The events of the past several months have presented a wide range of challenges to the International NGO (INGO) community as COVID-19 has spread rapidly around the world. The operational realities of COVID-19 are causing organizations to create and adapt processes and procedures, reassess organizational customs and norms and establish new ways of working. Organizations are dedicating significant energy to projecting forward and making operational changes to uphold their duty of care and provide staff with a work environment that considers this new reality.

Recognizing this effort, the INGO community came together to produce Recovery & Wellness, COVID-19 which convenes subject matter experts and practitioners from the fields of Human Resources, Insurances and Benefits, Staff Wellbeing, Security and Risk Management and Non-profit Law and Compliance. Each module seeks to provide guidance, suggestions for internal communications and an action list organized by Highly Recommended, Recommended and Beneficial actions. These are general recommendations which may not apply uniformly to all organizations and were specifically designed for small to midsized organizations.

C13. Staff benefits and insurance

Staff benefits and employee and commercial insurances should be considered in general with regard to duty of care and organizational risk management. A strong benefits package and insurance portfolio will provide support for both employees and management at any time, but particularly during an emergency. Not every organization will have the same approach to coverage. The lines of coverage you put in place, the limits to your coverage, and how you choose to structure that coverage will be informed by your budget, your risk profile, and your risk tolerance. Those criteria may have changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and this is an opportunity to re-think how those changes might impact your benefits package and insurances portfolio.