More than half of UK organisations do not have formal business contingency plans in place for disaster recovery, according to research from Personnel Today’s sister publication IRS Employment Review.
The survey of 41 employers, ranging from small businesses with 35 employees to large organisations with 160,000-plus, found that just 27 currently have a written policy and procedure for dealing with an emergency.
IRS found that, in the event of a disaster, HR would be expected to take the lead in almost all organisations where formal business continuity plans were in place.
HR was seen to be in a key position to drive forward business recovery plans. Almost all said they expected HR to maintain up-to-date employee records and stay in contact with staff during and after a catastrophe.
Many of the areas that need to be covered also fit well with the general HR function, including communications, training and flexible working. But more than half the companies polled were not prepared to deal with a terrorist attack or the threat of an influenza epidemic.
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