The Douglas County Chamber in partnership with Douglas County Economic Development are committed to supporting the workforce in Douglas during the COVID-19 pandemic. Resources for business owners facing a variety of workforce challenges are listed below as well as information to share with your employees. More information will be released in the days to come.

For Employers Looking at Reducing Hours or Temporarily Laying Off Employees

Department of Labor is requesting that all employers complete the electronic partial claim for their employees who will experience a reduction in hours or temporary layoff due to the impact of COVID-19.

Benefits to employer under partial claim: Hold their employees (employees will not be required to report to a Career Center or seek new employment under a partial claim) No increase in UI ratio for the employer Employees can begin receiving financial assistance under partial claim in as little as 48 hours Temporary situation, limited to six weeks with an opportunity to extend an additional six weeks Should the situation worsen and the need to permanently lay off employees arrive, the employee is still eligible for the full 14 weeks of unemployment benefits. No additional cost to the employer Should you need to take this action, SHRM has provided sample language for employee notices. Click here to read more.

Georgia Department of Labor The Georgia Department of Labor provides a wide range of services to job seekers and employers. These include administration of Georgia's unemployment insuran Read more dol.georgia.gov

For Employers Looking to Hire Individuals During this Time

Send the job posting and all necessary information to Breezy Straton and the information will be posted to various social media pages and groups. This opportunity is available to any employer in Douglas County, including staffing firms. CONTACT BREEZY

As a Douglas County Chamber member, you can post the job on www.DouglasJobs.com at no charge. If you need assistance to do this, please contact the Chamber at 770.942.5022. CONTACT THE CHAMBER

Virtual/Remote Interviewing If you already have Microsoft 365, you likely have “Teams” which has a conference call feature built in – you can do a virtual interview at no additional cost. Read more www.office.com

For Employers Experiencing Workforce Challenges due to COVID-19 Not Related to Layoffs/Reduction in Hours.

Many Employers Must Offer Paid Leave Under Coronavirus... A new federal law will provide paid leave to employees who miss work for certain coronavirus-related reasons. As we wait on guidance and interpretation from the Department of Labor, employers can use the following to prepare. The Families First... Read more www.shrm.org Coronavirus: How Employers Around the Globe Are Responding This article was originally published March 12 and last updated March 17 to reflect additional ways employers are responding to COVID-19. Companies are scrambling to respond as the coronavirus, which causes the respiratory illness COVID-19,... Read more www.shrm.org EEOC: Employers Now May Take Employees' Temperatures ​The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) gave employers the green light to take employees' temperatures to try and ward off the spread of the coronavirus in guidance updated March 18. But will taking temperatures really work?... Read more www.shrm.org

Trump Signs Coronavirus Relief Bill with Paid-Leave Mandate Updated March 18: The Senate passed H.R. 6201, and the president signed it into law. Watch for an updated analysis of the bill's provisions.] The U.S. Senate approved the Families First Coronavirus Response Act in a 90-8 vote on March 18, and... Read more www.shrm.org 4 Sick-Leave Practices to Avoid During the Coronavirus... Government officials are urging sick workers to stay home and employers to have flexible leave policies during the coronavirus pandemic. Don't let business pressures and reliance on past practices lead you to make bad decisions about attendance... Read more www.shrm.org Is It Allergies or COVID-19? ​Allergy season is here. And so is the coronavirus outbreak, which the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic March 11. How can employers tell the difference between allergies and COVID-19, and when should they send sick workers home? Read more www.shrm.org

Telecommuting Resources to Share with Your Employees During COVID-19

Georgia Commute Options & Incentives Webinar 3/25 Reliable transportation is a key workforce issue. Georgia Commute Options is a free service that can help you explore, promote, organize and incentivize carpools, transit and telework for your employees. Join us as we hear from Carolyn Baar, your ... Read more business.douglascountygeorg...

Creating A Business Environment For Teleworking Webinar 3/24 Join Livable Buckhead to learn how to develop guidelines or a policy on keeping your organization safe in a teleworking environment that includes issues such as worker’s compensation, liability, safety, and performance. Read more www.eventbrite.com

Collaborative Technologies for Telework Webinar 3/26 Join Georgia Commute Options for a review of the solutions that are readily available for collaboration. Everything from Zoom to Teams, Skype, Chat, etc. will be discussed Read more www.eventbrite.com

Community Resources to Share with Your Employees During COVID-19

Need Help? United Way of Greater Atlanta's 2-1-1 Contact ... About 2-1-1 Simply put, United Way of Greater Atlanta's 2-1-1 Contact Center connects families with the community-based resources they need to thrive - resources that can put food on tables, sharpen and edit resumes, keep lights on or even... Read more www.unitedwayatlanta.org

Warehouse of Hope Our mission goes further than providing families with food and clothing we strive to show them and teach them the love of Christ. A simple gesture of kindness can go along way for someone who thinks all hope is gone. Read more warehouseofhope.squarespace... 6130 Hotel Street | Austell Please contact 770.489.0509 or email efinger1215@gmail.com prior to going in case of limited hours and availability.

Sweetwater Mission Sweetwater Mission is a food and clothing pantry located in Austell – they are still operating and can assist families in need (to limit any potential spread of the virus they are offering curbside delivery to families). Read more www.sweetwatermission.org Hours of operation: 9:30 a.m. - 12 p.m., Monday - Saturday 6130 Hotel Street | Austell

For more information and resources, please visit www.douglascountygeorgia.com/strong.

Questions? Contact Breezy Straton at bstraton@developdouglas.com .