On Friday, May 8, 2020, the state of CT released new guidelines for business reopening; these guidelines provided required practices that must be instituted as businesses reopen, so as to help mitigate exposure to the COVID-19 virus. The state’s guidelines were divided into industry-specific requirements that were focused on client/customer safety, cleaning and sanitizing, employee personal hygiene, and social distancing. These requirements were built on already established best practices and specific health and safety concerns related to the spread of COVID-19. To prepare to comply with said reopening procedures, and because of Essentials’ unique position in the healthcare, service, and retail industries, we are implementing state guidelines from all sectors of industry, as appropriate. By combining these guidelines with Essentials’ existing policies and recommendations from local health officials, we hope to secure a safe reopening effective Tuesday, May 26, 2020.
Appointments only. No more than 50% capacity in all offices.
In order to ensure 50% capacity or less in the office, Essentials for the Special Woman is instituting a strict “By Appointment Only” rule. This rule will apply to retail purchases and fitting appointments alike; all other client interactions are expected to be done via telephone, email, or mail.
A maximum of two simultaneous appointments are being allowed at any given time.
Additional time is being added to all appointments to allow for disinfecting protocols and client browsing times; and appointment start times shall be staggered, so as to ensure the unlikelihood that clients/customers will come in contact with each other upon entering/exiting.
Reduced workforce, work from home where possible.
In order to comply with this rule, only half of Essentials’ workforce will be returning to the office; we will have a maximum of one fitter and one administrative staff member on hand per day. The remaining staff will continue to work from home on various administrative matters, as business needs allow.
Update: As of July 20, 2020, Essentials' staff will all be working from the office, so as to allow a more-efficient work process.
Face masks and face shields are required to be worn by employees and/or clients/customers.
Essentials’ employees are required to wear face masks at all times when in the public areas of the office and/or when interacting with other employees and/or clients/customers. Additionally, fitters shall wear face shields when conducting client fittings.
Employees shall be confined to their assigned offices except when moving throughout the office as required to complete their job, when going to the restroom, or when entering/exiting the building.
Face masks and shields are not required if an employee is isolated in her office and is not interacting with other employees and/or clients/customers.
Essentials has obtained a small supply of face masks, which shall be available to clients/customers who present without their own mask.
Inability/refusal to wear a mask due to underlying health conditions and/or personal convictions will prohibit an employee or client/customer from entering the premises until such time as the COVID-19 restrictions have been fully lifted.
Gathering size, including meetings, limited to max of 5 people and employees must be seated 6 feet apart during meetings. Waiting rooms closed.
Non-essential friends, family members, and transport individuals will be required to wait in the car during a client/customer appointment.
The waiting room will be closed and its hospitality supplies will remain inaccessible until such time as the COVID-19 restrictions have been fully lifted.
Clients/customers are beings asked to arrive for their scheduled appointment no earlier than 5 minutes prior to their scheduled appointment time.
Employee staff meetings will be conducted via Zoom until such time as the COVID-19 restrictions have been fully lifted.
In-office employees shall limit the sharing of desk space; supplies, charts, and products being passed from one employee to another shall be disinfected prior to passing and shall be passed on a disinfected tray.
People 65 and older, or those who have other risk factors, are still under stay-at-home orders.
According to the CDC, said high-risk underlying conditions include people who have been exposed or are experiencing symptoms, people with chronic lung disease or moderate to severe asthma, people who have serious heart conditions, people who are immunocompromised, people with severe obesity, people with diabetes, people with chronic kidney disease undergoing dialysis, and people with liver disease.
Essentials will not be scheduling appointments for those individuals considered at higher-risk for severe illness from COVID-19; this includes, but is not limited to, anyone over the age of 65, clients who are currently undergoing treatments for cancer, anyone who has had surgery or cancer treatments within the last 30 days, and/or anyone with any other underlying health condition. Update: As of July 20, 2020 Essentials will no longer be refusing appointments for those individuals considered at high risk.
These guidelines will be used not only to schedule client/customer appointments, but for the determination of in-office workforce employees.
In an attempt to prevent individuals inflicted with the COVID-19 virus from exposing said virus to Essentials’ workforce and clients/customers, we are implementing a mandatory temperature check for all staff and customers/clients upon entering the office. Using a non-contact infrared thermometer, Essentials will check the temperature of its staff and clients/customers daily, immediately upon their entering the office. Individuals whose temperature exceeds 99.5F will be asked to return home and wait the mandatory 14-day quarantine timeframe before rescheduling their appointments and/or returning to work.
Contactless payment.
At the conclusion of a client’s fitting, the fitter shall bag the client’s products and collect/copy the client receipts; collection of payments shall be done by the administrative employee.
Preferred method of payment will be via credit/debit card; however, Essentials will accept checks and cash payments following the below guidelines.
Essentials’ credit card machine shall be covered with a protective film that can be cleaned regularly and clients shall manage their own credit card payments, as opposed to handing a card over to Essentials’ staff.
Collection of payments via cash/check shall be done using disinfected trays and money/checks received or held shall be disinfected upon receipt and again daily.
Frequent cleaning of high contact areas - including bathrooms, door handles and credit card machines. Tables and chairs must be cleaned and sanitized in between fittings.
Essentials is committed to maintaining an exceptionally high level of cleaning and disinfecting at all times, but especially during these COVID-19 restrictions. Employees shall follow the below guidelines to ensure a clean and disinfected workplace/office.
Frequently accessed equipment and cloth furniture shall be covered with a protective film that can be disinfected regularly.
The entire office shall be vacuumed daily, at the start of the work day, so as to remove any particles that have “fallen” to the floor.
All high contact areas, including the bathroom, door handles, and fitting room tables and chairs shall be cleaned/disinfected, using bleach or other disinfecting solutions, at the start of each workday and then again at the conclusion of each fitting/appointment.
In an attempt to prevent virus particles from being carried on employees’ clothing, Essentials is changing its dress code to require employees to wear scrubs until further notice. Employees may choose to wear either black or gray scrubs; and, said scrubs must be cleaned after each use, using high temperatures and antibacterial/antimicrobial detergents.
Hand sanitizer being available at the entrance and exit.
Hand sanitizer will be made available to all clients/customers at the entrance and exit of the office. Due to limited supply of hand sanitizer, Essentials employees are asked to wash their hands using soap and water, as opposed to using hand sanitizer.
Essentials requests that clients/customers avail themselves of said hand sanitizer upon entering the office.
Employees are required to wash their hands immediately upon entering the office, after using the restroom, and after every client/customer fitting/appointment.
Limit sharing of equipment in offices.
Essentials will make every opportunity to limit the sharing of equipment in the office; those pieces of equipment that must be shared will be covered with protective film, so as to allow frequent disinfection.
Increased ventilation.
Essentials is not able to fully comply with this portion of the state’s guidelines, as there are no windows in our offices to open, so as to increase ventilation. However, Essentials will be installing UV air filtration systems in each of the fitting rooms, as well as in the public areas of the office, so as to assist with the filtration and ventilation of the office air.
Fitting rooms closed.
Fitting rooms are being closed to retail purchases only; scheduled fittings shall have access to Essentials fitting rooms and inventory, as needed.
Fitters shall not reuse in-stock inventory, once tried on, without first disinfecting and sanitizing the products.
Physical barriers at checkout. Markers indicating 6 feet distance.
Essentials has installed Plexiglas barriers at the front desk and each of the fitter’s desks, as well as floor markers indicating 6 feet distance at the front desk.
Limit conversation where possible.
Essentials staff shall limit their non-essential conversations to the best of their ability, so as to reduce the possibility of virus transmission via non-essential conversation.