Here we have consolidated resources into a dummies guide to help HR with employee well-being (including yourself), obtain relief measures from the HKSAR Government, leverage new ways of working amid COVID-19 and thrive again afterwards.

For anyone who might have just landed from outer space and didn’t know—HR is dealing with significant challenges right now—and most are doing from their own living rooms to boot. Here we purposefully avoid an overview of COVID-19 and its global metrics—as there is an ‘infodemic’ already circulating on that. What we will do is get straight to the point and share from a plethora of credible sources and in-house HR practitioners, helpful tips for HR to help get through this. We share what HR can do during the pandemic—to help keep remote teams working effectively, obtain government relief measures, look after employee well-being and adapt to an entirely new way of working. We also look beyond COVID-19, after it has run its course, and examine how HR and organisations can leverage this adversity to emerge leaner, stronger, more collegiate and agile.

Instructions
Pick and mix from the sections below to get ideas on enabling your organisation to stay on track and then get back to some semblance of business as usual (whatever that might look like) later down the line. A little disclaimer too, while every effort has been made to verify the information contained in this report, it is intended for guidance purposes only. Readers are advised to seek appropriate legal and/or government advice before taking any relevant action.

Contents

HR Precautionary Measures & Action Plans

• Planning, risk management, health measures & infection prevention, cost controls, communication
• General Response Planning
• clients
• employees
• labour costs
• premises
• safety measures
• face masks
• Business Promotion and Activities & Recovery Plan

Enhancing workplace well-being

• Building fences instead of providing ambulances
• Communication
• Consider what, who and when
• Consider interaction that EAP provides
• Consider efficiency & effectiveness of EAP
• Considered structured support

Ensuring data safety

• Can an employer collect temperature measurements or other health data from his employees?
• What kind of personal data may employers collect?
• How about travel history? Can employers ask for travel data of their employees?
• Can personal data collected be disclosed to other parties, or used for other purposes?
• How long can collected personal data be retained?
• What kind of data security issues relating to employees’ medical or health data should an employer be mindful of?
• What security measures should employers have in place for employees working from home?
• Advice to help safeguard personal data security during homeworking
• Security advice for employees working from home
• Avoiding Zoom-bombing during your team meets

Financial impacts of COVID-19

• Who’s getting paid what
• HKSAR Government measures to help HR
• Employment support scheme (ESS)
• Who is eligible?
• How much can we claim?
• When will it be paid?
• Can we still go ahead with planned cost-cutting measures, e.g. redundancies?
• Sector relief grants
• Other job creation and individual measures
• China back to work measures

Logistical impacts of COVID-19

• Adopting technology
• Legal implications
• Growing company culture remotely

Civil Service efforts to help

HR after COVID-19

HR Precautionary Measures & Action Plans

Planning, risk management, health measures & infection prevention, cost controls, communication

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on businesses, economies and individuals and these continue to be challenging times. Every organisation has two initial priorities:

• continued delivery of their products and services to customers; and
• supporting their people

Naturally, different locations and different industries will require different HR approached, with different actions and responses. The following are tips kindly provided by Giovanni Angelini, Advisor, Angelini Hospitality, aimed originally at the hotel and leisure sectors[1], and here adapted by HR Magazine to help benefit a boarder audience across multiple industries. The following section aims to give essential guidance and advice to employers to help checklist existing measures in place and/or bolster safety responses, protocols and actions along with a few 'DOs and DON'Ts'. Brands must be mindful of the decisions they make as the impact the employee experience and customer loyalty may last long after this pandemic blows over.

For companies that remain open during the pandemic, much of this advice is applicable immediately. Organisations with staff currently working-from-home, should still note such information, as it may help you draft a return-to-work plan.

It is never too early to be prepared, and organisations must always have a contingency plan in place for unusual situations to help minimise business disruptions. HR should avoid panic and not make any snap decisions; instead, leaders must always maintain control and provide guidance. This is a time for heads of organisations to be cautious, pro-active, focused on hygiene, safety, security and help align their teams to manage the situation as best they can. Remember, that even during this challenging time, it is vital to maintain your 'public image' keeping things as positive as possible to boost the morale and motivation of both internal employees and external clients and partners.

General Response Planning

 

adapted from Giovanni Angelini, Advisor, Angelini Hospitality

• Create and implement a flexible/agile response plan for dealing with the emergency, focusing on employees, clients and your premises. HR, general managers and key executives and department heads should work together to develop and drive this plan.
• Prepare a written plan that considers potential virus exposure to employees and clients, along with proactive steps aimed at reducing the probability of transmission. The plan should also include ongoing business and promotion activities, cost-containment measures, and contingencies for any potential interruption of necessary supplies and utilities. Your aim should be to create a flexible plan that can be adapted as the circumstances evolve.
• Ensure the plan takes into consideration existing contracts, collective bargain agreements if any, and complies with local laws and regulations.
• Be ready to prevent any potential criticism or accusation from external/internal stakeholders including clients, authorities, officials, insurers, shareholders and employees regarding non-compliance or for ‘not caring’—as this can be very damaging to morale and your brand.
• Communication is of utmost importance to ensure all employees are familiar with the plan and of what is expected from them. Visitors should also be informed of actions and activities that the management has put in place and be reassured of their safety and well-being.
• Keep owners and shareholders informed of the evolving situation in case there is a need for additional funds to operate the business.
• Check if the outbreak classified as 'force majeure?' as this may have a direct impact on insurance, claims, refunds, cancellations, contracts, budget performance and in some cases on business loans.
• Maintain regular communication with local health officials for advice and updates on the situation.
• Keep a record of cancellations and lost business and keep updating your monthly forecast for the next three months—as you must have a clear picture of the cash flow status. It is also wise to consider a Plan B in case the situation worsens or becomes uncontrollable.

Clients

• Wave cancellation fees and allow clients to cancel or change their orders/bookings without penalty.
• Where applicable, extend loyalty and recognition programme benefits and points—this is the time to show care and concern.
• Facilitate change of dates and rebooking of events whenever possible at no cost to the guest. It is not appropriate to hold medium-large events in any hotel during the period of the outbreak. Instead, you can work with clients to help promote virtual meetings and seminars for work-essential related functions.
• Provide assess, where appropriate, to renegotiate contracts for group and special package promotions.
• Perform body temperature checks of any clients and all staff and vendors visiting your premises. Isolate all people with high temperature (37.5 °C and above) and notify the relevant medical authorities.
• Obtain the past 14 days' travel history of employees, on a confidential basis (see Section on legal advice from Privacy Commissioner). The objective being to define how to handle arriving employees and visitors who have been in infected locations—to avoid spreading any infection in your premises. This is not an easy task but is intended to help provide additional confidence to all your team and visitors.
• Make available hand sanitisers including alcohol-based disinfectants and facemasks for staff and visitors.
• Single-use, disposable and sealed cups and containers and bottled water should be used for the time being (return to more environmentally-friendly options once the pandemic has run its course).
• Provide staff and clients with all information on safety and best practices and what you are doing to keep things clean and safe for them. Provide a designated point-of-contact or an EAP (see Section on enhancing workplace well-being) for employees in case of need or emergency.
• Offer automated/online services where possible, to limit clients having to physically visit your premises.

