It has been a while since we have begun on phase 2. The good news is that the community cases are being largely controlled and sufficient socialising is made available now.

Phase 2 has brought relief to a lot of businesses and also employees. Being shut down for months is creating stress for staffs who are in affected business and also business owners who are not sure if they have enough liquidity to keep their businesses afloat.

Now that we have gotten to a good position, there is a rising concern with regards to discipline. A large majority of the population are feeling lethargic about the various control measures and we can start to observe rising infringes on circuit breaker rules in various parts of Singapore.

Many individuals are getting summoned to court or fined more during the latter stages of this Phase 2 period! Most people do not know this but the penalties are hefty:

1. Under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act 2020, first-time offenders found guilty could be jailed up to six months, fined up to S$10,000, or both.
2. Subsequent offences may involve jail time of up to 12 months, a fine of up to S$20,000, or both.

Business Operations Concern

For businesses and offices, the stakes are even greater! Restaurants and offices can be ordered to be shut down by the authorities if they are deemed to have infringed on social distancing rules or fail to maintain them.

SFA officers are on the prowl and the feedback has to be treated with high regards.

If your company is running an office, Singapore’s Multi-Ministry Taskforce (MMF) has urged employers to “implement flexible workplace hours, so that a good part of workers are able to travel off-peak, i.e. after 0930 hours”. 

This is by no means a fixed rule but it is surely a good advisory to heed as we know that a single case of uncontrolled Covid-19 can easily start a whole new episode of lockdown! That would definitely impede and crush even well-managed business who are simply not able to ride out two waves of business inactivity.

Let us do our part!

As HR managers and practitioners, let us implement policies that is aligned with the current situation. Do not let our guards down and maintain vigilance.

Study best practices of other companies to get creative juice running!.