New Power Platform Return to the Workplace capabilities enable organizations to meet global health guidelines
Since introducing the Microsoft Power Platform Return to the Workplace solution a year ago, the solution has helped organizations plan, coordinate, and manage processes to reopen and stay open responsibly during the pandemic. Recently, COVID-19 vaccinations and periodic testing have become critical components of public health and safety across the world. Many businesses have had to remain agile and rapidly adapt, especially in light of emerging global vaccine and testing guidelines. Yet, every organization is unique, so it’s difficult for one solution to work for all customers and their tailored needs. COVID-19 health guidelines also continue to evolve over time as the pandemic remains unpredictable.
With its no low-code no-code technology built on Microsoft Power Platform, the Return to the Workplace solution can help customers rapidly meet their unique needs. With the latest updates, the solution will provide experiences and workflows for managing vaccine attestations and periodic testing that can be customized to different business processes and connect to external systems. Additionally, the solution can be customized as health guidelines shift over time, making it easier for customers to quickly adapt to evolving global health trends and changing circumstances of the pandemic.
Today, we are announcing the preview of a new set of capabilities for the Return to the Workplace solution which will enable customers to meet these global health guidelines. These include abilities for:
- Workers (e.g., employee, contingent worker, contractor) to share their vaccination attestation and submit test results and stay compliant with the periodic testing plan.
- Authorized persons (e.g., facility managers, leadership) in the organization to create and assign periodic testing plans to accommodate workers and track compliance and to manually verify and approve vaccination and test attestations, if required.
Since introducing the solution, Return to the Workplace has seen tremendous growth in usage, with over 1,400 customers, such as The Nature Conservancy, State Street, MAGNA, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), and Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, across more than 70 countries actively using the solution. Initially rolled out at its datacenters, the Return to the Workplace solution has been used by Microsoft this past year to enable data center employees to attest their daily health and vaccination statuses. Now, Microsoft workers from all around the world (about 68,000 users across more than 100 countries) can use a customized version of the Return to the workplace to safely return to work as well. For Microsoft, Return to the Workplace has been integrated with MyHub, a tool available for employees to access all internal applications. For Microsoft, Return to the Workplace will also be integrated with Viva Connections in the future releases.
Over 100 Microsoft partners have also extended the solution with their own expertise, adding industry-specific capabilities. One example is the rapid screening solution built by the Creative Destruction Lab which supports at-home rapid screening to help Canadian workers return to the workplace with safety, flexibility, and ease. The solution is used by customers such as Air Canada and MAGNA. “From the start, Microsoft has been our partner in developing the applications for our rapid screening program, dedicated to our employees and site administrators, to allow for a seamless experience,” says Samuel Elfassy, Vice President, Safety at Air Canada.
The solution consists of four modules, which together provide an end-to-end experience:
- The Location Readiness dashboard allows task force leaders to determine the readiness of their facilities and manage their safe reopening by making informed data-driven decisions using critical factors like COVID-19 infection rates at the county level in the US.
- The Workplace Care Management app and dashboard gives health and safety leaders the tools to reduce the risk of an outbreak by managing COVID-19 cases, conducting manual contact tracing, and managing key safety and health metrics.
- The Employee Health and Safety Management app helps to keep workers safe and productive with self-service tools that allow them to check into work remotely and self-screen before entering facilities. Third parties can use the Return to the Workplace portal to follow a similar self-service process that allows them to check into work remotely, self-screen, and submit their vaccination and test attestations before entering facilities.
- The Location Management dashboard gives facility managers the tools they need to monitor and manage occupancy, safety procedures, vaccination and periodic testing, and safety-related best practices.
We are excited to be releasing these new capabilities of the Return to the Workplace solution that will enable organizations to comply with emerging global health guidelines by allowing relevant parties to manage vaccine attestations and accommodations.
To learn more, visit the Return to the Workplace website to talk to a seller, visit Microsoft AppSource for partner implementation consulting services, and watch our on-demand Return to the Workplace session from Microsoft Ignite 2021.
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