Facing the pandemic

The Personnel department launched the PulseCOVID survey to gauge staff's well-being and receive their assessment of the University's handling of the COVID-19 situation. The results led to the definition of improvement actions to safeguard the well-being of everyone who works at the UOC and make their daily lives easier.

July saw the start of a new chapter in the UOC's in-house excutive training programme, launched in response to proposals made in the survey on how to manage teams in this exceptional situation of widespread teleworking: two online single-topic sessions were given for 140 UOC staff members with managerial responsibilities. Faced with the storm the COVID-19 pandemic was bringing, it became necessary to take extraordinary measures to help limit contagion, inevitably with a major impact on the UOC. The heads of the Personnel department formed part of the Crisis Committee and, jointly with the Health and Safety Service, the Monitoring Committee, which has assessed the situation on a continuous basis and made decisions in response to the evolution of the pandemic. It is important to recognize the exceptional efforts made by UOC staff members to adapt to the pandemic and all the organizational changes introduced to make teleworking possible for everyone.

On 14 May the UOC activated its protocol for loans of hardware and ergonomic furniture, aimed at helping staff do their work properly during this exceptional period of widespread teleworking. At the same time, the total budget allocated to technology grants (to help staff members work from their own devices) for 2020 was raised to €75,000, as the original amount of €30,000 was progressively increased in view of the exceptional situation arising from the health crisis.

The Personnel department's Health and Safety Service set out the steps to be taken by the University to put in place COVID-19 protection measures in the University's buildings for people working on site, as well as health and well-being measures for people who were teleworking and for those working on site. This was covered in the Plan for returning to on-site work at the UOC.

The redesigned spaces in the UOC's buildings, the implementation of protection measures (mandatory face masks, social distancing, hand washing, ventilation, cleaning and disinfection) and the requirement to undergo COVID19-specific training and provide a statement of compliance in order to safely work on site were key aspects.