SixFifty taps top employment attorneys at Wilson Sonsini to create the policies, assessments, and employee certifications to help businesses return to work safely as states loosen restrictions
SALT LAKE CITY, May 12, 2020 – SixFifty, the technology subsidiary of the law firm Wilson Sonsini, today released a legal toolset to help American businesses safely transition their employees back to the workplace after stay-at-home orders expire. The legal toolset includes (1) an assessment to help businesses judge their back-to-work readiness, (2) policies to govern how businesses transition their employees back to the office, and (3) a questionnaire system that businesses can deploy to their employees daily to determine who can safely enter the workplace.
Many states have already lifted restrictions and allowed non-essential businesses to reopen. With newly reported COVID-19 cases still numbering in the tens of thousands daily, employers are faced with a treacherous situation. “Employers have an obligation to provide a safe working environment for their employees,” said Kimball Dean Parker, CEO of SixFifty. “Fortunately, businesses can take steps to reduce the chance of COVID-19 spreading in the workplace. We built our Return-to-Work Toolset with Wilson Sonsini so that businesses of all sizes could take advantage of the firm’s industry-leading employment expertise during this tricky time.”
SixFifty’s automation platform walks businesses through a series of questions to help them understand the steps they need to take to prepare for employees’ return to the worksite . In addition to helping businesses assess whether they are ready to have employees return to the worksite, the answers to those questions determine the customized terms of a return-to-work policy that is provided through the platform.
In addition, SixFifty offers an online questionnaire system to help screen employees for COVID-19 as part of the company’s effort to determine who can safely enter the workplace each day. Depending on the employee’s answers, the questionnaire system automates instructions back to the employee about whether they are allowed to enter the worksite that day. Every action and communication in the questionnaire system is logged so that employers have a record of their efforts to keep potentially infected employees away from the worksite.
“It is important that employers take appropriate steps to identify potentially infected and exposed employees and develop protocols for ensuring employee safety at work,” said Marina Tsatalis, employment law partner at Wilson Sonsini. “Employers need to take into account guidance and requirements from all levels of government, which are in flux and may vary by location, in sculpting their return-to-work strategy. We are working with SixFifty to prepare the policies and assessments and to keep them updated and current as the legal landscape continues to evolve in this area.”
SixFifty’s Return-to-Work Toolset is the latest in a series of tools SixFifty has released to help businesses and individuals cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. In March, SixFifty released a free toolset to help businesses transition their employees to work remotely. In April, SixFifty released free tools for renters (www.hellolandlord.org) and homeowners (www.hellolender.org) to delay paying rent and mortgages under the federal stimulus. SixFifty also released tools to help businesses determine whether they are eligible for SBA loans and tax relief. Thousands of individuals and businesses have used SixFifty’s free tools since the COVID-19 emergency began. SixFifty’s Return-to-Work Toolset is the first offering related to COVID-19 that will not be free.
About SixFifty
Headquartered in the Silicon Slopes area of Utah, SixFifty is a subsidiary of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and combines the expertise of the world’s leading technology law firm, made accessible through thoughtful technology. Led by a group of lawyers and software engineers that believe the law should be easier to navigate, SixFifty streamlines complex areas of the law by providing actionable, efficient and affordable solutions for individuals and businesses. For more information, please visit www.sixfifty.com.