ACADEMIA Letters
The safety and well-being of employees in the face of
COVID-19 in a private university
Promise Zvavahera, Africa University
This paper focuses on the safety and well-being of employees in universities in the face of
COVID-19. The paper employed a case study approach focusing at a private university operating in Zimbabwe. The rationale is that it is the only university that had its essential staff reporting for duty physically in the midst of the deadly pandemic. The essential staff comprised
kitchen staff, fleet and facilities and administration. COVID-19 has changed the dynamics of
the work environment and the role of management in dealing with safety and wellness of the
workforce. As COVID-19 continues to ravage most economies across the globe, employees’
safety and well-being has become a major concern in universities since some employees continue to work in unsafe environments. The pandemic has long lasting effects on the mental,
health, well-being and productivity in institutions of higher learning. The closure of most
institutions of higher learning and failure to find immediate solutions to the plight of students,
parents, staff and other stakeholders has signalled the extent of the challenge. In view of the
pandemic, employees anticipate better emotional responses to cope with the crisis.
The COVID-19 pandemic has redefined the world’s higher education sector (Rumbley,
2020). This has exposed leadership in universities across the globe in dealing with safety
and well-being of the workforce. The problem is further exacerbated by the fact that some
employees are still working from home and communication is imprecise as a result of lockdown restrictions. There is a perception that employee safety and wellness determines the
effectiveness and productivity of the institution since there is a direct relationship between
productivity and the well-being of the workforce. Employee well-being is concerned with
everything in working life; such as how workers feel about their work, the quality and safety
of the physical environment, climate at work and work organisation. It is important to make
sure that individuals engaged are safe, satisfied and healthy. The safety and health of employAcademia Letters, July 2021
©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0
Corresponding Author: Promise Zvavahera, promisezvavahera59@gmail.com
Citation: Zvavahera, P. (2021). The safety and well-being of employees in the face of COVID-19 in a private
university. Academia Letters, Article 1828. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL1828.
1
ees is concerned with moral, legal and psychological issues. The tackling of issues related to
employee safety and well-being assists in addressing mental health disorders, stress, conflict,
and drug and alcohol abuse among others. In order to achieve this, comprehensive wellness
programmes, policy initiatives and implementation are of paramount importance (Lee, Blake,
& Lloyd, 2010; Csiernik, 2011). Productive time can be lost when employees take days off as
a result of anxiety, stress and depression. It is estimated that about 57% productive time is lost
due to ill-health that is mostly caused by the stressful work environment. The reopening of
some universities across the globe has led to the increase in COVID-19 cases (Lu et al., 2021).
In view of this, strategies to support mental well-being and safety in organisations is important. Engaging health partners and providing timeous information in the face of COVID could
go a long way in promoting the wellness of employees. Engaging online doctors, pharmacies
and other related health services could assist in making sure that the wellness and safety of
employees is maintained at acceptable levels especially during COVID-19 where social distancing has become important in reducing the spread of the pandemic. Besides COVID-19,
literature shows that most inactive people add more weight and this has been found to be
deadly too.
A snap survey approach was used involving one female and one male employees who were
purposively selected. The rationale for choosing one female and one male employees was to
get a balanced view. Virtual interviews with the two respondents were conducted as social
distancing and remote working had become necessary in reducing the spread of the pandemic.
Seven employees were infected by the virus between December 2020 and April 2021 at
the institution under discussion. The female employee was admitted and spent several weeks
in hospital whilst the male employee was quarantined and recovered from home. In terms of
the safety of the work environment, it was observed that there was no regular cleaning and
disinfecting of facilities after confirmed COVID-19 exposures. This left most employees exposed to the virus. The University used buses to ferry essential staff to work and in some cases
were full to capacity. This means that physical distancing of at least a meter was not being
fully observed. Employees in the payroll office shared computers and related gadgets. Even
though masks are a requirement, these were found to be in short supply and employees had
to improvise. The University was doing well in providing hand sanitizers and hand-washing
points. In addition, a sanitiser station was mounted at the most strategic point. The female
employee indicated that when COVID-19 struck, the University did not offer support to her.
The male employee also alluded to the same. When the pandemic struck, the university did
not have a Counsellor and most of the infected and affected employees had to seek the service
outside the University. The female employee had this to say “When I got infected, I did not
receive any support from the University. Only a handful of my close friends called to check
Academia Letters, July 2021
©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0
Corresponding Author: Promise Zvavahera, promisezvavahera59@gmail.com
Citation: Zvavahera, P. (2021). The safety and well-being of employees in the face of COVID-19 in a private
university. Academia Letters, Article 1828. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL1828.
