that I can still say this six months from now.
That my wife and I remain gainfully employed.
My daily lunches and walks with my wife, the absolute best perk of us both working from home.
My kids, who have endured the pandemic, and being stuck in the house with mom and dad, as best as they can.
My dogs, who will have absolutely no idea what to do with themselves when we finally go back to work outside of the home.
The slower pace of life and all of the family time I’ve been able to enjoy as a result.
That I’ve been able to work from home since March without anyone batting an eye.
Fast WiFi.
Zoom, which has allowed me to stay connected to family and friends even though I can’t visit with them IRL, and to continue to conduct business without the risk of in-person meetings, hearings, and depositions.
A dry spring, summer and fall, which allowed me to see some family and friends IRL and in small groups.
Democracy.
My renewed love of cooking.
My kids’ school, and its commitment to safety and remaining open for full-time in-person instruction.
The Rockin’ the Suburbs Friday Night Hootenanny, which continues to provide my daughter a valuable virtual outlet to share her music weekly with a group of very appreciative listeners. (Pro tip: it’s free to join, and you can just sit back and listen if you have no music to share.)
The scientists who worked tirelessly to deliver the COVID-19 vaccines we desperately need.
Essential workers who risk their lives every day so that we can continue to live ours.
Season 2 of The Mandalorian, the best show currently on TV and a Friday bonding ritual with my son that I very much look forward to.
Jackbox, which has provided hours upon hours of entertainment on family game nights while allowing my kids to demonstrate their mastery of four-letter words in the safe space of our home.
Curbside pickup.
Red wine, gin, and bourbon.

I’ll be off the remainder of this week, and will return after the Thanksgiving weekend to open the polls for voting for the Worst Employer of 2020.

Everyone, please have a healthy and safe holiday. If you are considering getting together with family or friends for a meal or otherwise, please reconsider. I live in abject fear that if we do not behave with the appropriate level of respect for this virus, responsibility for our role in limiting its spread, and care for others we will lose all hope of controlling this virus until vaccinations reach a critical mass sometime in mid-2021.

By then, a half million of us will be dead, millions will be grieving those losses, and millions more will be suffering long-term debilitating health issues. We can still beat this virus, but it will take a concerted effort from all of us to do so.

November 19, 2020

Breaking down my county’s four-week coronavirus stay-at-home advisory

Yesterday afternoon, Cuyahoga County, Ohio’s largest, issued a four-week stay-at-home advisory. It took effect immediately, and is in addition to the 21-day 10 pm – 5 am statewide curfew Governor DeWine implemented yesterday and which takes effect tonight.

Let’s examine why it was issued, what is says and what it means for your business.

Why was it issued?

The county is experiencing a dramatic increase in the number of COVID-19 cases.
The positivity rate within the county has increased to 15 percent and is rising.
The county suffered 50 COVID-19 fatalities during the first two weeks of November.
The county is currently reporting 500 – 600 new COVID-19 cases per day over the past week, and modeling predicts it could rise as high as 2,000 new daily cases in the coming weeks.

What does it say?

All county residents are advised to stay at home to the greatest extent possible, and should only leave their homes for work, school, essential needs.
Employers are strongly encouraged to identify and accommodate as many employees as possible to work from home.
Businesses should transition as many functions as possible to an online format.
Schools that are currently implementing a hybrid or full in-person learning are advised to transition to online remote learning after the Thanksgiving holiday.
All public or private gathering, meeting, or social event occurring outside of a residence or living unit is limited to no more than 10 individuals.
Parties, receptions, celebrations, and other similar events should be postponed.
Residents are strongly advised not to conduct or attend any indoor gatherings with guests who are not members of their household in a home or place of residence.
Residents that are exhibiting any signs and symptoms of COVID-19 must shelter in their place of residence, and people should otherwise follow CDC guidelines for isolation and quarantine.

What does it mean?

If your employees live in Cuyahoga County, more and more will need time off because their children will be home from school.
If your business is located in Cuyahoga County, you should give serious consideration to shifting to an all-remote model if possible, or at least permitting every employee who can work remotely to do so for at least the next four weeks.
This is just the beginning. We should expect similar advisories by local or state governments in the coming weeks as COVID-19 continues to surge out of control. Indeed, other counties in Ohio (e.g., Medina and Frankin) also issued their own stay-at-home advisories for residents and businesses, although neither of them recommends closing schools.

What are the penalties?

There aren’t any.
It’s an advisory, not an order.