Employees

• Promote work-from-home and web conferencing (where possible). This is an excellent time to position your hotel in this potential line of business as virtual event platforms, and online events are growing very fast. For organisations that still require physical prescience of staff at the premises, see notes below.
• Hold daily briefings or meetings for updates on the situation and of a plan of action.
• Provide repeated reminders on hygiene matters: hand washing, avoiding touching the face, avoiding shaking hands, daily changing of uniforms and shoes (where applicable) and maintaining a safe distance and others.
• Sharing of best practices from the authorities, industry partners and the WHO.
• Without creating panic or confusion—conduct conversations and training on how to manage various situations during crises.
• Develop a facemask policy, as appropriate, and ensure compliance—procure enough disposable facemasks.
• Review the status and compliance of your company vaccination policy (where applicable).
• Give strict instructions not to report to work for any staff who are not feeling well—particularly if there are any symptoms of fever, cold or flu.
• You may also consider informing staff not to report to work if there are any confirmed virus cases in their housing complex or community, or if they have visited any hospitals or attended any funerals.
• Remind all employees to stay away from large-scale events and activities, including team sports, conferences, seminars, campaigning, weddings, celebrations. Employees should notify their respective supervisor, in advance, if they must attend any such functions.
• Eliminate all non-essential travel for all staff.
• Provide clarity on handling employees and clients who require quarantine or self-isolation—state who should do what and when to facilitate this. Coordination with local health officials is a must.
• Provide sanitisers to all staff, including alcohol-based (60% - 75%) disinfectants and promote their usage.
• Stress the importance of staff morale-motivation-alignment and a caring attitude as everyone is in the same boat and facing the same challenges.
• Give constant reminders to all staff to avoid 'socially irresponsible actions' and, now more than ever, not to stigmatise or discriminate.
• Invite the whole team to help boost their immunities by promoting healthy lifestyle activities. Provide advice on this where appropriate.

Labour costs

• It is a proven fact that during the crisis and with a caring attitude from the top, the entire workforce will respond positively and will contribute with whatever they can to the needs of the organisation.
• It is also essential that the whole team participates in labour cost savings, including the top management—with no exceptions.
• A clear message should be given that labour costs must be reduced but without retrenching anyone. Savings can come from clearance of all accrued leave, implementing unpaid leave periods, reduction of working days or pay, splitting of job functions, multitasking some roles, hiring freezes and offering advance leave as appropriate. There are also times when management may need to consider extended paid leave for individuals in need—but these would be exceptions and should be discussed with the respective supervisor.
• Implement flexible working hours to help staff avoid the busiest rush-hour periods and crowded public transport, buses and underground systems.

Premises

• Close premises, based on demand and on safety—where feasible, look at shortening the operating hours of offices and outlets.
• Particular attention should be provided to sport and recreation areas (where applicable), which may need to be closed outright.
• Provide continuous cleaning of communal areas, if any.
• Prepare a couple of rooms or areas exclusively for emergencies, for example, in the lobby area—close to exits.

Safety measures

• Consider a facemask policy and enforce compliance as appropriate.
• The virus can live on surfaces and objects for up to a few days, where the infected droplets may land. Every surface associated with COVI-19 carriers is contaminated and potentially infectious—so necessitates continuous cleaning and disinfection of all surfaces that clients and staff would touch frequently. These surfaces include lift buttons, light switches, door handles, toilets, telephones, all surfaces, tabletops, chairs, pantry items, floors, rugs, containers, trollies and vehicles.
• Use proper disinfectant products and disposable cleaning tools throughout the premises.
• For hotel and F&B outlets review the entire process of handling food, including ordering, receiving, storage, requisition, preparation and serving. Apply strict safety in all aspects—this is not the time to promote raw or uncooked food.
• Ensure that all visitors, vendors, suppliers and couriers practice all the safety standards. Assess, if it is necessary for such persons to enter service areas or not.
• Review the process of rubbish disposal and implement any improvements which can be made.
• Review the efficiency and cleanliness of the central and individual air filtration and purification systems—assess if there is a need for UV air sanitation in specific areas.
• Place good-practice posters and reminders on hygiene and safety throughout the property.
• Conduct a fire drill with an evacuation exercise—to assess readiness.

Disposable face masks

• Wearing of facemasks is a useful preventive measure and has already become a cultural habit in some locations—particular if one has a cold or flu. But it must be accepted that facemasks do not provide an adequate level of protection when faced with an infected person—as according to medical advice, the virus is spread from standard respiratory droplets and in particular by coughing and sneezing.
• Important to recognise that there are infected people who may not show any signs of sickness but can still infect others—which may be the source of many infections.
• Ideally, staff should maintain a distance of 1.5 – 2 meters from any encounters—which may not always be feasible in offices or when taking public transports.
• Note that wearing disposable surgical masks can help prevent staff from touching their nose and mouth—as usually infection takes place through nose-mouth-eyes. Facemasks must be taken off carefully without touching the front of the mask and properly disposed of. After removal, the wearer must also wash their hands with soap for at least 20-seconds (or hand sanitiser where this is not practicable) to help avoid contaminating their hands.
• Staff also need to be made aware that disposable facemasks concentrate contaminants and become moist, providing an ideal breeding ground for germs) and so must never be reused.

Business Promotion and Activities & Recovery Plan

• Ensure that your organisation does not suffer more than necessary during the current situation and be ready. Be up-to-speed with the various travel advisories, restrictions and other relevant updates.
• Maintain your brand image and pricing during the crisis. Do not drop your published or rack rates—as reducing rates, in general, does not stimulate demand and may harm your image online. Instead, offer discounts from rack rates or added-value extras. You can get creative with special packages and other add-ons, but these must only be made available for a specific period.
• Keep service levels and a sense of security and safety during this period. Spend more time with clients—as this is time to make friends, of course practising hygiene basics like no shaking of hands, and appropriate social distancing with all encounters.
• Continue looking for new markets during and after the crisis. Identify if the local market or community offers any opportunities?
• Do not cut your marketing budget; you may need to increase it at the end of the crisis as you may have to 'buy more business'.
• Develop a strategy for the image for tactical advertising activities and based on the local situation, assess if it is prudent to continue advertising, and if not and how to proceed—better leverage digital marketing and other innovative ways of getting your message out there.
• Prepare an attractive welcome-back package now, so that it is ready to go and implement it as soon as the situation improves.
• Monitor your competitors—see what they are doing better than you.

Clarity on Insurance Coverage and Responsibility

• Review all insurance coverage—what is included and what is not: check for clauses on general liability, business interruption, natural disasters, force majeure, directors and officers’ liability, claims and others.
• In the unfortunate case that an employee contracts the virus while working on-site or on a business trip—as well as limiting the spread to family members, other employees and clients—the organisation must be clear on liability. Check what level of insurance coverage exists and who pays for what—including the most suitable hospital care, time off, medical expenses, permanent disability if any, death benefits and others. Organisations must be covered and prepared for all scenarios.

Others

• Find out about government assistance packages and tax reliefs—specifically appoint someone to handle this task.
• Look at the possibilities of renegotiating with vendors and suppliers with the objective of cost reductions without impacting quality.
• Explore any opportunities to reduce repair, maintenance and utility costs.
• Review existing outsourcing agreements and assess if those services can be temporarily done by the organisation or staff.
• Based on the status of the cash flow—this is an appropriate time to conduct renovation projects and product upgrades—and speed-up the planned schedule.

Bonus suggestion

• Stay away from the 'infodemic' of fake news—and those creating unnecessary panic, instead consult your local health authorities and follow WHO guidance.

 

Margaret Fung, Managing Director in Hong Kong, TMF Group, explained, “Regarding delivery of products and services: where it’s been deemed necessary, our offices have implemented Business Continuity Plans. Regarding supporting our people: we have put into practice an automated daily check for every employee to confirm their current health status. We remain vigilant regarding workplace cleanliness through enhanced office cleaning routine, and clear guidelines have been issued to all employees to ensure protection and prevention. For those staff continuing to work in our office, we are also arranging additional critical supplies such as surgical masks, disinfectant and hand sanitisers. Meantime, we continue to monitor and update our response in line with guidance from the WHO, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, and local government advisories.”

