are-able COVID-19 update statement

are-able COVID-19 update statement 20 July 2020

After a long stretch of working from home and showing incredible flexibility and resilience, are-able employment staff have returned to work in their site offices as of Monday July 20th. Jobseekers will continue receiving support via phone, video and email. New jobseekers are encouraged to reach out- we have jobseekers beginning new roles almost every day!

Today’s official ‘Return to Office’ has arrived after staff were given the opportunity to slowly move back into the office and engage within our communities last week. Staff who have identified their personal situation to be ‘high risk’ have remained working from home. Many staff were excited to return and adapt to the latest version of the ‘new normal’.

Although are-able’s employment division is deemed an essential service, there was extensive consultation and preparation in the transition to staff returning to our sites. Our number one priority is the health and safety of our employees, clients, employers and communities. Each site has been fitted with COVID-19 safe measures, including health and social distancing signage, perspex screens for all public facing areas and docking stations for individual computers and technology. Social distancing allowances include adhering to the 4sqm per person, extensive cleaning practices as well as updated procedures for sanitising, driving and operating within the community.

are-able supports some of our most vulnerable members and we’re acutely aware of our crucial role within the community. We’re continuing to be a source of support during the COVID-19 event and have added 28 staff to assist supporting the vulnerable people in our community.

So far, are-able has already seen a successful transition back to the workplace by the are-able Social Enterprises team, who’ve successfully adapted their working environment and adopted new COVID safe measures. To further ensure the health and wellbeing of people at our Albert Street site we’ll be taking the extra precautionary measure of wearing face masks, this will apply for all are-able Social Enterprise staff, and any visitors to the site will also be encouraged to mask up.

are-able has also seen the successful return of our South Australian site in Mt Gambier. This site returned to the office on Monday 6th July, in line with the South Australian State government guidelines.

are-able CEO Tom Scarborough shared his pride in the team.

“are-able moved very quickly to adopt new and innovative ways of working in this ever-changing environment. Now, more than ever we need to be agile and flexible in our service delivery and adapt quickly to changes. The quick mobilisation of are-able staff to working from home, allowed our IT, OHS and management team to implement the necessary changes to make our offices as COVID-safe as possible. I understand that returning to the office is once again, a new routine for our fantastic staff to adapt to. All our departments have shown resilience, commitment and dedication. We want to give a genuine thanks to Employment, Social Enterprises, Training & Corporate” he said.

are-able is closely monitoring government directives for regional Victoria. We’re mindful of the situation in Melbourne and each of our local cities and towns and are ready to respond to changing circumstances accordingly.

We’d like to thank our communities and staff for their support and remind everyone to stay safe!