4/24/2020
Policy Issues for the Labour Sector in times of Pandemics: Identifying Vulnerable Segments, Promoting Business Continuity | LinkedIn
3
Search
Try Premium
Career for Free
Policy Issues for the Labour Sector in
times of Pandemics: Identifying
Vulnerable Segments, Promoting
Business Continuity
Published on April 11, 2020
Edit article |
View stats
Gabrielle Iglesias
1 article
Capacity Building Specialist in Disaster Risk Management and Climate
Change Adaptation
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the spread and
severity of COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic. COVID-19 refers to the latest
coronavirus that was discovered after an outbreak in Wuhan, China; people most at risk are
the elderly and those with prior conditions that already weaken their health. Coronaviruses
are a large family of viruses that cause the common cold, they have also caused previous
epidemics such as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The data as of March
14, 2020 indicate global reach of the disease (134 countries/territories) and had infected over
142,000 people since the beginning of the outbreak, resulting in 5,393 deaths. The global
disaster has also prompted economic effects such as a drop in manufacturing in many
countries, reduced global supply and demand for dry bulk shipping stocks (commodities
such as grains and metals), and created disruption of production.
Following a whole-of-society approach to pandemic preparedness, policy review and
monitoring of impacts of COVID-19 on the welfare of labour should be undertaken. The
results would be useful as input into guidance for pandemic recovery. The following are
some of the proposed key aspects to note:
1. Access to health insurance. Building up an immunity or resistance to COVID-19 and
other disease-causing agents will be enhanced by health insurance that provides
sufficient medical coverage to allow people to rebound from illnesses. To what extent is
health insurance coverage available to all workers, whether fully employed or underemployed?
2. Paid leave to care for dependents. As shown in the current national and local responses
to COVID-19, pandemics may prompt authorities to institute strong measures to enforce
quarantines on large groups of people, ranging in scale from one workplace to entire
countries. Where quarantine is still selectively applied, there will be some healthy
Like
Comment
Share
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/policy-issues-labour-sector-times-pandemics-segments-iglesias/
Messaging3 · 27 Views
1/3
4/24/2020
Policy Issues for the Labour Sector in times of Pandemics: Identifying Vulnerable Segments, Promoting Business Continuity | LinkedIn
3
members of the labour force that must care for people who are ill or quarantined.
Where
Try Premium
Search
Career for Free
available, was paid leave utilized by workers and employers?
3. Contact tracing. Pandemics that are spread by human activity require the corresponding
investigation by health professionals to trace the people who interact with suspected and
confirmed carriers. Can and should employers, contractors and/or unions be partners in
gathering the information needed for disease surveillance?
4. Inventory of level of risk of job types to communicable diseases. Pandemics may be
caused by a host of agents, not just COVID-19. During the recovery phase in each
country, there could be an epidemiological analysis of the rate of infection across job
types. Working together with health officials, member States could identify occupational
factors that increase the risk of infection per communicable disease that is deemed a
priority (such as regular exposure to large groups of people, working in the health sector,
caring for the sick). These factors could be applied to identify job types that are at most
risk for specific communicable diseases.
5. Business continuity management (BCM). Do workplaces follow the principles of BCM?
How many firms have business continuity plans? Do these plans cover communicable
diseases that could affect its full-time and part-time staff, contractors and suppliers?
Ideally, BCM is integrated within the overall management objectives and practices of
organizations, and covers as much of the potential threats as possible (biological,
geological, meteorological, technological, societal). The current COVID-19 pandemic
can be an entry point for capacity building to promote organizational resilience.
Guides and Toolkits:
“Whole-of-Society Pandemic Readiness: WHO guidelines for pandemic preparedness
and response in the nonhealth sector,” WHO (Geneva: July 2009);
www.who.int/influenza/preparedness/pandemic/20090808_wos_pandemic_readiness_final.pdf
“How to promote Business Continuity Planning to mitigate the impact of disasters: A
guide for government officials,” APEC Secretariat (2014);
https://www.apec.org/Publications/2014/11/
How-to-promote-Business-Continuity-Planning-to-mitigate-the-impact-of-disasters
“Pandemic Influenza Business Planning Toolkit,” Missouri Department of Health and
Senior Services (n.d.);
https://health.mo.gov/emergencies/panflu/pdf/panflubusinesstoolkit.pdf
“Planning Guide for Area Business Continuity: Area BCM Toolkits,” AHA Centre
(March 2015), version 2.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/policy-issues-labour-sector-times-pandemics-segments-iglesias/
Messaging
2/3
4/24/2020
Policy Issues for the Labour Sector in times of Pandemics: Identifying Vulnerable Segments, Promoting Business Continuity | LinkedIn
Explanatory
note:
Search
3
Try Premium
Career for Free
This policy brief was developed to aid internal discussion of staff of the International Labour
Organization (ILO). This reflects only my personal analysis of the situation based on
available resources during the time of writing (15 to 16 March 2020).
Report this
Published by
1 article
Gabrielle Iglesias
Capacity Building Specialist in Disaster Risk Management and Climate
Change Adaptation
Published • 1w
I welcome comments on this policy brief on policy issues for the labour sector in times of pandemics. #policy
#covid19 #labour #resilience #pandemicpreparedness #disasterrecovery
Reactions
0 Comments
Add a comment…
Gabrielle Iglesias
Capacity Building Specialist in Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation
Messaging
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/policy-issues-labour-sector-times-pandemics-segments-iglesias/
3/3