With the international day of recognition for cleaning operatives (i-RECOGNISE) announced a few weeks ago, it made me think of how staff in general, not just cleaning operatives, have been treated during the lockdown and beyond. Some employees continued to deliver their daily services to the industry allowing businesses and establishments to remain open. However, others were furloughed right from the beginning of the scheme, and many still are. It leads to the question of how those workers were treated when told by their companies to stay home. There is a lot of talk about mental health and a person’s wellbeing but was this taken into consideration when placing someone on furlough?
Unfortunately, I have heard of instances where staff members were not communicated to regularly by their organisation. No calls were made, nor any sort for communication received for weeks on end. These are the same organisations who have post after post on social media about what a great company they are and how fantastic they are at looking after their people. Decisions such as not allowing workers to go back part-time or not topping up people’s salaries sounds to me like an organisation who does not really care about its employees or their wellbeing. I appreciate that not all companies are in a financial position to offer the top-up, but it cost nothing to keep in touch with their staff.
Of course, on the flip side, there are some shining stars out there who do not publicise all the wonderful things they do for their employees. They have plenty of communication and engagement with some committing to top up salaries of those that are furloughed. Those are the companies that should be recognised and rewarded for their actions. Sadly, that probably will not be the case, and we may never have an i-COMPANY recognition day, or should we?
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