“Flexible working arrangements have also been implemented in many of our offices, including Hong Kong, in line with government guidelines. These include a combination of staggered working patterns in the office and remote working. Our IT infrastructure has been extended and strengthened to support flexible working across our networks. Thanks to digitalised documentation, video conferencing and VPN technology, we have the theoretical IT and process capacity for more than 90% of our staff to work from home. Currently, around 30% are, with much of the rest working staggered shifts.”, added Fung.

Enhancing workplace well-being

Aside from the obvious financial impacts, many employees are experiencing a rapidly changing world, with figures on the spread of the virus increasing by the day. All of this has created mass anxiety across the globe, as many people grapple with this overwhelming unpredictability.

Only 38% of Hong Kong employees view their employers as supportive, according to the latest CSG-Ruder Finn Survey. This emotional turmoil is creating a far-from-ideal environment for productivity, at a time when companies are relying on their key staff to help them through this turbulent period. The recent Chinese University's Centre for Communication and Public Opinion Survey, commissioned by social enterprise Silveriders, found that 67.5% of people have admitted to difficulties sleeping over the past six months. Among them, 61% said the pandemic or the anti-government protests were the cause of their sleeplessness.

In terms of what TMF is doing to help staff with such challenges, Fung added, “We have regular interactive sessions, including virtual coffees and breakfasts.  Those who would like to participate are encouraged to make their favourite breakfast drink, share the recipe, and are encouraged to turn on their cameras to encourage face-to-face interaction.” She emphasised, “Clear communication and processes are more important than ever and will be key to managing uncertainty among employees as the situation evolves. We encourage people to share their photos and fun when they work from home.” The Group also offers e-training and e-learning for employees. Moreover, for those whom managing virtual teams is a new experience—interactive online group courses are made available for them to learn more about it. Blogs have also been created so employees can read to hear how their colleagues are faring and share relevant skills.

Building fences instead of providing ambulances

With so many employees are treading along a dangerous cliff edge right now, coping with unprecedented stresses on them, employers need to be more mindful than ever of their duty of care. HR needs to continue (or start if they haven’t yet) to nurture, engage, develop and look after the mental health of their talent teams. Pauline Williams, Director, Atrium HR Consulting (Asia) Limited provided an excellent analogy with regards to employee assistance programmes (EAPs). She cautioned, “EAPs are merely the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, but what employers really need to do is build a fence at the top of that cliff—to help protect their staff. Prevention is always much better than cure.”

Key advice includes for achieving better mental wellbeing

1. Communication. Promote EAP awareness with the HR teams and then replay this message to staff. HR often needs help in delivering this message as many questions crop up. Prepare answers to the following (and any other questions that might be asked): What exactly is an EAP? What is wellness support? What is the primary purpose of an EAP? Why is it there? What does our organisation hope to achieve from our EAP?

1. Consider what, who and when. Consider exactly what your EAP offers your staff and which elements are to be provided. Also, decide who exactly can assess each of them. It is also important to let staff know who they will be talking to. For EAPs to work, staff need to feel comfortable enough to build rapport with the person helping them. It is highly preferable, if not essential, that they should be able to access the same counsellor throughout the process. Depending on the nature of the intervention, this can last from several weeks to several months.

1. Consider interaction that EAP provides. An EAP should be a lot more than just a hotline. Will the interaction provide be face-to-face or online or via telephone? Flexibility, localisation and accessibility are all critical considerations to ensure it is as easy as possible for staff to use the service.

1. Consider efficiency & effectiveness of EAP. It takes time for staff to build up a rapport with their counsellor. If possible, provide an on-ground meeting or at least face-to-face intervention via video link to allow both parties to see and read each other’s body language.

1. Considered structured support. Workplace stress is not something that just affects individuals; it is viral and has the potential to spread across entire teams and families. Counselling can be offered from a variety of perspectives including, but not limited to marriage counselling, child counselling, career counselling and family counselling.

Williams advised those in HR to look for what she termed, ‘a global wellness offering’, encompassing a holistic approach to enhancing the mental well-being of both HR teams and the talent they were leading.

 

 

“If a staff member has been put under mandatory quarantine, it’s not their fault. Companies really should be supporting them—you’ll see better results down the road, on the back of that empathy.” Steven Campbell, HR Director—APAC, Hallmark Cards

Steven Campbell, HR Director—APAC, Hallmark Cards, also shared advice for companies contemplating the potential of staff quarantine or infection, “This is clearly a challenging situation for everyone. The end goal is to come out of this with an engaged workforce so that your business can move forward. If a staff member has been put under mandatory quarantine, it’s not their fault. Companies really should be supporting them—you’ll see better results down the road, on the back of that empathy.”

Ensuring data safety

The ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 has created numerous concerns for employers as to whether they are permitted to collect health data about their employees to help monitor and prevent the spread of the virus in the workplace and the wider community. The outbreak has also raised new concerns for HR over data security—particularly in respect of employees working on their own devices and internet connections from home. The growing number of online business meetings online has highlighted some security loopholes. The recent spike in ‘Zoom-bombing’ incidents and the increased risk of personal data privacy breaches require particular attention from HR teams.

HR also needs to take care of what data it collects from employees, and how it handles that data, during any health-screening processes. Stephen Kai-yi WONG, The Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Hong Kong (Privacy Commissioner), commented on HR’s role in ensuring such data security. He said, “While we acknowledge that there is a legitimate basis for employers to collect additional data of their employees to help control the spread of the disease, the collection and processing of employees’ personal data should be specifically related to and used for the purposes in relation to public health and should be limited in both duration and scope as required in the particular situation.” He added, “Additional data to be collected must still adhere to the usual principles such as minimisation, purpose specification and use limitation. It must be necessary, appropriate and proportionate to the purpose to be achieved.”

What information can employers collect on their employees?

“It is generally justifiable for employers to collect temperature measurements or limited medical symptoms of COVID-19 information of employees and visitors.”

Can an employer collect temperature measurements or other health data from his employees?

Employers have legal and corporate responsibilities to protect the health of their employees and visitors. In times of COVID-19, it is generally justifiable for employers to collect temperature measurements or limited medical symptoms of COVID-19 information of employees and visitors solely for the purposes of protecting the health of those individuals.

What kind of personal data may employers collect?

Employers must follow the general rule that the measures taken to collect data should be necessary, appropriate and proportionate. They should seek to process the relevant data in an anonymised or de-identified way. Least privacy-intrusive measures should be preferred. A self-reporting system is preferred to an across-the-board mandatory system where health data is collected indiscriminately. Employers should spell out to their employees how the data collected will be handled. If the collection of such data is not covered by the existing privacy notices, a fresh Personal Information Collection Statement (PICS) must be provided when or before the data collection to inform employees of the data collected and the purposes (e.g. protection of public health), and the classes of persons (e.g. public health authorities) to whom their data may be transferred. It is also a good and ethical practice to inform the employees in the PICS how long the data will be retained by the employer.

How about travel history? Can employers ask for travel data of their employees?

The Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (PDPO) does not prohibit any organisation from collecting employees’ travel data. Given the escalating number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 locally and globally, and the legal and corporate responsibilities of employers to provide a safe working environment, it is justifiable for employers to ask for travel data from employees who have returned from overseas, especially from those high-risk areas. Like health data, the collection of travel data should be purpose-specific, and minimal data should be collected. A self-reporting system is preferred to an across-the-board mandatory system.

