Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Preparedness 2020

Overview

Nyhart maintains a Pandemic Preparedness plan as part of our larger Business Continuity planning process.

In light of reports from governmental agencies concerning the COVID-19 virus and its spread to the United States, we’ve proactively implemented action steps outlined in the Pandemic Plan to protect our business and clients from being impacted by potential disruptions that efforts to combat this situation could cause.

Nyhart remains committed to providing plan sponsors, account holders, and other clients with the level of service they need and expect, while also helping safeguard the health and welfare of our associates. We’re taking additional preparatory steps now to ensure our ability to do just that should the COVID-19 situation escalate.

Action Plan

Following the parameters set forth in our Pandemic Plan, specific actions that have been initiated include:

  • COVID-19-Specific Risk Identification – Based on what we know about this pathogen and its ability to spread, we’ve validated our plan based on risks that are specific to COVID-19. Our goal is to ensure that the nuances that this outbreak shows are accounted for, including its ability to be contagious before symptoms that could lead to mass clusters of infection present themselves. We’ll continue to reevaluate risks related to COVID-19 on a regular basis to determine if our plan needs to be updated.
  • Information Technology – A significant percentage of our staff already has the ability to work remotely, so we’ll be prepared if circumstances lead to a temporary closure of our work sites. We’re taking steps to allow additional staff to work remotely as well, to the extent permitted. We’ll continue to evaluate our Information Technology infrastructure to ensure that we have the hardware and infrastructure in place to allow all critical functions to be completed effectively by associates. This includes a validation of our remote connection capacity and laptop availability.
  • Workload Management Flexibility – As a supplement to our remote working arrangements, Nyhart leverages operational sites across our geographic footprint that can support each other. This means that we can effectively support remote functions while accessing the expertise of associates who work in offices that may not be impacted by a pandemic event. We conduct regular risk assessments to ensure that we can execute effective workload management processes, and are now taking extra steps—such as cross-training individuals on critical functions—to further strengthen our support system.
  • Human Resources Evaluations – As with any pandemic, there could be a significant number of associates unavailable to work at any given time. With that in mind, our Human Resources team is working closely with Risk Management and Business Operations to ensure that work coverage is available for all key functions. We’ve also implemented restrictions on international and nonessential business travel, as well as large-group gatherings.
  • Vendor Capabilities – We’re working with vendors that provide operational support and those that are part of our hardware/software supply chain to ensure that service levels are maintained.

Nyhart will continue to monitor this evolving global health situation and provide material updates on our response as necessary.