In light of the damage caused by Hurricane Helene and Milton, below are some tips for employers and plan sponsors for before, during and after the unfortunate event of a disaster. 

Not every disaster comes with a warning. Organizations can’t predict what the future holds—from environmental threats such as natural disasters to cyberattacks and pandemics. Employers and benefit plans must proactively address potential risks that could disrupt operations and impact the lives of their employees and plan participants. 

Previous articles from International Foundation publications have addressed disaster planning, focusing on strategies to help organizations and multiemployer benefit funds maintain uninterrupted benefits to all participants in their most vulnerable moments.

Plan for Before, During and After

In her October 2018 article, “Disaster Planning for Employee Benefits,” Petula Workman, CEBS, wrote that it’s important for employees and their families to be able to find contact information for medical plan carriers or third-party administrators. She made several key recommendations:

• Pre-Disaster Communication: Employers and benefit plans should establish a plan for communicating with employees and plan participants before, during and after a disaster. This includes reminding employees how to find health care coverage information and contact the employee assistance program.

•  Disaster Teams: All members of disaster response teams responsible for employee issues should have backup personnel as well as access to tools and resources including employee cell phone numbers and copies of the business continuity plan.

• Tax Relief and Credits: Employers should note the federal government provides tax relief to organizations affected by natural disasters, including tax credits for continuing employment and wages during periods of temporary closure.

• Leave-Sharing Programs: Employers may also consider implementing leave-sharing or leave-donation programs to assist employees who need extra time off from work in the aftermath of a disaster.

Workman highlighted that in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, which hit Texas in 2017, stories of neighbors helping neighbors, strangers helping strangers, and employers helping employees emerged. “The hope is that organizations will not have to face a challenge as great as Harvey,” she wrote, encouraging organizations “to be prepared to show their employees how their benefits are there for them—even in times of disaster.”

Establish a Disaster Recovery Policy

In their article “It Is Time to Update Your Disaster Recovery Policy” in the November 2020 issue of Benefits Magazine, authors Stephen J. O’Sick, CEBS, and Lawrence R. Beebe noted that many multiemployer benefit funds either do not have a disaster recovery policy or have not recently updated their existing policy.

O’Sick and Beebe provide some considerations for trustees when developing a policy. They say a policy should fulfill the following goals.

• Prevent or mitigate the disaster. Prevention may be impossible in cases of an environmental disaster or a pandemic like COVID-19, but it is possible for events such as cyberattacks. Preparing for these types of incidents can greatly mitigate their effects if they occur.

• Limit the extent of interruption, disruption and damage. For instance, organizations with a remote strategy can quickly resume operations, drawing on their experiences from the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Minimize recovery cost. It can be expensive to establish a comprehensive disaster recovery plan, but the recovery costs of not being adequately prepared for a disaster can be significantly greater than the costs of preparing for a disaster.

• Establish alternative business operations. Many funds may face extended periods without access to their offices. While backup hardware, software and data files have long been recognized as essential, incorporating cloud storage not only adds a layer of security against external threats but also ensures remote access to employees.

• Train personnel. Everyone in an organization should be trained on the responsibilities they will have when a disaster occurs. To be adequately prepared, employees should receive regular periodic training on those tasks. Training should include communication of the disaster recovery policy.

• Restore normal operations. Plan personnel should be aware that resuming normal operations after a disaster may involve a new “normal.” Lessons learned from the disaster may require implementing new steps and/or techniques learned due to the disaster.

• Continue to provide all benefits to all participants without delay or as soon as possible. Trustees are responsible for providing timely benefits to all participants and beneficiaries.

Disasters teach us many valuable lessons, O’Sick and Beebe wrote, including that a disaster can happen to any organization, and its effects can be long-lasting. “One of those lessons is to be better prepared when the next disaster occurs,” they said. “Remember, hope for the best but plan for the worst.”

To find more resources, including a template of a disaster recovery policy and sample documents, visit the Benefits Knowledge Center.