The pandemic has made the world realise that workspaces were not made to work with rigorous and non-flexible policies. From remote working and flexible hours to digital communication and new work-life balance, the nature of workspaces might have changed for good.

With the pandemic and lockdown, new policies regarding health and safety, employee training, work hours, communication etc are being introduced in order to keep things going with a smooth flow. But with the sudden change in things, it would have been impossible to update the terms of the company and communicate with employees faster had it not been for electronic employee handbooks, that makes the process more convenient! 

Let’s have a look at how employee handbook software are proving to be useful in this pandemic:

1. Creating New Policies

During the pandemic, a lot of new policies had to be introduced in the workspace, policies that were not being paid attention to previously. For example:

• Remote working
• Epidemic control
• Employee safety

And other policies that were not looked into until now. Creating new policies is really easy with employee handbook software like AirMason since it comes with a template feature. It provides state-approved policy suggestions and makes it easy to organise the policies into relevant sections. So with the use of handbook software, it has been really easy to create new policies and keep the handbook relevant and updated!

2. Easy Updation

As we have already established that new policies were made and communicated to the employees during the pandemic. Consider if this to be done with a manual handbook. By the time the employers would have updated the employee handbook and distributed it, the need for new policies might have arisen.

But with the templates and easy update feature in the employee handbook software, it is really easy to update and communicate the policies.This saves a lot of time on the employer’s end and time is key, especially during this pandemic!

3. Effective And Smooth Communication

With the change in workplace policies and rules, effectively communicating them to the employees would have been a challenge during this time if it was not for the handbook software. With a manual handbook, it is near impossible to change and distribute it among the employees in a short time but electronic handbooks make it easy to communicate workplace policies. Employees can read, get familiarised with and discuss the new and updated policies as soon as they are added in the employee handbook.

4. Remote Work Rules And Expectations

Even though remote work has previously existed, only 2 out of 10 companies allow their employees to work remotely 3 out of 5 days a week. But during the pandemic, remote workplace culture was introduced globally. Without supervision, there had to be new rules and expectations to be defined for employees for meeting deadlines and performing their tasks smoothly.

Some companies also added some employee training programs to help their employees learn a work-life balance. With employee handbook software it is extremely easy to add these rules and communicate them to the employees effectively, which would take months, using a manual handbook. Employee handbook software thus saved a lot of time and money in this case.

5. Introducing Workplace Accommodations

One of the best features of employee handbook software is that they have an auto-update feature for state employment laws. It is easier for employers to add policies regarding the new workplace accommodation laws introduced by the state for vulnerable employees. For example, if the business is an essential business and needs to stay open during the pandemic, there can be potential employees that could be at high risk for the illness. In this case, there has to be a cross-training program for employees in case of absentees for the workflow to keep going smoothly. It is easier to add precautions and rules that are stated by the Center for Disease Control regarding who is at high risk and how they should be accommodated.

With this feature, it is easier to avoid any sort of discrimination and the company can provide state stated laws and facilities to the employees, accommodate all of its employees and avoid any legal issues. 

So employee handbook software has proved to be of great use in this pandemic, making it easier to create, update and communicate new policies regarding the safety of employees and showcasing responsibility on the employer’s part!