Finally, I cannot mean this more clearly or earnestly, if everyone would have just behaved responsibly and with an ounce of compassion and empathy for their fellow humans from the beginning, we wouldn’t be in the position we now find ourselves.

November 11, 2020

Working in an office instead of working from home doubles the risk of contracting COVID-19

coronavirus, remote work, COVID-19, remote workforce

You are literally making COVID-19 worse if you are refusing to permit employees to work from home.

According to a recently published CDC study, employees who work in an office setting are nearly twice as likely to contract COVID-19 than employees who work from home.

ABC News summarizes the study’s methodology and findings:

Researchers interviewed roughly 310 people who took a COVID-19 test in July, about half of whom tested positive, and compared them to a control group of people who tested negative. The majority of both groups, all adults, held full-time, non-essential jobs outside of critical infrastructure and had similar community exposure to COVID-19 independent of work.

The groups had some differences in behavior: Only a third of the COVID-19 group reported working from home or teleworking at least part of the time before their diagnosis, while half of the control group participants reported at least sometimes working remotely. In the two weeks prior to getting sick, members of the COVID-19 group were more likely to report that they exclusively went to the office or to school than control group members were. Researchers also found an association between going to the office regularly and attending church or religious gatherings.

What does this data tell us? In the words of the CDC, “Businesses and employers should promote alternative work site options, such as teleworking, where possible, to reduce exposures.”

Unless you absolutely need employees to perform their work from your workplace, let them work from home. COVID numbers are not getting any better.

In fact, they are getting exponentially worse and are predicted to continue to do so until plateauing as late as January or even February. We all have a role to play in stopping the spread of this deadly virus.

Allowing employees who are able to work remotely to do so is just about the least you can do.

October 13, 2020

If your employees are scared to come to work you are doing something very, very wrong

According to Deadspin, NFL players are terrified of COVID but are afraid to speak up for fear of angering the NFL.

“I looked at my son. I looked at my family, and I just didn’t think it was worth it,” Jaguars player Lerentee McCray, a seven-year veteran, told me this summer after opting out. “I could catch it and bring it home to them. Or I can get it and even if it doesn’t kill me, it could destroy my career long-term. I feel really weird not playing football right now, but can’t. I can’t risk doing something so dangerous and maybe hurting the people I love.”

In the end, most players decided the money was worth the risk. So, they play.

Yet there’s been a definite shift in that attitude over the past few months and even weeks, several told me in various interviews, as the virus spreads through locker rooms. Most requested anonymity for fear of angering NFL owners and the league office.

Players add that they feel that the safety measures the league and their union promised pre-season were meaningless.

One of the things players tell me that’s changed their thinking from the summer is the ballistic pace of the infections. One moment the virus isn’t there, the next it’s calling plays in the huddle. As a virus spreads through a locker room there’s a sense of helplessness. Players now think of football during the pandemic era not as a calculated risk, but Russian roulette.

All of the outbreaks have left a player base more scared than ever before. That’s the word I’m hearing the most: scared.

This is awful. Yes, they make a lot of money to play a game, and yes, they all had the ability to opt out before the season started (as 67 players chose to do). But they also should have an expectation that their employer is doing everything within reason to keep them safe and the ability to air their grievances if they perceive that their employer is failing in that mission. The fact that players believe that the NFL is failing on both counts is galling.

Employers, you have one primary obligation to your employees during this pandemic — keep them safe. If your employees are terrified to come to work, you are failing, period. It’s time to look inward. Are you doing your part?

Are you mandating masks?
Do you require a minimum of six feet of physical distance at all times?
Are you promoting hand washing and other good personal hygiene habits?
Are you regularly cleaning and sanitizing work and common areas?
Have you eliminated gatherings of employees?
Are you mandating self-screening for COVID-19 symptoms and sending home anyone with symptoms until cleared by a doctor?
Are you enforcing the CDC’s isolation and quarantine rules?
Do you have an open door through which employees can walk, without retaliation or fear of retaliation, if they feel you are not meeting these obligations or their coworkers aren’t following the rules?

Unless you can answer yes to each of these questions, it’s time to take a long, hard look at your pandemic protocols and decide what you should be doing differently. Your employees, their families and friends, and the general public are counting on you.

October 7, 2020June 29, 2023

COVID-19 contact tracing goes mobile to keep BNBuilders employees on the job

Mobile technology continues to help remodel the construction industry.

