International Organization of Employers (IOE) Covid-19 Response Platform

IOE is mobilising its network to provide information on business and employer organisations’ efforts to support members with safety and health measures, preventive actions to minimise disruption to productivity, strategies for mitigation of financial losses, and overview of government initiatives to reduce economic stress on business.

Resources available include:

IOE guidance on teleworking in the times of Covid-19: This document aims at providing practical guidance on understanding the main challenges of teleworking during emergency situations, as well as to provide key measures for its effective implementation.

IOE Paper on Diverse Labour Measures Implemented by Employers in Response to Covid-19: This document follows the IOE Digital Conference on “Insights on diverse labour measures implemented by employers in response to Covid-19: what works and what does not”, that took place on 1 April 2020. It outlines a range of industrial relations measures used by companies, and arrangements with the workforce to minimise the impact on jobs and ensure the sustainability of enterprises. The spectrum of measures should not be considered as best practices nor the only means available.

IOE Guidance on surviving Covid-19 and coming out strong: Taken from the practice of some of the leading HR professionals in the world, this publication provides 12 pointers to keep employees safe and ensure that business can bounce back fast and strong during the pandemic.

SAFE AT WORK: Guide for combatting the spread of COVID-19 at work: This guide is the result of the co-operation between the social partners in the High Council for Prevention and Protection at Work, the Economic Risk Management Group, the FPS ELSD, IOE and the policy unit of the Minister for Employment. Based on their expertise, they have developed a tool that carries considerable support, containing a number of necessary and minimum building blocks to enable workers to return to work as safely as possible in the post-lockdown period by keeping the risk of infection as low as possible and avoiding infections as much as possible.

This guide provides guidelines for sectors and employers who have had to (partially) cease their activities, in preparation for a safe resumption of these activities). Sectors and employers who have not interrupted their activities and have already taken the necessary measures can use this guide as a source of further inspiration. 

SHRM-IOE Guide: Return to Work During Covid-19: 
Following Covid-19, employers are asking themselves a major question: What does a return to work look like and how will businesses operate? The private sector has learned much from various nations and their plans to re-open businesses during the pandemic. In this publication, these lessons learned have been used to develop a general checklist of considerations when supporting the return to work. This checklist is a guide for employers and Employer Organisations (EOs) on the broad implications of re-opening business operations while still ensuring the safety of people.