PROTECTING YOUR RETAIL BUSINESS

1. DEVISE AN EMERGENCY CONTINGENCY PLAN
Retailers should have an emergency contingency plan prepared before an emergency occurs. The contents of the emergency contingency plan will vary from workplace to workplace and emergency to emergency, but here are some things to consider when creating your emergency contingency plan:

a) Business as Usual

• Implement flexible work assignments for employees so you can respond to emergency staffing needs.
• Ensure your employees have the skills required to perform jobs other than their own.
• Identify personnel agencies that can be retained to provide temporary workers to perform work on a temporary basis and negotiate suitable contracts with them.
• Identify and contact other sources of suitable and reliable contingency labour (e.g. retirees).
• Obtain any required agreements and approvals to require and permit excess hours of work by your employees.
• Adopt vacation scheduling policies that allow you to approve vacations at times suitable to your business having regard to your business needs. Notify employees that such leaves may reluctantly be cancelled in the event of an emergency.
• Devise a layoff strategy in the event that you are no longer able to provide employees the hours of work negotiated in their contracts of employment.

b) Anticipate Your Customers' Needs/Demands

• Review who and where you are sourcing your products from.
• Assume that supply shortages will take place.
• Consider what products you offer for sale that might be in high demand by your customers in the event of a pandemic.
• Determine what products you offer for sale that would be most significantly affected by a pandemic.
• With the above in mind, develop a priority list of the products you offer for sale.

c) Dealing with Absent Employees

• Consider how retail store hours might be affected by limited staff.
• Confirm how your group insurance plan or sick leave plan would cover employees' absences.
• Notify employees of what medical information you may require.
• Notify employees of what proof you will require for absences due to emergency or compassionate care reasons.
• Establish policies for preventing "presenteeism," where sick employees or employees who may have been exposed to the virus come to work when they should not.
• Consider how you might deal with the emotional impact of the serious illness or death of an employee, or the illness or death of an employee's family member.

d) Keeping Your Retail Business Secure

• Consider how your security service provider(s) might be affected by a pandemic.
• Find out from your financial service providers about their plans for dealing with coin, current accounts, deposits and transactional information in the event of an outbreak.
• Review your business' insurance policies to determine exactly what is covered in the event of a pandemic.

e) Communication Strategy

• Devise a communications strategy for conveying information to employees, customers and suppliers in case of an emergency.
• Designate "go-to" persons to respond to employee questions.
• Implement a "hotline" or assign a buddy system for disseminating information.
• Develop media statements in advance, if required.

f) Record Maintenance

• Ensure human resources records are up-to-date.
• Ensure the correct information about each employee and the employee's emergency contact information is up-to-date.

g) Education and Prevention

• Educate employees about how to better manage their illnesses.
• Stock the workplace with the basics for illness prevention (e.g. soap, hand disinfectant, facial tissues).
• Educate employees about the emergency contingency plan.
• Co-ordinate the emergency contingency plan with external organizations such as insurers, local healthcare facilities, government and other businesses.

2. THE PLAN IN ACTION
Contingency plans are not valuable unless actually used during a crisis. However, even the best laid plans may not work in every situation.

Therefore, it is important to review your contingency plan before, during and after an emergency to adjust to unforeseen circumstances.

CONCLUSION
There are no "easy" answers to preparing for an emergency, and although preparation can be time consuming and costly, your employees, customers, suppliers, community and bottom-line will appreciate the due diligence shown. Retail Council of Canada will continue to provide tools and assistance and we encourage you to contact us at (888) 373-8245 or visit our Web site at www.retailcouncil.org for updated information in the months to come.