Tripledemic Tactics for a Strong Year End

Image: Kaylee Walstad, EDRM

Most organizations have settled on their post COVID-19 attendance policies ranging from fully remote to fully in person.  Employees, clients and courts are fully functioning and regardless of policy, about to run into the cumulative effect of the tripledemic: COVID-19, flu and RSV.

The law, and legal tech, is dependent on highly engaged humans working together in a complex process to deliver deadline driven outcomes.  While the Cooperation Proclamation has encouraged collaboration, the law remains adversarial and there will be winners and losers this season. With hospitalization rates approaching the peak of the pandemic, and anecdotal data pointing to increases in COVID-19, low uptake on the flu vaccine and RSV (with no available vaccine) running rampant in schools, very few teams will avoid being impacted by those who become ill.

Legal and legal tech leaders may want to make adjustments to the current way of supporting the crush of litigation and regulatory practice as the year draws to a close.  Retention of key employees goes hand in hand with protecting their health and the health of their loved ones.  And we all know, we work through it as long as we can, ill-advised as it is.

Here are ten tactics to mitigate the damage of the tripledemic, increase profits and serve clients and employees well: 

1. Check on remote workers regularly, particularly those who live alone.
2. Reconsider in person meetings, large parties and travel through January.  Regarding centralized review facilities, consider upgraded air filtration and social distancing.
3. Encourage those with parental or care giving responsibilities to work from home with regularly scheduled virtual meetings and flexible autonomous working hours.
4. Institute a “text if important” policy to triage the deluge of communications for sick employees who are mission critical for workflow. Identify others to backstop those employees as a key business continuity imperative.
5. Institute a “mask if symptomatic” policy and actively discourage mask shaming.
6. Reinstitute the compulsive cleaning and wipe downs of the early pandemic.  Flu and RSV spread on surfaces.  This is particularly important in shared hoteling arrangements.
7. Place hand sanitizers prominently on tables in common areas.
8. Consider removing any doctor’s notes for sick leave, encourage symptomatic employees to stay home.
9. Reconsider the “post pandemic” layoffs telegraphed in the third quarter.  Redundancies may save the case, the deal, the year.  Offering unpaid leave may be a better solution.
10. Consider paying for covered parking or transportation for those who must come into the office to avoid public transportation, at least temporarily.

Hopefully these tactics will serve and can be reconsidered after January 2023.  Happy, healthy and prosperous holidays to one and all!