2
on me. I thought I was going to get counselling and financial support but nothing was offered.
I had to foot the hospital bills by myself yet I was infected whilst on duty. I feel that the University is not doing enough to protect its employees from contracting the virus. Our safety
and well-being is in danger.” What was encouraging was that the university had conducted
Ministry of Health and Child Care to provide testing to staff on campus. The submission by
the female employee concurs with Lu et al. (2021) who found that some employees continued
to work in unsafe environments in the face of COVID-19 were cases continued to rise.
The male employee had this to say “When I got sick, I had to use my own resources to
get tested. Further to that I had to buy the medication. I went to the extent of applying for
a loan from the University so that I could pay for my medical bills.” In view of the new
normal, it is important for the University to offer online resources to help employees to cope
with anxiety, stress, financial concerns, and other issues they are facing during the pandemic.
The most worrisome development was that management was not sharing information on who
were affected as they felt that this could cause despondence and panic since the University
continued operating. However, creating awareness among staff on the intensity of the disease
could assist employees in making sure that they received maximum protection in their areas
of duty. It could mean that the infected and affected employees may feel neglected when they
need support most.
Even though the University set up the Rapid Response Team (RRT), responsible for coordinating all issues related to the pandemic, not much was being done due to lack of resources
and support from management. For the employee who recovered from home, the story was
the same. He indicated that when he got sick, the University through the Rapid Response
Team did not even assist him with transport to go and get tested and receive treatment. He
was sent home to seek for medical attention. He had this to say “When I fell sick, I did not
even receive a phone call from my immediate supervisor. I have now discovered that we are
still being treated as cheap labour. Our safety and wellbeing is at stake. As much as it is a
big institution we have a visiting doctor who comes once a work. Further to that, there is no
ambulance for emergencies. There is stigma that is attached when one gets positive.” This
shows how the University is failing to do basic things in order to maintain the safety and wellbeing of its most critical resource, human capital in the face of COVID-19. The findings of
this paper are in agreement with literature in that the universities are failing to put in place
safety measures to protect their employees against COVID-19.
It can therefore be concluded that the University is failing to observe the basic tenets of
employee safety and well-being in the face of COVID-19. Infected employees faced stigma
and they received little support from the institution. In view of this, employees’ safety and
wellness was under serious threat as employees no longer had confidence in management.
Academia Letters, July 2021
©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0
Corresponding Author: Promise Zvavahera, promisezvavahera59@gmail.com
Citation: Zvavahera, P. (2021). The safety and well-being of employees in the face of COVID-19 in a private
university. Academia Letters, Article 1828. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL1828.
3
Management should assist infected and affected staff to cope up with the physical and psychological challenges associated with the pandemic. COVID-19 has taught everyone tough
lessons on adaptability and resilience, compelling organisations and individuals to reckon with
a deep, enduring crisis that threatens our lives and our livelihoods. If the practice of unsafe
work environments continue unchecked, more employees could risk contracting COVID-19
compromising on quality and productivity. Further research can be conducted involving a
larger population and sample and increase the number of research variables on the safety and
well-being of staff with the view of assessing the levels of preparedness and compliance to
World Health Organisation COVID-19 protocols.
References
Csiernik, R. (2011). The glass is filling: An examination of employee assistance program
evaluations in the first decade of the new millennium. Journal of Workplace Behavioural
Health, 26, 344-355.
Workplace well-being
chapter 12 employee health, safety and wellness
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/covid-college-cases-tracker.html
Jason S. Swayze MS & Lisa A. Burke PhD, SPHR (2013). Employee Wellness Program Outcomes: A Case Study, Journal of Workplace Behavioural Health, 28, (1), 46-61. https://
doi.org/10.1080/15555240.2013.755448
Lee, S., Blake, H., & Lloyd, S. (2010). The price is right: Making workplace wellness
financially sustainable. International Journal of Workplace Health Management, 3, 5869.
Lu, H., Weintz, C., Pace, J., Indana, D., Linka, K., & Kuhl, E. (2021). Are college campuses
superspreaders? A data-driven modeling study. Computer Methods in Biomechanics and
Biomedical Engineering. DOI: 10.1080/10255842.2020.1869221
Academia Letters, July 2021
©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0
Corresponding Author: Promise Zvavahera, promisezvavahera59@gmail.com
Citation: Zvavahera, P. (2021). The safety and well-being of employees in the face of COVID-19 in a private
university. Academia Letters, Article 1828. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL1828.
4