Can personal data collected be disclosed to other parties, or used for other purposes?

Personal data collected by employers for fighting or combatting COVID-19 must not be used or disclosed for other unrelated purposes unless express voluntary consent is obtained from the individuals concerned, or exemptions under the PDPO apply. For the purposes of protecting public health, it will not be considered as a contravention of the use principle under the PDPO (i.e. DPP3) for employers to disclose the identity, health and location data of individuals to the Government or health authorities solely for the purposes of tracking down and treating the infected, and tracing their close contacts when pressing needs arise.

If an employee, unfortunately, contracts COVID-19, the employer may notify other parties, such as employees, visitors and the relevant property management office without disclosing personally identifiable information of the infected. For example, it is sufficient for the employer just to issue a notice with information that it has ‘staff infected’. Under most circumstances, disclosure of the name and other personal particulars of an infected employee in the notice is not considered as necessary or proportionate.

How long can collected personal data be retained?

Employers shall permanently destroy the personal data collected for the purposes of fighting or combatting COVID-19 when the purpose of collection is fulfilled, such as when there is no evidence suggesting that any employees have contracted COVID-19 or have close contacts with the infected after a reasonable period of time.

What kind of data security issues relating to employees’ medical or health data should an employer be mindful of?

All practicable steps, e.g. storing the data in a locked cabinet, encrypting the data and only allowing authorised personnel to have access to the data, shall be taken by an employer to protect the personal data collected against unauthorised or accidental access, processing, erasure, loss or use. Adequate data security safeguards are particularly important for medical or health data because it is considered more sensitive, and a breach of health data may cause significant harm to the individuals concerned.

What security measures should employers have in place for employees working from home?

Personal data protection should not hinder any work-from-home arrangements. Still, employers and employees should exercise extra caution because of the transfer and use of documents and data away from the professionally-managed work environment. Such change of circumstances may result in incidents ranging from cyberattacks to loss of portable devices. Cybercriminals may also take advantage of the decentralised workforce and dress up password-stealing messages and malware as health alerts to infiltrate organisations.

Advice to help safeguard personal data security during homeworking

Before transferring paper or digital files from work to home:

• Seek prior instruction or approval from supervisors;
• Minimise transfer of data out from the employers’ premises and information systems;
• Take all practicable steps to protect personal data from unauthorised or accidental access, processing, erasure, loss or use, with regard to:

• • the kind of data and the harm that could result,
  • the physical location where the data is stored,
  • any security measures incorporated into any equipment in which the data is stored,
  • any measures taken for ensuring the integrity, prudence and competence of persons having access to the data, and
  • any measures taken for ensuring the secure transmission of the data;

• Redact personal data and confidential information before transferring out from the employers’ premises;
• Limit use of portable devices for data storage and transmission only if prior approval from a supervisor has been obtained and documents inside are password-protected;
• Encrypt digital data;
• Body-weld the documents or devices during transportation in exceptional circumstances; and
• Keep proper logs to record the movement of such data.

Besides, employees working from home, who are using their own devices, should also be reminded to be vigilant about the security of their internet connection, to help prevent data leakage.

Security advice for employees working from home

• Never share your work device’s account with others;
• Ensure Wi-Fi connection is secure;
• Regularly change your Wi-Fi password;
• Install proper anti-virus software and the latest security patches to your devices;
• Perform regular system updates for your devices;
• Choose privacy-friendly settings, such as not allowing video recording or audio recording when conducting online;
• Disable any attention-tracking functions;
• Always authenticate participants in online meetings before admitting them;
• When encountering suspicious websites/emails:

• • do not click weblinks or download any documents/applications
  • verify the site’s authenticity with the relevant organisation/authority
  • carefully check the content of what is to be sent and the recipients’ identity before sending or uploading

Read the full report of the Privacy Commissioner online: https://plainsailinghr.com/hr-news-archives/fight-covid-19-pandemic-guidelines-for-employers-and-employees/

The Global Privacy Assembly (GPA), a global forum for data protection and privacy authorities, has also published additional Data protection and Coronavirus (COVID-19) resources, together with the latest advice from other data protection authorities globally on its website: https://globalprivacyassembly.org/covid19/.

Avoiding Zoom-bombing during your team meets

With Zoom being a popular choice for hosting team meetings, users are advised to take a few basic security precautions to reduce the risk of being Zoom-boomed.

1. Do not share any work meeting links publicly. Rather than posting a meeting link to a Facebook group or in a promotional tweet, distribute information via a more private method, such as email.
2. Set your meetings to ‘private’.Zoom now sets all new meetings to ‘private’ by default, requiring attendees to provide a password for access. But users often opt to make meetings public for the sake of convenience. Given the wave of Zoom-bombings, the inconvenience of requiring a password is worthwhile in keeping your meeting safe.
3. Do not use your personal meeting ID. Every registered Zoom user has a personal meeting ID, linked to what is a permanent virtual meeting room. Because that ID doesn’t change, sharing it publicly increases the chance that future meetings using your personal ID might be Zoom bombed. To avoid the risk of Zoom bombing, share your personal meeting ID only with your most trusted contacts.
4. Restrict video sharing. If the meeting host is the only person who needs to share video, such as in a seminar or presentation, the host should change Zoom’s screen-sharing setting to ‘Host only’.

For more information see Zoom’s detailed guide on how to avoid Zoom-bombing: https://blog.zoom.us/wordpress/2020/03/20/keep-uninvited-guests-out-of-your-zoom-event/

Fung shared her experience in ensuring compliance at TMF Group, “Faced with an astounding amount of changes; companies must focus on maintaining clear communication with staff, including updating handbooks. They must ensure all new policies are consistent across jurisdictions but fall within the limits of local regulations.” She added, “There needs to be clear communication to employees. With further uncertainty ahead, ensuring policies and systems are in place to support staff and staying on top of the constantly evolving legislation in every jurisdiction where your company operates must be the immediate focus for all businesses.”

Financial impacts of COVID-19

The World Bank recently warned of ‘significant, unavoidable economic pain in all countries’ and that if the economic situation was to deteriorate further, then they predict ‘poverty is estimated to increase by about 11 million people’. S&P Global Ratings reported that the coronavirus crisis could wipe out as much as $211 billion from economies across APAC, but what does this mean for different industries?

According to the UK COVID-19 HR Benchmarking Survey just published by HR DataHub, the hospitality industry has been the hardest hit with 62% of companies in the ‘red zone,’ i.e. they are currently implementing or planning to implement a range of drastic measures as a result of the crisis. The construction/engineering sector has the second-highest percentage of companies in the red zone, which might be due to uncertainty for future projects given the impact of COVID-19 in the broader economy. Source: COVID-19 HR Benchmarking Survey by HR DataHub

In Hong Kong, 63% of respondents said that they are still proceeding with their plans to hire talent for replacement and critical roles, despite the impact of the COVID-19. One in four companies (25%) surveyed have chosen to either freeze hiring or parked those headcounts until a later date. This is according to the COVID-19 Employer Pulse Survey just released by Randstad Hong Kong.

Natellie Sun, Managing Director, Search and Selection, for Greater China, Randstad explained,

“Many employers would have planned their hiring activities for the first quarter as they know that’s when job seekers are open to new opportunities after bonus season. Given this trend, it’s business-as-usual for many organisations that still have vacant roles to fill and targets to hit. Hiring activities are also more rampant in high-growth spaces like technology, life sciences and functions within banking. However, we’ve observed a dip in hiring activities within retail, consumer, hospitality and tourism. Some of these companies may have also asked their customer-facing employees to take no-pay leave because of reduced foot traffic.”

