Regardless of which phase of the pandemic lifecycle we are in, an organisation’s people should be at the heart of its response strategy. The following are some key areas you should consider to ensure continual functioning of your business without jeopardising the wellbeing of your employees.

Employee health & benefits

Workplace social distancing & infection reduction strategies

Working from home strategies

Mental health, resilience & wellbeing training

Employee assistance programs

Return to work support  

Staff communication plans

Employee health and benefits

Businesses today not only compete for customers, they also compete for employees. Yet attracting, retaining, and maximising productivity of talent can be as challenging as building the business.

When Australia makes it through this pandemic and businesses impacted by COVID-19 start to re-build, there will be increased competition for talent across all industries.

The busineses that are most attractive to employees differentiate their people value proposition in many ways. Benefits can be a key part of this. Including an employee health and benefits offer that is tailored to the people they want to attract and retain and to lead in their industry or the talent pool they are targeting, can be a key value point that sets them apart .

Mercer Marsh Benefits (MMB) is a collaboration between Marsh and Mercer Consulting, which between them have more than 50 years’ experience in the employee benefits brokerage, consulting, and HR outsourcing businesses. Together we represent one of the largest employee benefit consultancy and brokerage businesses in Australia.

The experienced MMB team can develop a bespoke Employee Benefits Program — with a single source for managing the associated costs, risks, and complexities.

The result? A collaborative-based approach providing a competitive benefits program that can better serve your employees, who in turn, help your business thrive in a competitive marketplace. MMB can also support clients by arranging:

• Group Life, Disability and Salary Continuance Insurance
• Private Health Insurance – Fully / part subsidised or Voluntary
• Group Personal Accident and Sickness Insurance
• International Health Insurance – For Expatriates and non-residents

For more information, or to arrange a conversation with the MMB team, please contact your broker. 

Workplace social distancing / infection reduction strategies

Prior to COVID-19, social distancing was a term that most employers and employees had never heard of. Today, social distancing and good hygiene practices are the two main weapons in the fight against COVID-19.

Social distancing and infection reduction now also forms part of an employer’s Workplace Health & Safety (WHS) Duty of Care, in that they must ensure adequate information, training, supervision and instruction around this control strategy to ensure the health and safety of the workforce.

For over 30 years, Recovre (a business of Marsh Pty Ltd) has been known as a leading Australian provider of customised Workplace Health & Safety and Workplace Rehabilitation service solutions to help individuals and organisations realise their full potential.

Recovre can work with businesses to build pragmatic and tailored programs, and educate your workforce on social distancing and infection reduction strategies delivered through quality online training solutions.

For more information, or to arrange a conversation with the Recovre team, please contact your broker. 

Working from home strategies 

The world of work has changed dramatically as workplaces adjust to protect employees from the spread of COVID-19. Employers are shifting to work-from-home arrangements, with some testing these measures for the very first time.

Home has become the new workplace for many across Australia, and data tells us every effort needs to be made to help mitigate injury and help keep your employees healthy, safe and productive whilst working from home.

Recovre (a business of Marsh Pty Ltd) is a leading national provider of Workplace Health, Safety and Rehabilitation (WHS&R) services in Australia.

The Recovre team can help businesses to:

• Develop Working from Home (WFH) Policies and Procedures
• Develop “home based” safety and ergonomic self-assessment checklists or review or update existing checklists to ensure they are appropriate and cover all risks
• Rollout workstation set-up and self-management
• Conduct remote ergonomic assessments and coaching
• Conduct home ergonomic training

For more information, or to arrange a conversation with the Recovre team, please contact your broker. 

Mental health, resilience and wellbeing training

According to Heads Up, mental illness impacts 1 in 5 Australians with many workplaces now recognising that keeping their employees safe at work doesn’t just mean physically but mentally as well.

The current Covid-19 situation is unprecedented, with many Australians now concerned about both the health impacts and financial impacts of this pandemic. It is very likely that employees will be experiencing elevated levels of stress and anxiety, so it’s critical to ensure that your managers, supervisors and employees understand mental health.

For over 30 years, Recovre (a business of Marsh Pty Ltd) has been known as a leading Australian provider of customised Workplace Health & Safety and Workplace Rehabilitation service solutions to help individuals and organisations realise their full potential.

Recovre can support your business with a variety of mental health, wellbeing and resilience training courses, including courses specifically tailored for frontline leaders to give them the skills and confidence to effectively manage mental health issues in the workplace.

Our programs can also be tailored to your industry, to ensure that they are relevant to the business environment your employees operate in. 

For more information, or to arrange a conversation with the Recovre team, please contact your broker. 

Employee assistance programs

The current Covid-19 situation means many employers and employees are likely to experience heightened levels of stress, anxiety, mental health issues and conflict at home.

Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) provide direct counselling to employees to enhance the emotional, mental and general psychological wellbeing of all employees, including immediate family members.