From drones snapping aerial photos to safety improvements to employee clock ins, construction sites have become far more efficient in their day-to-day operations in part because of mobile technology.

Few construction executives, however, could have predicted that mobile technology would play such an important role as COVID-19 disrupted job sites across the nation. Employee safety was the primary concern for construction company BNBuilders. And Shawn Namdar, solutions engineer for the Seattle-based company, was deeply involved in creating a novel form of mobile technology that allowed his employer to keep people safe on the job.

Also read: Time and attendance management implementation is about more than just punching a clock

“When the initial lockdown went into effect in March, a small subset of our jobs and workers were categorized as essential, so we needed to determine a set of procedures for keeping them open and active while maintaining social distance and the recommended health checks,” Namdar said.

Contact tracing mobile solution

Contact tracing presented a particularly difficult prospect to monitor, Namdar added. BNBuilders executives realized they needed a process to document people on location. With 850 total employees — 485 of whom are hourly and 730 assigned to job sites stretching from Seattle to the Bay area, Los Angeles and San Diego — they needed to track who came in contact with whom and whether anyone had been exposed to someone with symptoms.

Senior leadership sent everyone home and met for back-to-back working sessions to come up with a solution “fast,” Namdar said.

Also read: Automate how your staff clocks in and out

The meetings helped determine and establish a safe standard of job-site processes and operations that are compliant with government regulations, he added.

Separate solution from clocking in

“It was clear that we needed a sign-in process for all individuals on a job site,” Namdar recalled. The company had transitioned to digital time cards about six years ago, so this was a completely separate challenge, he added.

“Our IT director was in the meeting and interjected that a technology-based solution would allow us to maintain social distancing and prevent the spread of germs through shared pens and a sign-in sheet. That’s where I came in,” he said.

In one day, Namdar pulled together an on-site mobile check-in form developed using process automation software Nintex and presented a demo to his HR director and executive superintendent.

mobile technology — Shawn Namdar, solutions engineer for BNBuilders.

“The next day, the executive team approved the process and we were off to the races on the production side,” he said.

Also read: Building a safety policy was vital to Shawmut Design and Construction’s health.

When workers arrive at a job, there is a specific QR code and once scanned, the form populates with the specific information for a particular job site. Namdar also created a database for workers, and by just typing in their phone number, their information is pulled so multiple pieces of information don’t have to be re-entered each day.

“In just a few days, we went from zero entries to thousands,” he said. “In the six months since implementing this mobile check-in process, we have seen 144,000 form submissions.”

Complying with government guidelines

Initially HR played a large role in ensuring that the processes were compliant with government regulations and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, he said.

“They paid close attention to the types and phrasing of the questions we asked,” Namdar said. “HR had a big hand in the vetting and rollout process to make sure it was a solution that was easy to use by all.”

As a general contractor, BNBuilders executives are responsible for the safety of everyone on the job site. Safety is the absolute top priority on their job sites and the contact tracing process is one key reason they can continue operating, he said.

BNBuilders’ offices are operating at minimal capacity and serving as a command center for safety and critical departments such as IT and accounting, he said.

Case study: Hoffer Plastics’ ‘family first’ philosophy puts people over profits.

“We’ve seen a lot of success with our office workers working from home,” Namdar said. We didn’t experience the initial productivity slump that was common within the industry because our organization had prioritized digital transformation before the pandemic.”

Adopting the mobile check in

Pivoting so quickly to the on-site mobile check-in process happened quickly since they had previous success with Nintex digital forms and workflows, he said. “Without it we would have been contact tracing with pen and paper and manually inputting that information at the end of each day,” he said. “I could create a custom web app in only a day, which could have taken three to four weeks if I was starting from zero.

“Technology speeds everything up and if organizations aren’t leveraging it, they are limiting themselves.”

Use a mobile solution to build and send your employee schedules in seconds. Workforce.com’s leading scheduling app allows you to optimize staffing levels and manage shifts with ease.

October 5, 2020

Your employees should never learn about positive COVID-19 test from anyone but you

Ninety percent of the [White House] complex most certainly learned about it in the news, as has been the case ever since. There are reports that COVID is spreading like wildfire through the White House. There are hundreds and hundreds of people who work on-complex, some who have families with high-risk family members. Since this whole thing started, not one email has gone out to tell employees what to do or what’s going on.

– Anonymous White House Senior Official

If your employees are learning about a positive COVID-19 diagnosis from anyone other than from an official communication from you as their employer, you have failed in your duty as their employer.

