COVID-19, masks, vaccinations and social distancing considerations
As your local government and public health organizations adjust their rules surrounding COVID-19, you may be faced with making and adjusting your own class policies around social distancing, wearing masks, and vaccinations for indoor and outdoor activities.
It’s a lot for you to deal with! It’s hard to not feel frustrated about the fact that this responsibility is falling on the shoulders of small business owners. But if you need to create and post a policy, we have some pointers to help navigate these difficult circumstances.
If you haven’t created your policy yet, there are a number of factors to keep in mind.
Your Local Governmental Requirements
First and foremost, Punchpass recommends meeting your legal requirements for covid safety measures. However, you might decide to be cautious and apply more restrictions for your business if you feel they are necessary.
The Size of Your Space
If you have a small studio space and are working in tight conditions, many of your clients may prefer increased safety requirements. You also may want to keep your classes smaller, focus on private or semi-private training, and keep exploring online, hybrid, or outdoor options.
The Impact of the Coronavirus on Your Community
If your clientele are considered higher risk, you may want to construct your policy to increase their safety if they come to classes in person. Clients with existing health conditions are at increased risk for COVID-19, but also some may be among the population who are not able to receive the vaccine. As they are relying on herd immunity, they may either need to stay online, or you may want to require all in person clients to continue to wear masks to make it possible for them to attend in person.
Access to vaccinations and proper healthcare is not universal, and there are populations within your community that have been hit hardest by the pandemic. Studies in the US are showing that racial and ethnic minority groups have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19, and that there is vaccine inequity between races/ethnicities. These facts and figures may vary from country to country, however it benefits us all when we consider the most vulnerable people in our communities and consider how our business policies can impact them.
Our primary recommendation when crafting the language around your policy is to highlight kindness, compassion, and respect for one another. You can be firm in how you apply your policy, but it’s important to keep in mind how this epidemic has taken a toll on everyone’s mental health in addition to their physical wellbeing.
Applying Your Policy
If you are going to track vaccination status for your customers, please check out our support documents here to learn more about how you can flag or note a customer’s status so you and your instructors can see that during attendance.
Posting Your Policy in Punchpass
In Punchpass, we provide a number of different places to add custom text so you can highlight your COVID-19 policies or require customers to agree to them prior to booking a class.
You can edit the text above your Public Schedule and add your policy there so it’s one of the first things customers see when they go to the schedule.
You can include your policy (or links to your policy) at the top of your public schedule, in your reservation confirmation emails and/or in your class descriptions.
You may also like to include current advice in your online waiver and/or have students agree to your terms and conditions each time they make a reservation using our Booking Agreement feature.
As you figure out the approach that’s best for your community, remember that you’re almost at the finish line! The road may still be a bit bumpy, but your tact and compassion will go a long way toward a smooth return to normalcy.
