--- title: How HR is Handling the COVID Crisis description: Managing human resources during the COVD pandemic has revealed that agility is key. HR has made powerful, life-changing decisions so far with more to come. image: https://blog.verifirst.com/hubfs/Blog_Images/How%20HR%20is%20Handling%20the%20COVID%20Crisis.jpg --- [Human Resources](https://blog.verifirst.com/topic/human-resources) [Employee Relationship Management](https://blog.verifirst.com/topic/employee-relationship-management) [Employment Background Screening](https://blog.verifirst.com/topic/employment-background-screening) [Hiring and Recruiting](https://blog.verifirst.com/topic/hiring-and-recruiting) # How HR is Handling the COVID Crisis [![Ryan Howard](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/29a1d4bf57e0e03d00a52ef501083a92)](https://blog.verifirst.com/author/ryan-howard) by [Ryan Howard](https://blog.verifirst.com/author/ryan-howard) 2 min read Fri, Nov 20, 2020 ![How HR is Handling the COVID Crisis](https://blog.verifirst.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog_Images/How%20HR%20is%20Handling%20the%20COVID%20Crisis.jpg?width=800&name=How%20HR%20is%20Handling%20the%20COVID%20Crisis.jpg) From the beginning of the pandemic, human resources has had to make valuable, life-changing decisions. With switching in-house operations to remote work, helping with layoffs and furloughs, and developing new ways to hire and screen candidates, HR has been busy managing the crisis as best as they can.  ### Here are a few lessons learned and best practices from how HR is handling the COVID crisis. ## Putting Health First Not that healthy employees weren't a priority before, the coronavirus and the stress that it has caused, has prompted HR to put physical and mental health first. This change in priorities also lead to a re-evaluation of paid-sick leave and time off policies. The [Centers for Disease Control offers often-changing guidance](https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/disposition-in-home-patients.html) about how and when employees can return to work and the [Families First Coronavirus Act, expiring at the end of December 2020](https://www.hrdive.com/news/ffcra-leave-nears-sunset-date-as-covid-19-cases-spike/589021/), also offered paid-leave guidance.  #### Creating a Safer, More Compassionate Workplace When businesses were shutting down in March, no one expected to be gone from their workplace very long. Some employees were able to continue working from home while others were ready to get back to the office...if it was safe. This lead to some employers [offering flexible hours and staggered work-times](https://hrexecutive.com/employees-are-eager-to-get-back-to-the-workplace-if-its-safe/) so that offices weren't crowded anymore. Employees feel safer with HR and management offering new flexible options for working from home and the office.  See also: [COVID-19 Testing As Part of Employment Background Checks](https://blog.verifirst.com/covid-19-testing-as-employment-background-check) ##### Keeping Employees Engaged and Connected While changing where employees work, HR and IT have been faced with new challenges to keep employees actively connected and engaged. Employees want to stay connected to their peers and also be informed about the challenges their employer is facing. From [virtual happy hours](https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-news/pages/virtual-happy-hours-help-coworkers-stay-connected.aspx) to [new formats for internal communications](https://www.cmswire.com/employee-experience/how-companies-can-engage-employees-with-internal-podcasts/), HR has helped manage these challenges throughout the COVID crisis.  ###### Hiring and Screening in a Whole, New Way Recruiting and background checks look a whole lot different than they were at the beginning of the year. While some digital recruiting was occurring, [recruiters had to adjust to a new line of thinking](https://blog.verifirst.com/remote-talent-acquisition-challenges-for-recruiters) that included online events and hiring without meeting a candidate in person. Turnaround time on background checks was slower due to courthouse shutdowns. Remote background screening also meant that [employers had to adhere to both federal and state FCRA regulations](https://blog.verifirst.com/can-employers-run-background-checks-on-remote-employees).  The successful human resources department has been tested and proven to be adaptable during the past several months of the COVID crisis. It remains to be seen how much longer the pandemic will last but as long as HR professionals remain agile, the future of work will be great. [![See How VeriFirst Performs Background Checks and Drug Screening](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/157703/a1a80ef1-a199-4570-a5d6-51ec0c0578e4.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/157703/a1a80ef1-a199-4570-a5d6-51ec0c0578e4) #### Share this [Share on X ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https://blog.verifirst.com/how-hr-is-handling-the-covid-crisis&text=How+HR+is+Handling+the+COVID+Crisis) [Share on Facebook ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://blog.verifirst.com/how-hr-is-handling-the-covid-crisis&t=How+HR+is+Handling+the+COVID+Crisis) [Share on LinkedIn ](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://blog.verifirst.com/how-hr-is-handling-the-covid-crisis&t=How+HR+is+Handling+the+COVID+Crisis) Previous story [← Why Should Employers Give Jobs to Applicants with Criminal Records?](https://blog.verifirst.com/why-should-employers-give-jobs-to-applicants-with-criminal-records) Next story [Company Holiday Parties in the Time of COVID →](https://blog.verifirst.com/company-holiday-parties-in-the-time-of-covid) ### You May Also Like These Related Stories [How the Candidate and New Hire Experience Have Changed](https://blog.verifirst.com/how-the-candidate-and-new-hire-experience-have-changed) ![](https://blog.verifirst.com/hubfs/photo-1518893494013-481c1d8ed3fd.jpg) [Human Resources](https://blog.verifirst.com/topic/human-resources) #### How the Candidate and New Hire Experience Have Changed Fri, Jun 18, 2021 2 min read [Hiring a New Employee? Follow this 5-Step Checklist](https://blog.verifirst.com/hiring-a-new-employee-follow-this-5-step-checklist) ![New Hire Checklist](https://blog.verifirst.com/hubfs/Blog_Images/New%20Hire%20Checklist.png) [Human Resources](https://blog.verifirst.com/topic/human-resources) #### Hiring a New Employee? Follow this 5-Step Checklist Fri, May 04, 2018 3 min read [Fair Chance: Background Checks After the Job Offer](https://blog.verifirst.com/fair-chance-background-checks-after-the-job-offer) ![](https://blog.verifirst.com/hubfs/Blog_Images/Fair%20Chance%20Background%20Checks%20After%20the%20Job%20Offer.jpg) [Human Resources](https://blog.verifirst.com/topic/human-resources) #### Fair Chance: Background Checks After the Job Offer Fri, Aug 20, 2021 2 min read ### Get Email Notifications ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Ryan Howard", "url" : "https://blog.verifirst.com/author/ryan-howard" }, "dateModified" : "2020-11-20T15:59:02.321Z", "datePublished" : "2020-11-20T15:59:02.000Z", "headline" : "How HR is Handling the COVID Crisis", "image" : [ "https://blog.verifirst.com/hubfs/Blog_Images/How%20HR%20is%20Handling%20the%20COVID%20Crisis.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blog.verifirst.com/how-hr-is-handling-the-covid-crisis", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://blog.verifirst.com/hs-fs/hub/157703/file-1399347280.png" }, "name" : "VeriFirst" } } ```