Background information

Argenta is a private bank in Belgium. At the onset of the pandemic, the bank quickly predicted possible far-reaching implications of the situation. The company therefore decided early on to establish a crisis management team in order to take the necessary precautions to guarantee the safety of the client and personnel as well as the continuity of their services.

Content of measure

The organisation had different mechanisms ready to be put in place before the pandemic started, depending of the type and extent of the crisis. An important mechanism was the forming of a crisis management team that also included people from HR as well as communication. This team monitored the situation on a day by day basis based on several operational indicators as well as the amount of infections nationwide. When the amount of infections continued to grow, the company decided to implement telework for all of its employees nationwide (instead of a decentralized approach for each branch separately). This was before the national lockdown was implemented.

In a survey that was done among all personnel, approximately 85% of all employees reported to be positive about the telework. The company management evaluate what will happen with the existing telework arrangements after the crisis has passed. In addition several internal trainings were developed. For example for local branch managers on how to work with their employees in a telework environment.

Use of measure

All Argenta branches and employees.

Contents

• Health and safety
• Telework

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Employees in standard employment	Companies providing essential services	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
Company / Companies	Employer

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Unknown	Unknown
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Unknown
• Main level of involvement: Company level

Involvement

The involvement of the social partners was not mentioned. The trade unions do however maintain an important role within as they are seated in the company H&S committees.

Views and reactions

No social partner views mentioned.

Sources

• 01 July 2021: HR Square edition 199 (www.hrsquare.be)