Businesses to Lose One Day a Week Managing Employee Health on Return to Workplace.
· 49% of business owners or HR managers are expecting managing COVID-19 health data of employees to be a burden
· 36% of business owners and HR managers think they will have to hire someone to manage the COVID-19 health data of employees
· Businesses are expecting to spend around 8 hours a week managing the health data of their employees, equating to working day a week or 35 hours a month
New research from digital health pass tested.me, has unveiled that nearly half, 49%, of organisations are expecting the managing of COVID-19 health data to be a burden once employees go back to the workplace.
The polling conducted by Census Wide found across the four nations, businesses claimed they already are, or are expecting to, spend a lengthy eight hours a week managing their employees’ covid health data equating to a full working day each week or 35 hours a month.
As the return to the more traditional working looms, it is not just the time constraints businesses reported being concerned about, more than two fifths of those polled, 44%, are also worried about the cost implications time spent on covid admin will have on their business.
Of the business owners and HR managers surveyed, over a third, 36%, report that they will have to hire someone to manage the covid health data of their workforce. The UK’s youngest employers are the most worried and expecting to be hit the hardest, with almost two thirds, 63%, of GenZ respondents stating they will have to employ someone new to carry out the health data management role.
Comparatively, more than a quarter (26%) of female business owners or HR managers surveyed said they feel unprepared for managing the health and safety of their employees and customers when restrictions ease, compared to less than a fifth (19%) of male business owners or HR managers.
When it comes to industry, 70% of employers working in the legal sector said they are expecting monitoring the covid health data of their employees to be a burden compared with over two thirds, (65%) who work in retail and leisure. Surprisingly those working in travel and transport are less concerned with only a third (33%) reporting that they expect covid data management of their employees to be a burden.
Predictably the size of the organisation also affected concern levels with 69% of larger companies, with over 250 employees, reporting that they are expecting there to be a burden in managing covid health data when their employees return to work versus less than two fifths of company owners and HR managers at small organisations (1–9 employees).
Speaking on the importance of bringing staff back to the office in a safe and secure manner, Simon Osman, Chief Executive of digital health pass tested.me, said:
“As employees begin to return to workplaces, covid health and safety protocols need to be in place to ensure a safe return for everyone involved but this shouldn’t come at the detriment to a business — either financially or workload wise.
“Businesses are desperate to get their employees back, and organisations need support in managing the health data of their staff in a straightforward and simple way.”
For more information, please contact Alec Harris, ZPB Associates at alec.harris@zpb-associates.com or 07597571575.
Notes to editors:
About tested.me:
Tested.me is a personal health verification app which allows an individual to record COVID-19 tests results, vaccinations, and other health data such as their temperature, and share it securely and confidentially with their employer, or a hospitality, entertainment venue or travel hub they wish to enter. This gives employees, employers, managers of venues and visitors the confidence that everyone there has taken appropriate health precautions. Tested.me is using technology for good, putting individuals in control, allowing them to share their data when and how they wish.
The tested.me app can be linked to a dashboard giving an employer or venue manager a real-time overview of the health status of everyone in the location, using information shared voluntarily and securely by individuals.
Tested.me has been successfully implemented in over 600 business across the globe and with more than 300,000 individual users so far.
By using the same industry-standard identity verification and data security measures as your online bank, tested.me ensures personal data stored on the app stays personal to that individual and is only shared when and how they decide to do so.
Tested.me’s founders want to help the world recover from COVID-19 by allowing people to work, socialise and travel safely together again.
About the Census Wide survey commissioned by tested.me:
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from Census Wide. Total sample size was 250
Business owners or HR managers from across the UK in April 2021. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighed and are representative of all business owners or HR Managers (aged 18+).
