Winter is approaching, marking another turning point in the pandemic. But there is also a silver lining in terms of vaccination progress. More than 80% of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 10% have received a bivalent booster shot. But “long-term covid” – a mysterious chronic disease that affects as many as 80% of covid-19 survivors – remains a major concern for businesses, affecting the wider workforce.
At the end of August, the Brookings Institute (Brookings Institute) released a jaw-dropping report, which found that 2 million to 4 million working-age Americans were forced to leave their jobs due to the impact of “long-term new crowns”, and every year At least $170 billion in lost wages. (A more conservative estimate is that 1 million Americans have been forced out of work due to the effects of “long-term covid.”) Even more worrying, this figure is only 6.8% of the United States currently reporting “long-term covid-19”. A fraction of an adult.
The report’s author, Katie Bach, said it was critical that employers address the “chronic covid” problem of their employees, but added that “it’s unclear how to help employees with ‘chronic covid’ .”
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) listed “long-term new crown” as a disability protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act in July 2021, requiring employers to provide reasonable work for employees suffering from “long-term new crown” adjust. However, not all “long-term COVID-19” patients’ symptoms look the same. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, symptoms may include chronic fatigue and worsening of symptoms after physical or mental exertion, respiratory problems, such as shortness of breath, and neurological problems, such as brain fog or dizziness.
There could be another wave of COVID-19 this winter, which, combined with influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, could create a “triple epidemic” that forces more Americans out of work.
Kara Ariail, an employment lawyer and partner at law firm Holland & Knight, said: “(Human resources executives) cannot ignore this. Employers have a responsibility to provide reasonable work accommodations for eligible disabled people, which means This means that as long as reasonable work accommodations are provided, employees can still get work done.”
Managers, too, should be aware of “long-term COVID” and be adequately trained to adapt to the prognosis of their employees.
Cecile Oger, general manager of people and culture at Business for Social Responsibility, said leaders must demonstrate empathy and tolerance. But she sees a shift away from leaders viewing COVID-19 as a week-long illness, and instead as one that debilitates patients and has lasting effects.
Patients suffering from “long-term new crowns” can benefit from flexible working. Ironically, the epidemic has accelerated the process of flexible working. “Flexibility goes a long way toward adjusting to work, whether it’s scheduling, flexibility on deadlines, or providing advance notice,” Ariel said. ” of employees do not answer the phone until a certain time. Likewise, employers can offer flexible deadlines to employees with symptoms of “brain fog” who struggle to meet deadlines.
Some companies set up company-wide funds to pay for employee accommodation. Jill Houghton, president and CEO of Disability:IN, said the average lodging cost no more than $500, “and in many cases it costs employees nothing.” Disability:IN’s 2022 Disability Equality Index It found that 55% of employers surveyed had a centralized accommodation fund or similar, up from 34% in 2019.
According to Disability:IN, companies participating in the Disability Equality Index who have improved their disability inclusion over the past four years have seen 28% higher revenues and doubled their net income compared to companies without improvements , the economic profit rate increased by 30%. “There is a huge benefit to companies in treating people with disabilities equally,” Horton said. “So we shouldn’t be arguing about what an employee needs to perform the essential functions of a job.”
Employers must also prepare for “long-term COVID-19” leave requests under the Family and Medical Leave Act. Research shows that the sooner “long-term COVID-related” issues are dealt with, the better the outcome.
“The Family and Medical Leave Act applies to a broad range of employers, so employers need to ensure they comply with the requirements when it comes to designating leave and notifying employees of their rights,” Ariel said.
It’s not just white-collar workers who are affected by the “long-term crown”. Essential health care workers have long been vulnerable to severe COVID-19 outbreaks, posing serious challenges.
In the United States, employers can fire disabled workers for circumstances unrelated to the disability, such as the employee’s inability to meet job requirements with or without reasonable work accommodations, or the employee’s disability poses an immediate threat to workplace health and safety.
A factory worker with memory problems who supervises safety or operates machinery could pose an occupational risk to an employer. But given the labor shortages caused by the pandemic, employers must focus on performance issues and rethink how they provide job accommodation.
“Make sure you’re in regular contact with employees about performance issues,” Ariel said. “We don’t want to wait until someone misses 10 deadlines and that’s the tipping point where the client or team member wants them fired.”
Plus, recurrent infections increase the likelihood of health complications and could lead to more workers leaving the workforce.
“If you are an employer and one of your employees is absent due to illness for a long time, the cost is very high.” Clare Rayner (Clare Rayner), a retired occupational physician consultant in the UK who suffers from “long-term new crowns”, told Fortune magazine. “But what’s different about COVID-19 is that a lot of people are absent from work for a long time at the same time. I’ve never been in a situation like this before.”
But there are solutions. Suppose an employee suffering from “long-term new crown” has difficulty standing for a long time, but can sit and work for several hours. Employers can vary the amount of time employees stand and sit, give employees adequate breaks, and allow them to change positions. “If you want that employee to come back to work, you have to get them acclimated and adjust accordingly,” Rainer said. Employees who take sick leave are 50% less likely to return to work by the 12th week of absence. “You can’t wait for that to become 100 per cent because then they’ll never come back.”
Despite the “long covid” and pandemic wreaking havoc on the workforce, there is some good news. Disability workforce participation has increased over the past two years as a result of remote and hybrid work models. Such flexible working arrangements help retain employees who suffer from “long-term new crowns”.