13% of the companies surveyed said that they will maintain headcount but may apply other measures such as salary adjustments and bonus suspension to mitigate anticipated losses. 65% of organisations are allowing employees to work from home to prevent any potential community transmissions. A further 22% of employers introduced shift or split team arrangements for employees to come to the office on different days of the week. Another 4% had allowed their employees to leave work earlier to avoid peak hours.

Sun added, “COVID-19 could have accelerated the plans that employers already had about remote working and upgrades to their technology infrastructure. When employees work from home, they face challenges that they would not if they were to work in the office. Some may have problems accessing files from the cloud network, while others may not be able to connect to the teleconferencing system as smoothly as they’d hoped. This is why employers should collect feedback from their staff and improve their digital systems to make sure they are fully equipped to provide a seamless working experience, whether at home or remotely.”

Who’s getting paid what

The COVID-19 HR Benchmarking Survey found that 81% of UK companies are still providing full pay even if colleagues are unable to work on-premises or at home, and 54% are providing full compensation if colleagues are self-isolating. Source: COVID-19 HR Benchmarking Survey by HR DataHub

 HKSAR Government financial measures to help HR [5]

Updated 8.00am 22 April 2020

The Hong Kong government’s Finance Committee met on Friday and Saturday to discuss and approve further details surrounding the Employment Support Scheme (the Scheme).

The Committee approved the terms of a government paper published last week which clarifies certain additional details as set out below. However, while the paper provides some clarity around the scope of the undertaking not to make redundancies and payment tranches, several questions remain unanswered e.g. whether an employer can apply only for part of its workforce, whether there will be a limit on the number of applicants, whether other cost-cutting measures falling short of redundancy will be permitted.

The Government has said it is liaising with Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) trustees and relevant stakeholders to work out the implementation details which will be announced before application for the first tranche is invited.

• All private sector employers who have been making MPF contributions or have set up occupational retirement (ORSO) scheme for their employees are eligible.
• Employers are eligible to claim up to 50% of the actual wages paid to an employee. This is capped at HKD18,000 per month for a period of 6 months. It is not yet clear whether the government will base the caps and subsidy on base salary only, or on “wages”, with the government using both terms interchangeably in the guidance thus far.
• Announcements made by the Chief Executive and the Secretary for Labour last week suggest that headcount will be measured against the employer’s MPF/ORSO record in March 2020 (meaning the employer cannot choose the month of headcount), but this has not been confirmed officially.
• Employers can, however, choose any one month from January to March 2020 for the basis of the calculation of wages taking into account the company’s own circumstances. Our interpretation is that only one month can be selected for the purposes of the application and not e.g. separate months for separate employees. The table below sets out some illustrative examples of the impact of selecting a particular month may have dependant on the wages/salary paid to employees in that month.

Month	Employee	Actual wages/salary(HKD)	Subsidy available per month for 6 months if designated as the month for calculation of wages/salary (HKD)
Jan 2020	Employee A	10,000	4,500
	Employee B	15,000	7,500
	Employee C	50,000	9,000 (capped at 50% of HKD18,000)
Feb 2020	Employee A (variable wages/salary)	8,000	4,000
	Employee B	15,000	7,500
	Employee C	50,000	9,000 (capped at 50% of HKD18,000)
Mar 2020	Employee A (variable wages/salary)	6,000	3,000
	Employee B (wages/salary increased)	20,000	9,000 (capped at 50% of HKD18,000)
	Employee C (wages/salary reduced)	30,000	9,000 (capped at 50% of HKD18,000)

• The subsidy will be disbursed in two tranches, with the first disbursement to occur no later than June 2020. The first disbursement will cover wages for the months of June, July and August 2020 (it will not retrospectively cover wages from before June 2020). The second disbursement will be made in September to cover wages for September, October and November 2020.
• The subsidy is conditional upon the employer providing an undertaking that they will not implement any redundancies. It is confirmed that this undertaking applies during the subsidy period (currently assumed to be June 2020 to November 2020).
• Announcements made by the Chief Executive and the Secretary for Labour last week also suggest the subsidy can only be claimed for employees who are in receipt of a salary (i.e. those on furlough/unpaid leave are excluded).
• Finally, the one-off subsidy for self-employed persons will be capped at HKD7,500 and limited to those who have made MPF contributions in the past 15 months.
• It is not yet clear what penalties will be imposed for any deviation from the scheme rules, but the government has made clear that it will consider imposing such penalties, that the names of companies who have applied for and obtained the subsidy may be made publicly available, and that clawbacks of sums paid may be sought.

DLA Piper is continuing to monitor the situation closely and will provide further updates as soon as they become available. Please contact Helen Colquhoun or David Smail if you have any questions and put your questions directly to Helen Colquhoun in our Finance Panel and our HR Panel in our next Livestream on 24 April 2020 (click Finance or HR link to register your seat).

DLA Piper, the global law firm, released an excellent overview of the HKD137.5 billion package of relief measures to tackle the COVID-19 outbreak announced on 8 April by the Hong Kong Government. The package includes an HKD80 billion Employment Support Scheme (the Scheme) to encourage employers to retain staff through the provision of a wage subsidy (the Employment Support Subsidy) which is expected to benefit 1.5 million employees, as well as one-off grants for the hardest-hit sectors.

The full supplemental paper released by the Chief Executive can be downloaded here. DLA Piper has produced the summary of the key points below which may be of use to HR across different sectors. Unlike other jurisdictions in APAC and globally, Hong Kong has until now been relatively slow to announce relief measures for employers in response to COVID-19. However, it is now important for businesses in Hong Kong (or multinationals with a presence in Hong Kong) to:

• Review the terms of the Scheme/other support measures to determine whether they are eligible to claim relief.
• Assess whether this would impact their ability to claim (or continue to claim) other relief measures that have already been applied for (or have been received).
• Assess whether this impacts any cost-cutting measures being considered or implemented, e.g. employee furloughs, reduced working hours, salary reductions, downsizings and redundancies.
• If such measures are being considered or implemented in other jurisdictions (e.g. APAC), assess the impact and ensure the business takes a consistent approach on a regional basis.
• Upskill HR and business leaders to answer questions from staff about these measures.

Employment support scheme (ESS)

Who is eligible?

All private sector employers who have been making Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) contributions for employees are eligible. It is not currently clear whether this will be assessed on an individual employee basis or whether it is sufficient that the employer operates an MPF scheme as a whole. For example, expatriates are exempt from MPF enrolment if they have entered Hong Kong on a visa and they are: (a) permitted to stay in Hong Kong for not more than 13 months; or (b) already enrolled in an overseas retirement scheme. Employees are also exempt from enrolment within the first 60 days of employment. It is not clear whether the Employment Support Subsidy will be available for these individuals, but our view is that this would be unlikely. We are pushing the Labour Department to provide clarification on this point.

Employers in the catering, construction and transport sectors - which are not fully covered by the MPF scheme - may also be eligible to apply. Otherwise, eligibility is not dependent on the employer’s sector. A one-off subsidy will also be granted to self-employed persons who have made MPF contributions. This will provide some comfort for employers who rely on contingent workers and who are engaged on a self-employed basis.

How much can we claim?

Employers are eligible to claim up to 50% of the employee’s monthly salary. This is capped at HK$18,000 per month for a period of six months. For example, if an employee earns HKD8,000 per month, then the employer is eligible to claim an Employment Support Subsidy of up to HKD4,000 for up to six months. If an employee earns HKD25,000 per month, however, then the employer can only claim an Employment Support Subsidy of up to HKD9,000 for up to six months.