Recovre Psychological Services is a team of highly experienced Psychologists and Counsellors who can provide employees with a safe, confidential space where they can seek professional advice, support and counselling. EAP can also be provided to employees’ direct family members at the discretion of the employer.

Recovre Psychological Services specialise in the provision of effective short term solution-focused counselling interventions, usually over three sessions.

Upon identification of more significant long term counselling needs, Recovre can refer clients to a large network of agencies and psychologists for further assistance to ensure continuity and effective care.

For over 30 years, Recovre (a business of Marsh Pty Ltd) has been known as a leading Australian provider of customised Workplace Health & Safety and Workplace Rehabilitation service solutions to help individuals and organisations realise their full potential.

For more information, or to arrange a conversation with the Recovre team, please contact your broker. 

Return to work support

COVID-19 will have a material impact on many businesses in Australia, and that impact may be positive or negative. Some businesses, such as supermarkets and certain manufacturers will thrive, whilst others will be going through tough times. What is clear however is all Australian employers will be managing their way through a situation never before experienced, with employees that are uncertain around their future.

Workers’ Compensation cost is minimised if employers can return their employees back to work in a timely manner. If they cannot return to their pre injury role then a new role with their existing employer must be identified or if this is not possible a new role with a new employer. 

For over 30 years, Recovre (a business of Marsh Pty Ltd) has been known as a leading Australian provider of customised Workplace Health & Safety and Workplace Rehabilitation service solutions to help individuals and organisations realise their full potential.

Our team of specialists in workers’ compensation are supported by a team of over 350 allied health professionals across Australia focused at achieving exceptional Return to Work or Redeployment outcomes.

For more information, or to arrange a conversation with the Recovre team, please contact your broker.

Staff communication plans

Arming employees with information about the outbreak’s progress, how the organisation is responding and efforts by governments and public health officials to combat it (and using the right tone to communicate) can provide comfort to employees, correct misconceptions about the novel coronavirus and limit fear and anxiety. The Marsh Strategic Risk Services team can provide staff communication plans and advice to manage and assist these communications to ensure accuracy, consistency of message and staff engagement.

For more information, or to arrange a conversation with Marsh Risk Consulting, please contact your broker.

Workplace risk profiling

With businesses ramping up dramatically or businesses ramping down – the Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) risks are different, but still present.

The experienced Mercer Marsh Benefits (MMB) team can support clients to identify and manage these new risks with our diagnostic management tool, Strategic Workplace Risk Profiling (SWRP). Our SWRP provides an analysis of the performance of an organisation against the four key drivers of workplace injury and cost:

• Safety Management;
• Injury Management;
• Claims Management; and
• Insurer Management.

On the completion of this review, our clients are provided with a comprehensive report outlining findings and recommended actions.

Mercer Marsh Benefits (MMB) is a collaboration between Marsh and Mercer Consulting, which between them have more than 50 years’ experience in the employee benefits brokerage, consulting, and HR outsourcing businesses. Together we represent one of the largest employee benefit consultancy and brokerage businesses in Australia.

For more information, or to arrange a conversation with the MMB team, please contact your broker.

Pre-employment fitness assessmennts

As businesses impacted by COVID-19 start to recover, there will be employers looking at ramping up operations and rebuilding their workforce.

Ensuring new employees have the physical, cognitive and psychological capacity to perform the inherit requirements of a job role is critical to ensure you are not increasing your workers’ compensation risk profile in addition to the productivity losses of having a new employee on workers’ compensation.  

The team of allied health professionals at Recovre (a business of Marsh Pty Ltd) can support your company’s recruitment team to conduct pre-employment screens that can highlight a prospective candidate’s capacity to perform a job role. Our pre-employment services can be tailored to the role requirements and may include psychological assessments.

For more information, or to arrange a conversation with the Recovre team, please contact your broker.

We are here for you

As COVID-19 continues to affect how we all do business and interact with one another, we are committed to continue to deliver timely and relevant information to our clients and broader community. If you have any questions or would like to have a conversation about the impact coronavirus is having on your business, please reach out to your Marsh representative, or email us here.

You can also follow us on LinkedIn to stay abreast on our latest updates. 

The information contained in this page provides only a general overview of subjects covered, is not intended to be taken as advice regarding any individual situation and should not be relied upon as such. Insureds should consult their insurance and legal advisors regarding specific coverage issues. All insurance coverage is subject to the terms, conditions, and exclusions of the applicable individual policies. Marsh cannot provide any assurance that insurance can be obtained for any particular client or for any particular risk. Statements concerning tax, accounting, and legal matters should be understood to be general observations based solely on our experience as insurance brokers and risk consultants and should not be relied upon as tax, accounting, or legal advice, which we are not authorized to provide. All such matters should be reviewed with your own qualified tax, accounting, and legal advisors.