Mayor Hancock confirmed at a press conference earlier this week that he will let Denver’s stay-at-home order expire later today. This means Denver businesses are allowed to return to their workplaces beginning Monday, May 11, but there are several restrictions on how businesses return.
Let’s start by making it clear that you may continue to work from home through the end of May. Everyone has a unique set of risk factors to consider and if in your best judgment, working at the office presents too much of a risk, we will respect your decision. We’ll make a decision about June when we get closer to June.
However, for those who decide to return to the office, this document provides the guidelines we’d like you to follow to ensure your safety and align with Colorado’s safer-at-home order.
Groups
First and foremost, we will rotate so that a maximum of 10 are in the office at any given time. To meet this requirement while maximizing collaboration, we have divided the office into two groups. Group A will have the office on Mondays and Tuesdays. Group B will have the office on Wednesdays and Thursdays. For now, the office will remain closed on Fridays.
- Group A: Aj, Amy, Dave, Jessica, John, Joyce, Niki, Scott, Seth, Watson
- Group B: Andrea, Corey, Joe, Kate, Katelin, Luke, Rick, Tyler, Vanessa
Marion and Brooke are not assigned to a group for health reasons (Marion for his parents, Brooke for herself). Mark is not assigned to a group because he’s in Kansas.
Rules for Attendance
- You are required to self-check for symptoms every morning you will be in the office. And really, you should be doing this every day to establish a baseline.
- You are mainly looking for a dry cough or shortness of breath. If you are experiencing either of these, it’s enough to stay home and see if your health worsens.
- Also, any two of the following would provide the same justification for staying home: fever (see note at the bottom of this post), chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, or new loss of taste or smell.
- Once you’ve shown symptoms, you are required to notify your manager and self-quarantine immediately. You may return to the office after these three things have happened:
- You have had no fever for at least 72 hours (three full days of no fever without the use of medicine that reduces fevers); AND
- Other symptoms have improved (for example, when your cough or shortness of breath have improved); AND
- At least 10 days have passed since your symptoms first appeared.
- Social distancing rules still apply while in the office. We understand the hallways present a challenge – just keep moving and do your best to respect a six-foot bubble around others. We’re all happy to see you, but hugs and handshakes are not permitted.
- For reference, the desks in “the pit” are six-feet wide. If you are uncomfortable sitting next to or across from someone in your group, feel free to spread out by using an unoccupied desk.
- Visitors are not permitted. If you must meet a visitor, such as a delivery person, please meet them outside of the building.
- You are required to wear a mask in all common areas of the building. This includes the lobby, elevators (the building is mandating one person per elevator), hallways, stairwells, parking garage, and building conference room. In addition, you are required to wear a mask in all areas where you may come into contact with the public – please consider all aspects of your commute to and from the office as well as your lunchtime (if you go out for lunch).
- The kitchen is limited to two people at a time. The Sativa and Indica rooms are limited to three people at a time.
- We have anti-bacterial wipes in the office. Please use them to wipe down your work area each day you are in the office. We have not been able to re-stock hand sanitizer yet, so please bring your own.
- If you are the last person in the office, and if Sativa or Indica was used, please wipe down the tables and chair arms. Also, please wipe the door handle and keypad as you walk out.
- On a related note, you can read the memo below from building management to see the steps they have taken and are committing to in order to ensure the safety of its tenants.
Accountability
This plan works only if you are accountable for the safety of yourself and your co-workers, both in and out of the office. We believe the workplace can be safe because we believe that all of you are being safe and will follow these rules. If you see someone not following these rules:
- As an employee: Reach out to your manager and explain the situation. If your manager isn’t available, reach out to another manager or member of leadership.
- As a manager: If you aren’t the employee’s manager, relay the situation to the employee’s direct manager. The direct manager will discretely discuss the situation with the employee and take whatever action necessary to ensure a safe workplace.
A Note on Fevers
With fevers, it’s important to understand that the norm of 98.6 degrees is an average that was established in the 1800s and the threshold for a fever of 100.4 degrees is based on that average. Your body temperature is affected by many factors including the time of day, your age, any medications you are taking, your fitness level, and more. In fact, there is research that suggests the average is significantly lower today. When you put it all together, it can be difficult to know when you actually have a fever.
To be accurate about when you have a fever, you first need to establish your baseline. Take your temperature at roughly the same time every day, using the same thermometer the same way. As long as you are feeling well, this is your normal and it can be in the range of 97-99 degrees. The longer the baseline, the better you are able to account for variations. For example, women know that temperatures fluctuate based on their menstrual cycle. I know that allergies can cause small increases in my temperature.
Once you know what a normal temperature is for you, add 1.8 degrees and that is your threshold for a fever. So if your normal is 98.2 degrees, you have a fever when you register 100.0 degrees using your baseline routine.