When will it be paid?

The Employment Support Subsidy will be disbursed in two tranches, with the first disbursement to occur no later than June 2020. Employers will, therefore, need to ensure they have sufficient cash flow to cover the cost of an employee’s monthly wages until such time as they receive each disbursement.

Can we still go ahead with planned cost-cutting measures, e.g. redundancies?

The Employment Support Subsidy is conditional upon the employer undertaking that they will not implement any redundancies. It is currently not clear whether this undertaking will also extend to other cost-cutting measures, e.g. furloughs, reduced working hours, reduced salary, or whether the employer cannot undertake any redundancies or just retain those in respect of whom it is seeking the Employment Support Subsidy – DLA Piper were, at the time of writing, seeking clarification from the Labour Department on these key points. If it is critical for any business that they are able to apply under the Scheme, it may be prudent to put these measures on hold pending a review of whether greater savings could be generated through the Scheme.

Sector relief grants

In addition, the government is making a series of further one-off relief grants to what it considers to be the hardest hit sectors. The government has already made grants available for certain sectors as part of the Anti-epidemic Fund announced on 21 February 2020. These new measures appear to go further and include the following:

Sector	Recipient	Relief
Tourism	Licensed hotels	Cash subsidy of HKD300,000 or HKD400,000
	Licensed travel agents	Cash subsidy ranging from HKD20,000 to HKD200,000
	Travel agents’ staff and active freelance tourist guides and tour escorts holding a valid pass	Monthly subsidy of HKD5,000 for six months
	Coach drivers who mainly provide transport services for tourists	Cash subsidy of HKD10,000
	Cruise lines	A refund of berth deposits for cancelled ship calls during the suspension of immigration service when they schedule a prospective ship call
Aviation	Large aircraft registered in Hong Kong	Cash subsidy of HKD1 million per aircraft
	Small aircraft registered in Hong Kong	Cash subsidy of HKD200,000 per aircraft
	Aviation support services and cargo facilities operators with at least 100 employees	Cash subsidy of up to HKD3 million
	Aviation support services and cargo facilities operators with less than 100 employees	Cash subsidy of up to HKD1 million
	TBC	HKD2,000 million in further relief measures to be announced by the Airport Authority Hong Kong
Catering / F&B	Catering outlets (eligible general restaurants, light refreshment restaurants, marine restaurants and factory canteens)	Cash subsidy ranging from HKD250,000 to HKD2.2 million based on the size of premises.The subsidy will be disbursed in two tranches, and not less than 80% of the subsidy has to be used to pay employees’ salaries.A licensee is required to undertake that there would be no redundancies for three months after obtaining the subsidy, and it will not apply for relief under the Employment Support Scheme.
Construction	Eligible Registered Construction Workers	Cash subsidy of HKD7,500
	Eligible contractors, specialist contractors and suppliers, and company members of major construction-related trade associations	Cash subsidy of HKD20,000
Education	Private schools offering non-formal curriculum registered under the Education Ordinance (tutorial schools)	Cash grant of HKD40,000
Other	Certain businesses which have been forced to close temporarily as a result of the government’s measures to safeguard public health (e.g. fitness centres, beauty parlours, sports and recreational facilities)	Cash subsidy of HKD50,000

Other job creation and individual measures

Finally, the HKSAR Government has announced a series of measures that are expected to create jobs, develop skills and relieve the financial burden on SMEs and Hong Kong residents. These include:

• investing HKD6 billion to create around 30,000 time-limited jobs (i.e. up to 12 months) in the public and private sectors in the coming two years;
• temporarily relaxing asset limits for social security purposes;
• measures to encourage staff in various professions to learn new skills and help enterprises to apply technology;
• increasing rental and fee concessions for government premises;
• temporary 20% fare reduction for MTR travel for six months from 1 July 2019 to 1 January 2021;
• temporarily relaxing the monthly public transport expense threshold for the Public Transport Fare Subsidy Scheme;
• one-off interest-free deferral of loan repayments for two years to self-financing post-secondary institutions under the Start-up Loan Scheme, non-profit-making international schools and students receiving loans from the Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency; and
• extending the deadline for payment of tax for the 2018/19 year of assessment by three months.

For more information, visit DLA Piper’s Workforce and Employment Resource Centre or their dedicated Coronavirus Resource Centre.

Adam Hugill, Partner, Hugill & Ip has also released the following, much needed, update on the Employer Support Scheme (ESS)

What are the legal obligations under the ESS?

The goal of ESS is to ensure employees are not being laid off during these difficult times. Although the precise terms have not yet been clarified, Dr Law has shed some light on the legal obligations to be complied with if employers want to benefit from ESS. One of these is that the headcount of participating employers will have to remain the same throughout the subsidised period.

Dr. Law stated: “To make the scheme easier to implement, we basically have just two rules for employers,” he said. “The number of employees on payroll in June to August cannot be smaller than the number of employees in March [including those on unpaid leave], and the money received by employers must all go to the employees.”

Dr. Law’s recent statement gives rise to a number of questions. What happens if employees who were employed in March resign of their own choosing in July? Would this be a reduction in headcount? Does it make any difference if the employer chooses to withhold trying to fill the vacancy? The same applies to employees that are dismissed for gross misconduct or “cause”. Surely the scheme is not intended to force employers to keep errant employees on their payroll?

Dr. Law did, however, clarify that the subsidy will cover employees who are on unpaid leave.

Review and Enforcement of ESS

The Government will be introducing a review system. If an employer is found to have received the subsidy and still laid-off employees, they will be punished, and the subsidy withdrawn.

It seems the cost and significant workforce required to implement an extensive review system will be difficult to achieve. Therefore, monitoring will likely fall on employees reporting their employers’ (or indeed former employers) offences’ themselves and, save in circumstance of clear fraud, the penalties for breach will be relatively minor. Dr Law used the example of sacking staff but hiring friends or relatives in their place as being an act of fraud.

How does the ESS differ from other emergency schemes?

The measures brought in are unlike any measures brought in during the 2003 SARS outbreak, in that they are focused on employee retention. Dr Law explained that this is because the responses from businesses have been different. During SARS, many companies closed down altogether, whereas with the current crisis, many companies are remaining open and putting their employees on unpaid leave or reducing hours. Furthermore, they differ from other international measures as they focus on keeping employees working rather than supporting those who have lost their jobs.

Is ESS available to workers on commission and the self-employed?

Concern was expressed in certain areas, such as insurance agents, who have questioned whether these measures will apply to employees who mainly rely on commissions. In response to this, Dr Law has stated that these employees will be included in the scheme as long as these businesses have complied with the obligatory MPF schemes. Dr Law’s further clarification that subsidies will be based on January, February or March 2020’s record wages should further alleviate such concerns.

The Government will also grant a one-off subsidy for self-employed people who have contributed to MPF.

How do I know if I am eligible for ESS?

You will be an eligible employer if you have been making MPF contributions for employees (except for Government employees and employees of statutory bodies and subvented organisations).

Too little too late?

ESS should be a relief for many employers who have struggled over the past months. However, there are questions over whether these measures are too little too late. Social welfare lawmaker Shiu Ka Chun has acknowledged that these measures are helpful but said that officials have been too slow to act, adding that many employees have already been laid off or asked to take unpaid leave.

Job Creation

The Government plans to invest $6 billion in the public and private sectors with the aim of creating 30,000 jobs in the coming two years. This investment is “for people of different skill sets and academic qualifications, benefitting professionals and technicians, fresh graduates, middle level and grassroots workers”.

