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After the Marshall fire in Colorado destroyed nearly 1,000 homes, employers want to know how to help employees. Below are some tips to get you started. We have also added information on how employers impacted can get help.

Supporting employees during a crisis is critical; this article has nine steps to follow. One helpful tip is communicating specifically and clearly that taking time off to take care of basic needs is encouraged. One idea is to set up a paid time off donation bank. While these banks can be useful, it is important to be deliberate in setting them up. You want to avoid equity issues and make employees aware there may be tax implications in donating and receiving time off. Our whitepaper can help. This website has good information, including “for your workforce” that includes details of unemployment, and also mental health resources.

If you want to help employees with funding through donation programs, follow best-practices in setting up donations for employees. It’s generally better to do it through a neutral entity, like a bank, than to try to do it internally and potentially become a fiduciary. Another benefit of using a third party like a bank is that employees won’t feel compelled or obligated to give, as they can give independently and anonymously to the third party. Additionally, there are several public funds set up to help.

The Marshall fire impacted employers too. When it comes to priorities, paying employees is critical and must be done. There are steps to managing payroll during a disaster:

• List all payroll tasks that need to be done to do a regular payroll.
• Determine which tasks must be done now to pay employees on time and which tasks can wait until later.
• Due to the disaster, check to see if there are alternative ways to perform the functions you cannot. Employers Council processes payrolls for employers, and we may be able to help you with this. To find out more, contact us at info@employerscouncil.org.
• Distribute the pay to employees. Typically, some employees choose to receive a paycheck rather than having it deposited electronically. Communicate with those employees to develop a plan to distribute their pay to them.

Remember that under OSHA regulations, employers do have a duty to protect employees from situations that can physically endanger them or harm their health.

Ready.gov is a resource management site operated by the Federal Government that has information about how to be ready for and operate during an emergency. This includes a business continuity plan. 

We hope that our members impacted by the Marshall fire know that we are here for you. Our website has workplace safety resources, including emergency preparedness. Employers with an Employers Council Consulting or Enterprise membership and members who have not renewed under the new member model may also contact an Employers Council staff for assistance.