The County of Renfrew is considering suspending criminal background checks to be able to streamline the hiring process as a result of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. At the Finance and Administration committee meeting this morning (March 12th) a business continuity plan was presented to the senior leadership team on how to prepare for the virus. In the event that COVID-19 causes a significant amount of staff absences options for temporarily replacing employees were discussed. Director of Human Resources for the County of Renfrew, Bruce Beakley, says it can take weeks or months to get criminal background checks back and they don’t want that to be a barrier for replacing staff on an interim basis.
The Finance and Administration committee discussed other options like reaching out to the Deep River Police Force to speed up the process, but it was pointed out that criminal record checks must be completed in the district you live in. Beakley says they are also considering no longer requiring doctors notes, suspending travel to large conferences and modifying privacy for health information to be able to let co-workers know if someone has been affected by COVID-19. Staff are also looking at when to recommend that you work from home. Information will be shared with local municipalities today and a special meeting of the Finance and Administration committee will be held before county council on Wednesday, March 25th. Beakley expects a final decision on the business continuity plan to be voted on at the county council meeting.
