COVID-19 Safety Plan

In accordance with WorkSafe BC and the Provincial Health Officer, Synergy Business Lawyers LLP has devised a COVID-19 Safety Plan. Our management team meets regularly to assess our action plan, develop policies, and revise as needed to ensure we comply with current guidelines.

• Upon arrival in the office each day, lawyers and staff are required to complete a self-assessment and sign-in.
  • If you, or someone in your household, has symptoms associated with COVID-19 you must remain at home. In addition, you must stay at home for an additional 14 days after the symptoms have cleared up.
  • If you return to Canada from another country, you must observe the government directive to self-isolate for 14 days prior to returning to the office.
• Our premises normally accommodates 33 persons (lawyers and staff) – 20 are in private offices. In order to reduce the number on the premises on any given day, lawyers and certain staff have remote access to their workstation.  Working remotely, on a rotating basis, is encouraged.  The goal is to reduce the number of people in the office.
• A schedule is available for all to update weekly. Everyone is responsible for updating the schedule that shows where everyone is working each day.  All are encouraged to consider others around them when deciding whether to come in to the office or to work remotely on a given day.  The Office Manager reviews the schedule for compliance.
• Certain staff that cannot work remotely have been given the opportunity to change their office hours in order to avoid peak travel times (both travelling to/from the office and within the building). The usual office hours are 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.  Some are now starting work as early as 8:00 am and others are leaving after 5:30 pm.
• Reduced lunch hours currently are accommodated in order to reduce the number of people in the lunchroom at any given time and to reduce the length of the workday.
• Rooms in which people gather have posted capacity signage. These rooms include the reception area, meeting rooms, the lunchroom, the copy room, and the lawyers’ lounge.
• Everyone is required to wear a mask while in the office EXCEPT when seated at their desk or in the lunchroom. Disposable facemasks are available.
• In order to reduce the contact our receptionist has with people coming onto the premises, the firm has:
  • reduced some deliveries,
  • established a designated spot for deliveries near the elevator,
  • provided a plexiglass screen at the front of the reception desk, and
  • added signage on the desk and markings on the floor.
• Teleconferences and Zoom meetings with clients are encouraged, rather than in-person meetings. The firm has set-up a 2^nd tele-conference line to accommodate increased usage.
• Guidelines for scheduling appointments with clients in the office are as follows:
  • An interval of 10-15 minutes between meetings is required.
  • Meetings will only be booked in the two larger meeting rooms. If a larger space is needed, the Lawyers’ Lounge may be used.
  • An email will be sent to clients prior to their appointment advising them of what to expect upon arrival in our building, and on our premises. In the email they are asked to self-assess for COVID-19 symptoms and, if any exist, to contact one of the partners or the Office Manager to discuss meeting options.
  • Upon arrival, clients are offered a mask and hand sanitizer.
• The building management company cleans high contact surfaces within the building, including elevator buttons and washrooms, several times throughout the day. Every evening the cleaners concentrate their efforts on areas within our office have been used during the day, as indicated by signage provided by the building management.
• Within our premises:
  • The receptionist cleans her workstation at the start of each day and before and after lunch hour relief.
  • The lunchroom and copy room surfaces are cleaned as needed throughout the day.
  • Lysol wipes are available for anyone that wishes to do additional cleaning within their workspace.