They should not learn from other employees. They should not learn from social media. They should not learn from the professional media. Period. The should only learn from you.

What should this communication look like? Let me suggest the following.

Dear Employees:

It saddens us to inform you that one of your co-workers has tested positive for COVID-19. The law prevents us from telling you the identity of that co-worker, but we want to assure you that we will continue to support this employee as your co-worker heals from this virus, and we will welcome them back to join you at work once it is safe to do so.

We are doing everything within our ability and resources to keep you as safe and healthy as possible at work. Still, with many cases of COVID-19 transmitted before anyone knows they have been exposed, and with you only being at work for a fraction of you day, we cannot 100 percent guarantee the virus won’t enter our workplace.

We continue to require that you self-assess daily for your own potential COVID-19 symptoms (fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, or diarrhea). If you have any of these symptoms, please let us know, and do not return to work until you are fever-free for at least 24 hours, your other symptoms have improved for at least 24 hours, and at least 10 days have passed since your first symptoms.

Anyone who has been in “close contact” with our ill employee has been separately and privately notified, and will be required to quarantine for at least 14 days from their last close contact.

We are also continuing to take the following steps to help ensure, as best as possible, your health and safety here at work:

Employees are required to wear masks or other facial coverings at all times while at work, unless you granted a specific exception (such as for safety, a medical reason, or because you are working alone in a closed office).

Employees are required to maintain six feet of physical distance from others at all times.

Employees must diligently wash their hands and otherwise use hand sanitizer (which we are providing in intervals around the workplace).

Employees must self-assess their own health before reporting to work, and no employee is permitted to come to work if they have any of the known symptoms of COVID-19.

Lunch room and other common areas are closed until further notice.

Each employee is responsible for cleaning their own work station at the end of each shift.

We are deep cleaning the entire workplace on a weekly basis.

Additionally, because of the unfortunate positive test, we had the facility deep cleaned and sanitized prior to anyone being allowed to reenter after we learned of the positive test.

Our commitment to your health and safety is our top priority. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact ______________. Our door is always open.

September 28, 2020

What one debate question would you ask each candidate?

On Sept. 29, a mere 16 miles from my home, President Trump and Vice President Biden will step in front of the cameras to make their respective cases to America in the first of three debates. Eight years ago, some of my blogging friends and I got together to propose the debate questions we’d ask each of the candidates if we had the power to do so. Given the current state of our Republic and what’s at stake when we vote, we thought it would be a good idea to revisit this collective idea and do it again.

Here are my “one questions” for President Trump and Vice President Biden.

For President Trump

Last week, you said the following during a White House press briefing, about your intent to uphold a peaceful transfer of power following the election: “[G]et rid of the ballots and you’ll have a very … there won’t be a transfer, frankly. There’ll be a continuation.” Our democracy—in fact, any democracy—is premised on the people choosing their elected representatives and the loser of an election ceding and allowing for a peaceful transition of power. On the contrary, a “continuation” of a regime without counting ballots is the hallmark of a dictatorship, not a democracy. Mr. President, this evening will you commit, without exception, that come January 20, 2021, that if Congress declares Joe Biden, and not you, the winner of the 2020 Presidential election, you will step aside and allow for the peaceful transition of power as has occurred every four years since 1793? And if not, why not?

For Vice President Biden

To date, COVID-19 has killed more than 200,000 Americans. If the numbers and trends merey hold steady, by Inauguration Day that number will increase by more than another 100,000. Some models project the death toll will be even higher. We’d be approaching, if not surpassing, the number of U.S. combat casualties in both World Wars combined. Can you please tell the American people the steps you will take from day one in office to contain this deadly virus and decrease the tragic trajectory of death and loss?

For the questions that my employment law/HR blogging friends would ask, head over to the following:

Kate Bischoff — tHRive Law & Consulting Blog

Suzanne Lucas — Evil HR Lady

Jeff Nowak — FMLA Insights

Dan Schwartz — Connecticut Employment Law Blog

September 16, 2020June 29, 2023

305 Fitness works out pandemic woes while pumping up employee health

New York-based 305 Fitness bills itself as “a dance cardio workout with a live DJ. It’s fun, wild, and hard AF.”

As COVID-19 took hold earlier this year, leaders of 305 Fitness faced a workout of their own that was hard AF — and gravely serious. With indoor dance studios featuring black lights, lots of neon and Miami club scene-inspired music, 305 Fitness was forced to close its brick-and-mortar locations in New York, Washington, D.C., and Boston, as well as pop-up studios in Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Revenues immediately plummeted by 90 percent, said 305 Fitness Chief Operating Officer Sam Karshenboym.

