If you’ve been forced to furlough some of your staff, it’s important to make sure they know that they are still valued members of your team. This can be accomplished through regular communication and by connecting them with local and national resources that can offer them additional support – relief funds, local food banks, rent assistance programs, and more.
This should involve more than just directing them to a community web page or other generic website. Go the extra mile and compile a list of resources you know are likely to be applicable to their situation (for example, if your furloughed staff includes bartenders, you could include a link to a bartender emergency assistance program). Showing you care enough to find these helpful programs will help to increase morale among your employees.
Your final list should include the name of the resource, a short summary of what the resource offers, and a link to website where they can learn more or apply for assistance.
To help you get started, we’ve compiled a short list of resources specific to hospitality workers:
- One Fair Wage Emergency Fund – The goal of this fund to provide “cash assistance to restaurant workers, delivery drivers and other tipped workers and service workers.”
- CORE Gives – This organization provides “financial relief when a food and beverage employee with children faces a health crisis, death or natural disaster.”
- Another Round, Another Rally – This group is offering “$500 relief grants for hospitality workers who lost their jobs or had their hours slashed in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.”
- Bartender Emergency Assistance Program – This program provides between $150 and $500 as supplemental emergency aid as furloughed worker support.
