Temperature checks and a few quick questions before employees start each shift can help keep all staff safe. Since it reopened restaurants in May, Houston-based Goode Co. has been conducting ongoing health monitoring—and even voluntary coronavirus testing—for all its restaurant employees.

Operators are giving dining rooms makeovers to meet new social distancing guidelines. At Arnaldo Richards’ Picos in Houston, guests are greeted by a masked host behind a Plexiglas barrier who asks them to wait in their car until a table is ready or seats them at tables spaced 6 feet apart or at the bar, where seats are divided by Plexiglas.

Allowing customers to pay at the table through an app on their phones or their mobile wallet eliminates servers’ need to touch the guest’s check, debit or credit card, or cash, thereby reducing the chance of coronavirus transmission. Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A is one of many chains that switched to contactless payments during the pandemic. Guests are encouraged to pay through the Chick-fil-A App if they have it; those who don’t are asked to swipe their own cards.

Workers are likely to feel more confident returning to work if they know they’re covered should they get sick. In early March, when COVID-19 was just beginning to spread across the nation, Darden Restaurants, parent company of Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen and other casual dining chains, introduced paid sick leave for hourly workers previously not covered by the company.

While many operators are implementing these types of changes, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for keeping employees safe, healthy and engaged. Operators will need to determine which changes work best for their particular business. One thing is certain, when workers feel their safety and health are a priority they are more likely to come to—and be engaged at—work.

Want to learn more? Visit our blog for an in-depth look at the changing foodservice workplace and what employees expect in a post-COVID-19 world.