Employers circumspect on preparations for 'the big sick'

Thursday, 13 January 2022

Contingency planning for higher sickness absences is being stepped up by some employers as a result of Omicron.

Key employers appear reluctant to go into much detail over how they are preparing for a high level of staff absences this year that could arise due to Omicron and a possible resurgence in colds and the flu.

But Countdown corporate affairs director Kiri Hannifin said the supermarket group was considering a “number of scenarios” that could include it reducing opening hours and suspending non-essential activities in a staffing crunch.

Fonterra and Police indicated they were also planning for contingencies.

Michael Baker, a professor of public health at the University of Otago in Wellington, warned on Tuesday that businesses should prepare for a high level of staff absences from as soon as Omicron entered the country until at least spring.

* Covid-19: Supermarkets eye Australia's Omicron troubles

* Covid-19: Britain draws up Omicron contingency plans for hospitals and schools

Overseas experience suggests staff shortages could quickly lead to more empty shelves.

He described Omicron as “generally seemingly mild”, but also voiced concerns about an increase in respiratory diseases such as colds and the flu once the border opens.

Immunity to the flu is expected to have dropped as a result of people being less exposed to infection during the past two years because of international travel restrictions.

Britain’s Daily Mail reported that 10 per cent of pub and brewery owner Whitbred’s 30,000 staff were currently off-work, while The Toronto Star reported an estimate by Ontario’s chief medical officer Kieran Moore that 20 to 30 per cent of the state’s workers would take time off sick due to Omicron.

The impact here may depend on the extent to which workers are expected to self-isolate after possible exposures to Omicron, with BusinessNZ chief executive Kirk Hope calling for more guidance from the Government on that score, as well as easier access to rapid antigen tests.

Professor Tony Blakely from the University of Melbourne gives his thoughts on Omicron.

Hannifin said Countdown was “incredibly mindful about the potential impact of Omicron”, particularly on the wellbeing of its staff.

It already had a number of well-developed and tested health and safety controls in place to protect its staff and the community, including requiring all staff to be fully vaccinated, she said.

“We have developed plans to help manage absences, which were tested during the first few weeks of the August 2021 lockdown when we had a couple of thousand team members off work.”

That lockdown saw Countdown reduce store trading hours and temporarily close some stores to manage staff shortages, Hannifin noted.

“There are a number of different scenarios we’re considering as part of our Omicron preparation and we’re using a lot of what we have learnt from previous lockdowns to guide that,” she said.

“We’re also working closely with our colleagues in Australia to understand the likely key pressure points Omicron will create.”

Responses could include temporarily suspending non-essential activities, reducing store trading hours, temporarily closing some stores, and redeploying team members to areas with the greatest need, she said.

The city council in Toronto is responding to the threat of mass absences by drawing up a list of employees willing to be redeployed to essential services.

Fonterra chief operating officer Fraser Whineray said Covid continued to be “a very significant and dynamic risk to manage both in New Zealand and for our people and activities worldwide”.

“As we can see from the international experience, Omicron introduces new challenges due to its higher transmission rate in particular.

“Consequently, our response needs to continue to evolve so that we can meet customer requirements, collect milk from our farmers and, with our partners, undertake everything in between.”

A police spokeswoman said it was “experienced at deploying to demand and managing resourcing in line with this”.

“While aware of the impacts of Omicron internationally, New Zealand Police is committed to continuing to deliver a level of service that ensures New Zealanders can continue to be safe and feel safe,” she said.

“For operational reasons we are not in a position to go into specifics on what resourcing and deployment may look like as a result of Omicron.”

Overseas, the impact of staff absences on transport and logistics companies and airlines appears to have had a knock-on effect on other businesses, in some cases compounding their own staffing shortages and leading to supply shortages.

Transport giant Mainfreight declined to comment on whether it was implementing or considering any new policies or measures to cope with that scenario.

Air New Zealand was unable to comment immediately, with a spokesman explaining it was “on reduced staff at the moment due to the holidays”.

Hope has said some organisations overseas that would previously have been competing for labour had agreed to pool staff.

That could be a way to deal with some issues, as might be businesses agreeing to slow down milestones on projects, he said, adding that BusinessNZ was using its contacts to learn from those practices.

Toronto City council has created a pool of 1000 staff which it said could be redeployed to vaccination clinics, city-run shelters, long-term care homes and other essential services, as required.