Five Tips To Employers To Reintegrate Furloughed Staff

With the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) (also referred to as the furlough scheme) ending recently, many employers across the country will be welcoming back and reintegrating furloughed workers.

Employees may have been placed on furlough if:

• Their job could not be carried out from home;
• The business was required to temporarily close due to Covid-19 restrictions; or
• Individuals were unable to go into their place of work for health reasons.

In some cases, workers may have been furloughed since the scheme was introduced in March 2020. The return to work may be a daunting prospect for these employees, which is why employers should take all reasonable steps to support their return to work.

Five top tips for employers when reintegrating furloughed workers

1. Open dialogue

Hopefully, throughout the pandemic and the period that your employee has been on furlough leave, you will have kept in regular contact with them. This is important as it will have helped make them feel that they are still part of your business, kept them updated on how your business has performed throughout the pandemic and helped alleviate any concerns they may have about the security of their job.

As the scheme has now ended, you will hopefully already have been in contact with employees regarding their return or may have already welcomed them back to work.

If you are shortly due to welcome back workers, you should make them aware of any new requirements, including issues directly related to the pandemic – e.g. if they will need to provide proof that they have been vaccinated or if they need to carry out regular lateral flow tests – or any other changes, such as alterations to car-parking arrangements, office seating plans, etc.

This open dialogue will allow them to raise any concerns or questions that they may have.

2. Re-induction

We would strongly recommend that there is some kind of process in place to welcome employees back, covering:

• First and foremost, reminding workers how important they are to your company and that they have been missed.
• Whilst you may have already spoken to them about this, it is advisable to remind them of any new Covid-related health and safety measures – lateral flow tests, masks, vaccines, one way systems, etc. – and the importance of following them.
• Any other health and safety changes, not necessarily as a result of the pandemic.

The re-induction should also allow time for employees to socialise with you and/or their work colleagues, some of whom may have not seen one another for over 18 months.

Additionally, some staff members may benefit from receiving training (or retraining), as certain aspects of their jobs may have changed or because the person hasn’t carried out this work for a significant period of time.

3. Communicate business changes

Whilst your workers have been on furlough leave, your business may have seen significant changes to how it operates, primarily as a consequence of the pandemic, and this could have implications for your team.

Changes may have included the following:

• Personnel changes – leavers and new starters, promotions, etc.
• Business strategy and service changes – this could include how your business has coped financially during the pandemic and your plans for the future.
• Changes to company policies, procedures and rules – for example, hybrid working arrangements or dress code policy changes.
• New company protocols or procedures required by law (e.g. Brexit-related changes).

By communicating the above, potentially as part of the re-induction process, you should hopefully assist your workers with their return to work.

4. Focus on well-being

Employees who have been furloughed might be feeling deskilled, they may have lost confidence and their mental health might have been impacted by their time off. They may also have concerns about their safety coming back to work.

The most important thing you can do is to talk to your employees and find out what their concerns and issues are. In some cases, there may be practical steps you can take to alleviate concerns. For example, you could consider assisting with alternative travel arrangements or a change in working hours for an employee who is concerned about using public transport at a busy time.

It could also be useful to assign a staff member to be a ‘buddy’ to a returning work colleague to support their reintegration.

5. Be flexible and responsive

You will need to monitor and adapt your return to work strategy. Reintegrating workers who have been on long-term furlough is unchartered territory for both employers and affected staff which is why it is important for you constantly monitor how things are going and adapt your plans, if necessary.

It is worth regularly liaising through surveys, group meetings or one to one meetings to gauge how everyone is feeling.