There were difficult conversations with landlords regarding rent abatement in the short term. They also made as many cuts as possible to keep the business afloat, Karshenboym said.

“The bulk of the cuts came down to really, really difficult decisions we had to make in HR and staffing,” he said. “We reduced our full-time team from 28 to 10. And we had to furlough all of our 250 part-time employees across six cities. All remaining full-timers on the team took a very significant pay cut.”

Health care for fitness staff

Stories of such drastic cuts sadly are all too frequent in a pandemic-ravaged business world. Like other fitness centers and health clubs nationwide, remaining open to the public as the pandemic set in was not an option. But in a business climate where every dollar counts, 305 Fitness executives opted to retain its health coverage for remaining employees.

Also read: View your schedule at a glance and make changes as needed.

“We wanted to offer access to health care,” Karshenboym said. “It’s one way that we can support our team in a way that made it easy for them and also works for us financially.”

305 Fitness retained its partnership with concierge health provider Eden Health. Concierge health — a subscription-based, membership medicine business model — is one health care alternative that’s become more attractive for smaller companies wanting to provide employees with 24-hour digital care, same-day in-person primary care, and behavioral health services.

The fitness company initially contracted three years ago with Eden Health, which in August announced an infusion of $25 million in Series B funding, bringing its total to $39 million in venture capital raised. Eden Health is known for its direct-to-employer health care delivery model, “bringing in-person and virtual health care together to deliver an exceptional patient experience to the employees of mid-market companies,” according to an August press statement announcing the funding.

Also read: Decentralized scheduling in nursing helps care for health care professionals

“We received a lot of feedback from our team about how grateful they were that they got to use Eden Health during quarantine,” Karshenboym said. The 305 Fitness staff is primarily in their 20s and 30s, he added, and depending on the role, they are paid hourly or per class.

“It’s great during the pandemic for obvious reasons. It’s virtual care in a time when all you can do are virtual things. I worked closely with our director of HR to unveil it some time ago, and it’s been a really great experience.”

Protecting employee safety

Karshenboym said some staff members have used the pop-up clinics, and in October they will provide flu shots to 305 Fitness staff at an Eden Health clinic.

305 Fitness, health — 305 Fitness COO Sam Karshenboym.

“While we weren’t able to offer health insurance for our part-timers, we were excited to offer Eden Health as a great health-related perk,” he said.

As fitness studios nationwide were shut down in March, 305 Fitness faced many unknowns at the time, primarily around asymptomatic carriers potentially spreading COVID-19. There also was the daunting task of transitioning to a virtual working world with a pared down staff.

“The bulk of what we’re doing is still virtual,” he said. “What is in person is our outdoor classes, where we are requiring 6 feet social distancing before and after class; 15 feet during class; and masks before and after class.”

Transparency and supporting the team

To help supplement its revenues 305 Fitness offers digital certification for instructors living outside its studio markets to teach 305 techniques locally. They have certified over 300 people since March who are teaching either virtually or outdoors in their communities, Karshenboym said.

“It’s been a challenging year for all of us, at 305 and outside of 305,” he said. “I know we’re not unique in that way. It’s really just about how we as a company support our team members and our community as best as we can. The free daily workouts offered on YouTube have been a primary way we’ve been able to stay connected to our community on a daily basis. We really try to have them be fun and carefree and high energy and silly and a sort of momentary outlet to de-stress and disconnect from reality.”

Case study: With safety a top priority, Easy Ice slipping past COVID-19 challenges

Despite the cutbacks Karshenboym said they aren’t hiding anything from their staff. Transparency has been key to engaging their employees, he said.

The fitness company hosts free daily morning meditations for employees and its client base, as well as free workshops around self-care, resilience, confidence, and staying productive through Eden Health. Earlier this summer, 305 Fitness offered over $40,000 in creative grants to furloughed staff to support them in their creative pursuits and projects, he said.

“We’ve been offering as much transparency as we can as a leadership team through town halls, regular emails, check-ins, whatever we can do to offer the team more information into what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, how we plan to get through the pandemic and survive this,” he said. “There’s so much unknown in the world, and if we can make things known, at least within the world of 305, that makes it a little bit easier for our team to navigate this time.”

See wage costs in real-time and adjust staffing levels and assignments to drive profitability with Workforce.com’s Live Wage Tracker.