Communicating with Employees During COVID-19
Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Partner Victoria Zerjav spoke with PlanSponsor about the importance of employer communication and outreach during the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to shelter-in-place orders and limited face-to-face contact throughout the globe, employers are primarily engaging with their workers online. Employers can take the responsibility of updating their workers with news—which, most recently, includes how to stay calm with the recent market swing or on any alterations with the company’s retirement plan—or they can shift this onus to the plan’s recordkeeper or third-party administrator (TPA). Ms. Zerjav emphasized that company benefit administrators should still review any forms from their TPAs in advance to add any company-specific details.
“In these times of rapidly changing laws and the need to make decisions in relation to large groups, it is important that employees understand companies are working hard to reach out, even though each message may not be personalized," Ms. Zerjav said.