minimise disruption from COVID-19

COVID-19 is a type of virus. Typical symptoms include fever and a cough that may progress to severe pneumonia, causing shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. Please rest assured that having these symptoms does not necessarily mean you have the virus. 

At this stage, we do not know how the virus spreads from person to person. There are steps you can take to help avoid catching (and spreading) germs: 

• stay at home if you are unwell.
• cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze.
• put used tissues in the bin immediately.
• wash your hands with soap and water often – use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available.
• try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell.
• do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth if your hands are not clean.
• please contact your manager if you are unwell.

People of all ages can get COVID-19. We continue to assess and test our technology infrastructure, and are confident that we will maintain service in the event that our teams employed on client programs can continue to work (also in line with client plans, policies and procedures). 

Our senior leadership team will closely monitor the situation in all client accounts using our proprietary analytics programs. This gives us early insight into key recruiting metrics to ensure our teams remain agile and can be a significant resource in providing guidance on facilitating work from home arrangements, video interviewing services, virtual recruiting platforms, etc. to keep your business moving ahead during this disruption.

Social distancing is an effective measure, but it is recognised that it cannot be practised in all situations and the aim is to generally reduce potential for transmission.

While practising social distancing, people can travel to work (including public transport). For non-essential activities outside the workplace or attendance at schools, universities and childcare - social distancing includes:

• avoiding crowds and mass gatherings where it is difficult to keep the appropriate distance away from others
• avoiding small gatherings in enclosed spaces, for example family celebrations
• attempting to keep a distance of 1.5 metres between themselves and other people where possible, for example when they are out and about in public place.
• avoiding shaking hands, hugging, or kissing other people.
• avoiding visiting vulnerable people, such as those in aged care facilities or hospitals, infants, or people with compromised immune systems due to illness or medical treatment.

Like most companies, Randstad maintains a Business Continuity team focused on maintaining all aspects of our business functions related to the COVID-19 virus and its impact. In the current business environment, we have established protocols following recommendations from health authorities, national, regional and local task forces, and other advisory groups to ensure we can continue to run our business and support our clients and workers in the safest and most effective manner possible for all stakeholders.

As any emergent situation would require, Randstad will very closely follow the guiding rules client organizations have in place for their own employees and will advise our employees on client sites to adhere to these same policies and procedures, with applicable monitoring and guidance. 

We believe governments and health agencies are best positioned to determine appropriate measures, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and other prominent health organizations, and our global and local task forces are adhering to their guidelines on mitigation and prevention.

If you feel unwell and/or have concerns that you have the virus based on your recent travel, or due to the fact that you have come into contact with someone who has travelled to a high-risk area, we advise you to not come into the office. Please immediately connect with your manager and HR department to discuss your symptoms. They may also ask you to complete a Health declaration form. Next to this, follow the advice from the local health authorities, call the local non-emergency health line rather than going to your local doctor and try to avoid spreading the virus further. 

We continue to assess and test our technology infrastructure, and are confident that we will maintain service levels as they are. 

Our senior leadership team will closely monitor the situation in all client accounts. This ensures that our teams remain agile and can be a significant resource in providing guidance on facilitating work from home arrangements, video interviewing services, virtual recruiting platforms, etc. to keep your business moving ahead during this disruption.

If a family member is unwell with COVID-19 and you have been in close contact you MUST self isolate yourself and not come to work. All permanent employees will be able to access standard leave provisions. If still unsure what you should do, please call the local non-emergency health line for further advice.

It is important in these times to first and foremost reconsider your personal travel. If you absolutely have to travel, it’s the responsibility of employees to inform their manager and HR department of their travel activities and you may be asked to complete a travel declaration form.

We will continue to monitor the situation closely. We are not currently planning to close offices unless we are advised to, or for safety reasons if we believe that it is the best course of action or we have a case of infection. However, in the upcoming period our consultants are all able to work in case of any unforeseen, changing circumstances with regards to your workplace. 

Randstad will work with the broader community to prevent the spread of COVID-19.  We currently have 50% of staff working from home to maximise social distancing. We will safely ensure the continuity of business for clients and candidates.

It’s the responsibility of all our employees to inform their manager and the HR Business Partners of their travel activities and to ascertain if the area they have visited has a significant infection rate, so that a decision can be made on the need to work from home. 

Randstad has an extensive business continuity plan. To find out more please reach out to your Randstad Account Manager or consultant who can share aspects of this plan and advise companies on best practice procedures to minimise risks and business continuity. In addition, Randstad has developed a work from home procedure with clear tips and guidance to keep business running as usual.

Our people have a full suite of IT solutions to support their remote working and the continuation of services to our clients and candidates.

In essence you, our client’s, work from home policy applies - so we’ll need a copy of that plus ensure they have the right hardware to be able to do their job.  Ideally, we want to be able to support our temporary employees and contractors to remain working. We consider this low risk from a WHS perspective.

We have working from home safety guidelines and a home safety checklist that can be shared should you require them.

Yes, we are testing our ability to continue to operate should we have to ask our staff to work from home. For example, we are testing payrolling and our 24/7 call centre management with our employees working from home. 

Randstad has adopted reasonable and proportionate actions consistent with Australian government advice that should be taken as precautionary measures to protect the health and wellbeing of the community. Our priority is the health and wellbeing of our workforce. Our proactive measures include taking proactive measures communicating hygiene practices to all staff members and is keeping a log of all international travel. 

In addition, we have communicated hygiene practices to our working temporary employees and contractors. We will continue to update them over the coming weeks.

If required, we have further measures to update and support current working employees of Randstad, however, are monitoring the situation daily and following government advice on the matter.