City now confident it can bring back staff

Reassured that it has fully complied with State and Federal emergency orders and health directions to provide a safe and healthy environment for its workforce, the City of Greater Geraldton is now confident it can start to bring back staff.

Around half of its staff will return to work on Monday 20 April as the City continues to monitor the COVID-19 situation whilst working towards returning to full capacity.   

Earlier this month, the City enacted its Crisis Business Continuity Plans to ensure the safety of its employees, and the community, by putting in place the following measures to reduce the risk of the spread:

• Cancelled all events until further notice;

• Closed City run facilities;

• Reduced staffing levels at its Civic Centre to essential workers only; 

• Reconfigured its open plan layout to adhere to social distancing requirements; and,

• Tested and implemented working from home capabilities.

Buoyed by the low rates of transmission in the local area, City of Greater Geraldton CEO Ross McKim said he was confident that the time was right to bring back staff.

“The health and safety of our staff and our community is, and always has been, the City’s number one priority,” he said.

“We needed to do everything we could to act responsibly, keep our staff and community safe and help slow the spread.

“We appreciate this has been a difficult time but we genuinely have the best interests of our staff and our community, at the forefront of our minds in taking the action we have.

“We would like to sincerely thank those workers who remain stood down for their understanding.

“I am quietly confident that as the curve continues to flatten, we will be in a position to bring back more staff.

“With continued signs of having the virus at bay we need to start planning for the reopening.

“We will continue to monitor State and Federal Government directives on facility operations and provide advice accordingly,” he added.