New Skills

HK$800 million of the fund will go towards a scheme aiming to let workers learn new skills or allow businesses apply more technology. Included in this are the following:

• “LAWTECH fund”: $40 million so assist SME law firms/ barristers’ chambers to procure/ upgrade their information technology systems and train staff to support the development of remote hearings.
• “COVID-19 Online Dispute Resolution Scheme”: $70 million towards providing Online Dispute Resolution services for disputes related to or arising from COVID-19.
• “Encouraging the deployment of 5G”: $60 million to subsidise the public and private sectors 50% of project costs for projects deploying 5G technologies, subject to a cap of $500,000 for each project.
• “Distance Business Programme”: $500 million towards supporting enterprises to continue business with technology adoption and related training.
• “Training Subsidies for the Construction Sector”: $30 million towards training subsidies to some 600 consulting firms through the Construction Industry Council.
• “Matching Grants for Skills Upgrading”: $100 million towards matching grants for training programmes for staff in the public and private sectors.

Other measures included in the overall fund

The remainder of the fund is made up of the following measures:

• The Chief Executive, the director of her office and principal officials, will have a 10% pay cut for the coming 12 months.
• SME Financing Guarantee Scheme to be enhanced.
• HK$21 billion to go towards an additional 16 types of support for businesses, including tutorial schools and the travel industry.
• Government rental concessions from April – September 2020 to increase from 50% to 75%.
• 20% lower MTR fares from July 1, 2020, for six months.
• HK$2 billion to go to airlines and other aviation operators.

Enrolling in one of the schemes – should I be wary of the legal implications?

As touched upon with the ESS, in its own words, the Government seems unwilling to implement overly stringent controls and, therefore, how the schemes (in particular ESS) will impact and indeed benefit employees in real-life remains to be seen. However, once published, it is essential that employers carefully examine the terms and conditions under which they must abide by if they wish to enrol. For now, the advice is simple, stay informed, plan and seek advice where appropriate.

More details on the Government announcement can be found on the Hong Kong SAR coronavirus link.

 

Our team at Hugill & Ip has extensive experience in dealing with Employment matters – so if you need further advice on these subjects, get in touch with us to find out how we can help.

 

China back to work measures

For more information, visit DLA Piper’s  China Back to Business Guide

Logistical impacts of COVID-19

Adopting technology

The emergence of COVID-19 has meant that a large portion of companies who were previously resistant to technological change has had to adapt quickly. Many have needed to equip their teams with the digital tools for remote working or face a swift collapse of their business. Others have not had the financial capabilities to implement this new mode of working, and have, sadly, had to close their doors permanently. Survivors have adapted, with many turning to Zoom to facilitate online communications with teams. The app tracking organisation, Apptopia, noted that Zoom was downloaded 2.13m times around the world on 23 March, the day the lockdown was announced in the UK. (see Section on avoiding Zoom-bombing).

Although three-quarters of companies worldwide have already switched to flexible working options, with 83% reporting a boost in productivity, constant remote working is something that many organisations have still not adequately developed infrastructure for, according to research from The Instant Group. The research also indicates that only the IT and Marketing sectors are currently geared up to leverage remote working, with 29.2% and 24.5% ready, respectively. Education & Training and Correction & Security sectors lag, with only 3.3% and 2.9% of such organisations ready, respectively.

Legal implications of WFH

“In terms of accidents that might occur while employees are working from home (WFH), it is a company’s responsibility to ensure it is a safe place to work from.” Adam Hugill, Partner, Hugill & Ip

In a standard working week, companies usually have a very clear understanding of their legal stance on a variety of issues that generally come up in the workplace. However, these new home office arrangements have thrown companies into unknown territory when it comes to questions like: is the company responsible for accidents that happen in a staff member’s home? And with a high likelihood of staff quarantine or infection, is it morally right or even legal to make staff take mandatory unpaid leave?

Adam Hugill, Partner, Hugill & Ip, explained, “In terms of accidents that might occur while employees are working from home, it is a company’s responsibility to ensure it is a safe place to work from. You have made their apartment their workplace and so it should be covered by your employee compensation insurance, but it’s quite untested for in Hong Kong. Employers can ask employees if they’d like to take unpaid leave, but cannot demand that they take mandatory leave.”

 

 

Growing company culture remotely

John Williams, Head of Marketing, The Instant Group, commented, “The uncertainty of the next few weeks will certainly see an increase in remote working, and as we have seen from our offices across APAC, business goes on, and work can be effectively carried out. With planning, open lines of communication and the right tech, there’s no reason why companies can’t run successful remote teams for short periods or even integrate more into their future approach on a permanent basis.”

Co-located teams have an easier time building a company culture than remote teams. That said, there are some things organisations can do to create a positive company culture, even with remote teams:

• Choose tools that match your culture—because all communication and collaboration will be done using online tools, it is essential to choose apps and software that match the culture you are trying to create. If you want to create a fun, laid-back environment, choose tools that match this atmosphere. You also want to make it as easy as possible for your remote team to stay up to date. Be it via video conferencing tools, chat apps, or the comments section of your project management tool; you need to offer various ways to keep in touch and on top of the work.
• Team building—team building does wonders to foster communication, especially among remote workers who do not see each other daily. While people are self-isolating, it is still possible to be social with platforms such as Skype or Zoom for group messaging and video chats for a light-hearted catch-up to see how everyone is.
• Recognition—public recognition for a job well done is one of the most effective and most natural ways to motivate a remote team. Shout outs in a team chat, during meetings or any other way, will not only boost morale and motivation but set a standard for other team members to strive for.

Civil Service efforts to help

Quietly, resolutely, and often behind the scenes, the HKSAR Government has been making considerable efforts to continue to deliver public services and enhance cross-departmental collaboration. The following is a sample of a few of on-going mission-critical efforts by the civil service departments in staving the spread of COVID-19.

The Department of Health (DH) is responsible for investigating all confirmed cases of COVID-19 and provides appropriate, timely medical support to both suspected and confirmed cases. In the ongoing anti-epidemic efforts, the DH and the Hospital Authority (HA) continue to serve the public through 40 public hospitals and over a hundred of clinics across Hong Kong. The DH also implements isolation orders and the coordinates the logistics of moving affected persons into isolation centres or hospital isolation wards, as appropriate. CHP and the Hospital Authority also hold a press conference every day to ensure the public is kept abreast of the latest updates on the outbreak. Efforts of the Port Health Division, which enforces relevant provisions of the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance at all boundary control points, have also been pivotal in helping prevent the transfer of all infectious diseases across the territory’s borders.

Over 100 members of the CAS have been mobilised to work on shifts round-the-clock at the forefront of the fight against the epidemic. Team members are currently managing multiple quarantine centres—each equipped with enough supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) to ensure the safety of CAS teams on duty.

Currently, there are three operating quarantine centres, namely the Chai Wan Lei Yue Mun Park and Holiday Village, the Heritage Lodge at the Jao Tsung-I Academy, and Chun Yeung Estate in Fo Tan, providing over 1,600 units. Three temporary accommodation facilities have also been made available for persons under compulsory quarantine who are unable to arrange accommodation, including Tso Kung Tam Outdoor Recreation Centre, Sai Kung Outdoor Recreation Centre and Lady MacLehose Holiday Village.

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) has stepped up its efforts in the cleaning of public facilities that it manages, including all public markets, public toilets and refuse collection points. The department is also helping to promote territory-wide cleansing to help prevent any further outbreaks of the novel coronavirus. On 3 April 2020, following the Prevention and Control of Disease (Requirements and Directions), the Secretary for Food and Health directed that bars and pubs, exclusively or mainly used for the sale of alcohol to be consumed in that premises must be closed for two weeks. The FEHD is also assisting the DH, in the longer-term, to investigate the causes of the current outbreak, to help mitigate possible future pandemics.