“People with disabilities have been asking for flexible workplaces for decades,” Horton said. “While it doesn’t apply to every role and industry, we’re seeing companies being able to make a difference and start offering flexible workplaces. When When you talk about “long-term COVID” or disability, it’s the same thing.” (Fortune Chinese Network)
Translator: Zhong Huiyan-Wang Fang
Winter is quickly approaching, marking yet another turn around the sun for the COVID-19 pandemic. But there is a silver lining when it comes to inoculation progress. More than 80% of the US population has received at least one vaccine dose, and 10 % have received a bivalent booster. But long COVID—a mysterious chronic condition affecting as many as 80% of COVID survivors—remains a significant business concern with broader workforce implications.
In late August, the Brookings Institute released a jaw-dropping report finding that long COVID has forced between 2 million to 4 million working-age Americans out of the workforce, accounting for at least $170 billion in lost wages annually. (More conservative estimates place the number of Americans out of work due to long COVID at 1 million.) Even more worrying, this number is only a fraction of the 6.8% of US adults who currently report having long COVID symptoms.
Katie Bach, the report’s author, says it’s critical that employers address long COVID in their workforce, but adds, “It’s not immediately obvious how to accommodate someone with this.”
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission classified long COVID as a disability protected under the American With Disabilities Act in July 2021, requiring that employers provide long-haulers with reasonable accommodations. However, not all long COVID cases look the same. According to the CtompDC can include chronic fatigue and worsening symptoms after physical or mental effort, respiratory issues like shortness of breath, and neurological issues like brain fog or dizziness.
Another COVID wave will likely happen this winter, which combined with the flu and RSV could create a “tripledemic” and push even more Americans out of the workforce.
“It’s not something [HR leaders] can just ignore,” says Kara Ariail, a partner and employment law attorney at Holland & Knight. “Employers have a responsibility to make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities, which means that an employee still perform the job as long as some accommodations are in place.”
It will also require that managers are aware of long COVID symptoms and have adequate training to accommodate employees’ prognoses.
Cecile Oger, managing director of people and culture at Business for Social Responsibility, says leaders must show empathy and leniency. But she’s seeing a shift from leaders treating COVID as a one-week ailment to a disease with a lasting, debilitating impact.
Long COVID patients could stand to benefit from flexible work, which the pandemic ironically accelerated. “Flexibility is a key accommodation that helps, whether it’s flexibility in schedule, deadlines, or providing a lot of advance notice,” says Ariail. For instance, a manager can excuse an employee whose long COVID symptoms include poor sleep and insomnia from taking calls before a certain time. Similarly, employers can provide deadline flexibility to workers with brain fog who find it difficult to work within time limits.
Some companies have set up enterprise-wide funds to pay for employee accommodations. The average accommodation costs no more than $500, says Jill Houghton, president and CEO of Disability: IN, noting, “In many instances, it doesn’t cost anything. Disability: IN’s 2022 Disability Equality Index found that 55% of surveyed employers have a centralized accommodation fund or similar fund, up from 34% in 2019.
Companies participating in the Disability Equality Index that improved their disability inclusion over four years saw 28% higher revenue, doubled net income, and 30% higher economic profit margins compared to companies that hadn’t improved their practices, according to: IN. It pays for companies to be disability-inclusive,” Houghton says. “So we shouldn’t be debating what an employee needs to perform the job’s essential functions.”
Employers must also prepare for long-COVID-related leave requests under the Family and Medical Leave Act. Research shows that the sooner long COVID is addressed, the better the outcome.
“Employers who are covered under the FMLA need to make sure that they are following the requirements in terms of designating leave and informing employees of their rights,” Ariail says.
Long COVID’s impact goes beyond white-collar workers. Essential and health care workers have long been vulnerable to worse COVID-19 outcomes, painting a grimmer picture for such individuals.
In the US, employers can terminate workers with disabilities if the termination is unrelated to the disability, employees do not meet the job requirements with or without reasonable accommodation, or workers pose a direct threat to health and safety in the workplace because of their disability.
A factory worker with memory issues responsible for safety oversight or running a machine could create an occupational risk for employers. But given the labor shortage caused by the pandemic, employers must stay on top of performance issues and rethink how they’re grantings.
“Make sure you are in constant, regular contact with employees on performance issues,” says Ariail. “We don’t want to wait until someone has missed 10 deadlines, and it’s become a critical point, and a client or a team member wants they removed.”
Separately, repeated reinfections increase the likelihood of developing health complications and could lead more employees to exit the workforce.
“If you’re an employer, and you have somebody on long-term sickness absence, that’s very costly,” Clare Rayner, a retired consultant occupational physician in England who developed long COVID, tells Fortune. “But what’s different with COVID is that we’ve got multiple people off sick for a long time, all at once. That’s never happened in my experience.”
But there are solutions. Suppose a long-hauler struggles to stand upright for long periods but works on their feet for hours. Employers can vary the worker’s time standing and sitting and allow adequate breaks and changes in position. ”If you want to get this person back in, you’ve got to ease them in gradually and make adjustments,” Rayner says. The likelihood of a worker on medical leave returning to work drops by 50% by their 12th week of absence. “You can’t leave it until someone’s 100% because they’ll never get back in.”
Despite the havoc long COVID and the pandemic wreaked on the workforce, there’s some good news: Workforce disability participation increased in the last two years thanks to remote and hybrid work offerings. Those same flexible arrangements can help retain long haulers.
“People with disabilities [have] been asking for flexible workplaces for decades,” says Houghton. “While it didn’t work for every single position and industry, we saw that companies were able to flip that switch and begin to offer these flexible workplaces accommodations, which, when you’re talking about long COVID or disability, is one and the same.”
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