Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) has officially reached pandemic levels. The WHO defines a pandemic as an “epidemic that is occurring worldwide, or over a very wide area, crossing international boundaries and usually affecting a large number of people.”
As reported by local news, there have been two reported cases in Hawaii. Since this news update, several festival organizations and businesses have either cancelled or postponed events in an effort to prevent the transmission of COVID-19.
Additionally, the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization (UHERO) has recently shared the potential decline within the tourism sector which could impact jobs within the travel and hospitality industries from the impact of the global COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.
In light of this outbreak, the Hawaii Employers Council launched the “Coronavirus Preparedness Survey”. With the understanding that preparedness actions are fluid, we are pleased to share the outcomes of this survey that was launched between March 4th and 11th.
More than 700 Hawaii employers were invited to participate, and we received responses from 237 employers (30.2% participation). Understanding the situation is very fluid and changing by the hour, the survey outcomes shared in this report may have changed as employers are revising policies and considering new levels of flexibility.
The survey outcomes cover employers across all islands and spans sixteen distinct industries.
Varying sizes of companies were reported (based on the number of employees as of March 1, 2020).
|
Employment Size |
Percent Representation |
|
< 50 employees |
48.3% |
|
50 < 150 employees |
22.7% |
|
150 < 400 employees |
17.7% |
|
400 < 1,000 employees |
5.9% |
|
1,000+ employees |
5.4% |
Preparedness Practices
A business continuity plan supports a business, where systems are outlined to effectively respond to, and function effectively before, during and recovery from potential threats. Several employers (40.1%) have a business continuity plan in place, while others (33.3%) are in the process of developing a plan. The remaining 26.6% currently do not have a plan.
When looking at the data from an employment size and an overall average perspective, 82.6% of all participating employers either have a plan or are in the process of developing a plan.
A pandemic policy establishes policies and procedures for preparedness, response and recovery from any infectious disease outbreak. Only 19.0% of participating employers indicated having a pandemic policy, with nearly half (49.8%) of participants not having a policy. A few employers (31.2%) are in the process of developing a policy.
Channels of Communication
Understanding the importance of keeping employees informed, employers have been utilizing a variety of communication channels as outlined below. Nearly one-fourth (23.2%) shared that only one key communication channel was being utilized. The table below shares the options made available for selection and the results represent employers utilizing only one key communication channel (listed in order of the most responses received).
|
Communication Channel |
% of responses received |
|
In-person meetings |
29.1% |
|
Written communication |
21.8% |
|
Part of departmental daily meetings |
20.0% |
|
Intranet |
18.2% |
|
Other |
10.9% |
|
Online messaging (such as videos) |
0.0% |
The top three combinations utilized by 76.8% of employers from the above communication channels are provided below (listed in order of the most responses received):
|
Communication Channel Combinations – most utilized |
|||
|
In-person meetings |
Written communication |
|
|
|
In-person meetings |
Written communication |
Part of department daily meetings |
|
|
In-person meetings |
Written communication |
Part of department daily meetings |
Intranet |
Other communication channels reported are listed below in alphabetical order:
- Email blast to all employees
- Social media platforms (Yammer, Slack, and Nixle were mentioned)
- Text messaging
- Physical signage
Communication Topics
Employees have a sense of uncertainty when information is not shared, and participating employers are actively sharing various communication topics. Participants were requested to select the types of topics being shared from a list of options. The types of topics being communicated to employees are shared in the below table, listed in the order of most responses received.
|
Topic Covered |
% of responses received |
|
Hygiene |
29.6% |
|
Travel Advisories |
15.1% |
|
Leave Policies |
14.4% |
|
Mask Usage |
11.6% |
|
Remote Work |
11.2% |
|
Quarantine Policy |
9.1% |
|
Other |
6.2% |
|
Reduction of Work Hours |
2.7% |
There were more than fifty varying combinations and nearly all combinations of topics, included Hygiene.
Other topics reported are listed below in alphabetical order:
- If “ill”, stay home
- Resources provided on the Council’s website
- CDC Fact sheets / Hawaii State bulletins
- News articles
Travel Restrictions
With travel advisories issued by the U.S. Department of State and the CDC related to COVID-19, covering China, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, Iran and Italy (known areas at the time of the survey), participants were given options to select from (where multiple responses were permitted). The types of restrictions are listed in the order of most responses received.
|
Type of Restriction |
% of responses received |
|
No Restrictions |
53.1% |
|
Restrict travel to certain geographic locations |
27.0% |
|
Restrict all travel outside of the U.S. |
13.7% |
|
Restrict all travel (outside of the U.S. and within the U.S.) |
6.3% |
The travel advisories issued by the U.S. Department of State and the CDC related to COVID-19 may differ for various geographic locations. Nonetheless, employers are vigilant and more than half (54.9%) are basing travel decisions by reviewing information shared from both agencies. Slightly over one-fourth (27.4%) of employers are basing decisions based on information shared by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) only.
|
Agency |
Utilization percentage |
|
Both |
54.9% |
|
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) |
27.4% |
|
Unsure |
16.5% |
|
U.S. Department of State |
1.3% |
Post Travel: Return to Work Restrictions
When employers were requested to share what actions have been implemented in reference to an employee returning from any geographic location having confirmed cases of COVID-19, many (67.5%) are currently reviewing options. A handful (20.3%) of employers reported that employees may return to the office physically after 14 days from their return date. Others (12.2%), however, reported having no restrictions.
Leave Considerations
Few employers (6.3%) reported offering additional paid leave beyond usual vacation, PTO or sick leave benefits provided. Less than half of the participating employers (43.9%) are not offering any additional paid leave and nearly half (49.8%) are not offering additional paid leave, where the topic still remains open for discussion.
Mask Usage
Over half (61.6%) of employers reported not having a stance on the use of masks in the workplace. However, nearly a third (32.1%) of employers, allow employees to use masks.
Cleaning & Disinfecting
Over half of the participants (see below chart) reported no changes to cleaning / disinfecting procedures. The cleaning timeframes for both common areas and shared areas within the offices, reported identical ranking outcomes, although having slightly differing percentages.
|
Cleaning Timeframes |
Common Areas (lobby area, door handles, restrooms, etc) |
Shared areas within the offices (door handles, meeting table surfaces, etc) |
|
No Changes |
60.8% |
65.8% |
|
Two times per day |
21.5% |
19.8% |
|
More than three times per day |
4.2% |
11.0% |
|
Three times per day |
13.5% |
3.4% |
Hawaii employers (regardless of size or geographic island location) have taken on the key role of information sharing and keeping employees informed with reliable resources from the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Department of State.
Additionally, employers are being nimble and flexible, allowing for quick change to policies and plans as the need arises, with new updates being shared at a rapid pace.
HEC conducts a variety of compensation and benefits surveys to provide data useful in developing and administering compensation and benefit plans, and personnel policies. Custom snapshots and comparison reports from our compensation surveys are available, along with customized, proprietary surveys conducted on your behalf. Our Survey & Compensation experts can also work with members on employee opinion surveys to identify gaps between being an employer of choice and being merely an employer. For more information, please contact Cathy Keaulani, Survey & Compensation Services Manager (ckeaulani@hecouncil.org), or Susan Amuro, Survey & Research Analyst (samuro@hecouncil.org).