Moreover, the Correctional Services Department (CSD) has been providing around-the-clock services to manufacture face masks by existing and retired staff. In collaboration with the Architectural Services Department (ArchSD) and the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) the CSD has rapidly converted part of its facilities in Lo Wu Correctional Institution into a mask production area.

The Immigration Department continues to help any Hong Kong residents affected by the pandemic. The department has also provided full support to those facing other difficulties outside Hong Kong. Led by the Director of Immigration, immigration officers helped manage operations in respect of affected passengers aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship. From 19 – 23 February, for Hong Kong passengers on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan, the Government arranged three free chartered flights—bringing a total of 193 Hong Kong residents who had tested negative for COVID-19, back to Hong Kong.

On March 4 and 5, the Government also arranged four free chartered flights for Hong Kong residents in Hubei province—bringing a total of 469 people back to Hong Kong. After they arrived at Hong Kong, they were taken to the quarantine centre in Chun Yeung Estate for quarantine observation for 14 days. The Government also arranged four chartered flights to bring 558 Hong Kong residents stranded in Hubei Province back to Hong Kong on March 25 and 26—who were then required to undergo compulsory home quarantine for 14 days upon arrival.

A raft of immigration measure has also been implemented to reduce the flow of people between Hong Kong, mainland China and other countries. As a result, the number of arrivals via all control points, including the airport, has significantly dropped. On 1 January there were over 400,000 arrivals, and traffic has been progressively reduced to the point where only around 300 people entered Hong Kong on 8 April.

The GLD has helped procure personal protective equipment (PPE) including surgical masks, face shields and N95 respirators to help ensure civil servants and members of the public are protected. It contacted over 600 suppliers from more than 30 countries and regions globally and by 18 March had helped facilitate the delivery of more than 10 million face masks to Hong Kong, ordered by the Government. In this way, the GLD maintains enough facemasks to meet the needs of every government department for at least two months.

The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) have assisted in escorting quarantined persons and controlling vehicular movement in and around quarantine centres. The Force has also played a vital role in enforcement action against any breaches of quarantine orders. Officers have also taken part in numerous joint operations at the Hong Kong International Airport related to the significant repatriation of Hong Kong residents from Hubei province and Japan.

The Police have also put their negotiation skills to good use during the crisis, deploying one of their Police Negotiation Cadres to help save more lives. The Marine Police recently handled a case on Ping Chau with someone in breach of a home quarantine order. Despite the person being intoxicated, the Marine Police, in conjunction with AMS staff, used negotiation tactics to help gain trust, persuade them onto a police launch, prevent them from jumping overboard, and eventually escort them to the quarantine centre in Chun Yeung Estate.

Up to March, the Fire Services Department (FSD) had already handled over 11,000 calls of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases, with their ambulance crews providing quick-response, essential emergency services to help the public in fighting COVID-19 infection. The FSD’s Infectious Disease Monitoring Task Force has also released timely information to keep FSD colleagues up to date on the latest operational guidelines and spread of COVID-19.

To help ensure fire safety for those in quarantine two fire protection commands have conducted an overall fire safety risk assessment on the usage, design and operation mode of the newly constructed government quarantine facilities. On 2 March, the FSD also set up a special Rapid Response Team (RRT), which it keeps on standby at these isolation centres to provide immediate assistance in case of emergency. The DH has appointed members from the FSD and other disciplinary forces to assist in enforcing the Compulsory Quarantine of Certain Persons Arriving at Hong Kong Regulation. Appointed FSD members are authorised to perform spot checks on anyone under compulsory quarantine.

A largely unsung hero in the Government’s efforts to fight the spread of COVID-19 has been the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD), being the Innovation Facilitator for the Government, which has provided help through the application of Innovation and Technology (I&T). They have played a vital role in ensuring the smooth operation of public hospitals and that all their electrical and mechanical facilities function correctly. In addition to conducting examination, assessment, repair and maintenance works and providing engineering solutions for public healthcare facilities, the EMSD has prioritised system evaluation and reinforced maintenance of air-conditioning and ventilation systems as well as other E&M equipment in high-risk areas such as isolation wards, monitoring wards, designated clinics and A&E departments to ensure a safe environment for both patients and medical teams. The EMSD has also helped enhance airflow in hospital ventilation systems and negative-pressure rooms.

The EMSD has also installed fixed Smart Fever Screening Systems in areas with high footfalls—such as hospitals and boundary control points, the Central Government Offices and other government buildings—to enhance the efficiency of body temperature checks and help curb the epidemic. The EMSD has established an anti-epidemic thematic page on their website to help garner the development of new technology projects on fighting and curbing of the pandemic from I&T enterprises. Through the E&M InnoPortal over 100 anti-epidemic proposals were received in just a fortnight. These included mobile fever-screening robots; mobile robots which can perform indoor disinfection duties; robots for delivering meals, medications and documents to patients and those who are quarantined. All these innovations help minimise close person-to-person contact and hence reduce the risk of infection.

When the Government resumed numerous operations on 2 March, EMSD tested the mobile fever-screening robot at the main entrance of its headquarters—with very satisfactory results. Given its embedded Wi-Fi and 4G functions, the robot can perform duties in different environments and significantly reduce the manual workload required for temperature checks. Similar robots are now being rolled out across various government departments to help reduce the workloads of frontline staff.

The EMSD is also working closely with the R&D arm of an I&T company, which has developed a nano-coating technology, which could be used to help fight the epidemic. When the nano-coating, with anti-microbial properties, is applied to a smooth surface, it helps prevent the build-up of dirt and micro-organisms on the surface. This coating can, therefore, help curb the spread of viruses like COVID-19 by minimising infection risks when people touch contaminated surfaces. The nano-coating technology can also be used in air ducts to minimise static electricity and hence reduce the accumulation of dust and micro-organisms—resulting in cleaner air.

HR after COVID-19

Now, it is impossible to predict precisely how long the COVID-19 situation will last. Nevertheless, what is clear is that organisations will be feeling the economic impact of this pandemic for a long time to come. That said, there are several potential benefits and learning opportunities that the pandemic has brought about.

With the massive uptick in HR adoption of technology solutions, we have witnessed a considerable number of job roles being effectively conducted from the convenience of employees’ living rooms. With many more in the workforce experiencing anxiety and depression, conversations on mental health are becoming more frequent and more candid. It is possible that when we see the end of this virus, many organisations way of working will fundamentally change for the better. It is likely we will emerge from a world of mostly rigid work environments and concealed employee emotions, to one of much greater flexibility, freedom and openness.

Stay safe, stay strong

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[1] Source: adapted for general audience from COVID-19 impact on hotel industry & plan of action, by G. Angelini: https://plainsailinghr.com/hr-news-archives/covid-19-impact-on-hotel-industry-plan-of-action/

[2] Advice issued by the Privacy Commissioner: https://plainsailinghr.com/hr-news-archives/fight-covid-19-pandemic-guidelines-for-employers-and-employees/

[3] Source: advice issued by the Privacy Commissioner: https://plainsailinghr.com/hr-news-archives/fight-covid-19-pandemic-guidelines-for-employers-and-employees/

[4] Source: Zoom’s online guide to avoiding Zoom-bombing: https://blog.zoom.us/wordpress/2020/03/20/keep-uninvited-guests-out-of-your-zoom-event/

[5] Source: DLA Piper’s Workforce and Employment Resource Centre or their dedicated Coronavirus Resource Centre.