While COVID-19 may have changed how you shop for your wedding gown, that's OK, we are still going to provide an exceptional experience as we help you find YOUR dress! We are committed to following safe practices set by the CDC and MDH in an effort to keep our employees and customers as safe as possible. Here are a few things to note if planning on visiting our store:
- In addition to our employees being required to wear masks, we ask that all customers come to their appointments wearing a mask as well.
- In an effort to comply with the executive order we have been asked to reduce the total number of people in our store at any given time. Therefore, we are limiting group sizes to 3 total (customer + 3 guests).
- Until further notice all merchandise pickups or steaming drop-offs will be accommodated curbside.
Please understand that due to the safety of both our staff and customers, we are unable to make exceptions for the requirements listed above. We appreciate your understanding and can't wait to see you soon!
COVID-19 Preparedness Plan for Bella Bridal Boutique May 18, 2020
Bella Bridal Boutique is committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace for all our employees and customers. To ensure we have a safe and healthy workplace, we have developed the following COVID-19 Preparedness Plan in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Managers and workers are all responsible for implementing this plan. Our goal is to mitigate the potential for transmission of COVID-19 in our workplaces and communities, and that requires full cooperation among our employees, management, and our customers. Only through this cooperative effort can we establish and maintain the safety and health of our employees and workplaces.
Management and employees are responsible for implementing and complying with all aspects of this COVID-19 Preparedness Plan. Bella Bridal Boutique managers and supervisors have our full support in enforcing the provisions of this policy.
Our employees are our most important assets. We are serious about safety and health and keeping our employees working at Bella Bridal Boutique. Employee involvement is essential in developing and implementing a successful COVID-19 Preparedness Plan. We have involved our employees in this process by addressing their concerns via email, text, and Zoom meetings during our Executive Stay at Home Order. Our COVID-19 Preparedness Plan follows Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) guidelines, and Executive Order 20-48, and addresses:
• hygiene and respiratory etiquette;
• engineering and administrative controls for social distancing;
• cleaning, disinfecting, decontamination and ventilation;
• prompt identification and isolation of sick persons;
• communications and training that will be provided to managers and workers; and
• management and supervision necessary to ensure effective implementation of the plan.
• protection and controls for pick-up, drop-off and delivery;
• protections and controls for in-store shopping;
• communications and instructions for customers.
Screening and policies for employees exhibiting signs and symptoms of COVID-19
Employees have been informed of and encouraged to self-monitor for signs and symptoms of COVID-19. The following policies and procedures are being implemented to assess employees’ health status prior to entering the workplace and for employees to report when they are sick or experiencing symptoms. Before coming into Bella Bridal Boutique, our employees are encouraged to text a manager with any health concerns that they have. Upon arriving at Bella Bridal Boutique and punching in for their shift, our employees will be required to answer a 5-question survey regarding specific COVID symptoms they might be having. If any questions are answered with a Yes response, this will be noted on a daily report that only a manager will have access to, and then the manager will make the determination to let them stay or send them home if necessary.
Bella Bridal Boutique does not provide paid sick leave. If unable to come into work, our consultants are asked that they text their manager, explain their circumstances for being unable to come into work for their shift and depending on how many days they miss, may be required to submit a Physicians note explaining their absence.
Bella Bridal Boutique has also implemented a policy for informing workers if they have been exposed to a person with COVID-19 at their workplace and requiring them to quarantine for the required amount of time. If this happens, management will email employees through BWS (Bridal Web Solutions) who may have been exposed, informing them of their exposure.
In addition, a policy has been implemented to protect the privacy of workers’ health status and health information. Health issues are not discussed with employees, and employees do not have access to employee files.
Handwashing
Basic infection prevention measures are always being implemented at our workplaces. Employees are instructed to wash their hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and water frequently throughout the day, but especially at the beginning and end of their shift, prior to any mealtimes and after using the toilet. All customers and visitors to the workplace will be required to wash or sanitize their hands prior to or immediately upon entering the facility.
Upon entering Bella Bridal Boutique, we have a separate vestibule where customers will be required to wash their hands with wipes provided by Bella Bridal Boutique before entering our store. Employees will be encouraged to wash their hands after each customer interaction and will be provided gloves if this makes them feel more comfortable.
Respiratory etiquette: Cover your cough or sneeze
Workers, customers and visitors are being instructed via emails, text messages and in store briefings, to cover their mouth and nose with their sleeve or a tissue when coughing or sneezing and to avoid touching their face, in particular their mouth, nose and eyes, with their hands. They should dispose of tissues in provided trash receptacles and wash or sanitize their hands immediately afterward.
Social distancing
Social distancing of six feet will be implemented and maintained between workers, customers and visitors in the workplace when possible, through the following controls: We have some employees that have jobs that enable them to work from home, and have been doing so since March 22, 2020. For employees that will be working in the store, we have decreased the number of appointments that we will be offering to less than 50% capacity. Each employee will be assigned to a fitting room and computer and will be responsible for cleaning these areas after any contact with a customer. We will not be taking walk in customers to help control the number of people in the store at any given time and customers with appointments will be required to wait in their cars or outside until given permission to enter the store. Upon checking out, customers will be able to stand 6’ or more from the consultant, behind a counter, to use a credit card terminal for payment. We will no longer be taking cash payments until further notice. As a result of limiting the number of appointments that we will be taking, we will also be limiting the number of employees that will be here at any given time to allow for social distancing. All appointments will be emailed with information regarding our COVID policies before coming to the store. For customers needing to pick up merchandise, this will be handled via curbside. We will not be doing try on pick up appointments in the store until further notice, to help limit additional exposure to our employees. Our store is basically an open concept and given that we will be operating at less than 50% capacity, I am confident that we can maintain social distancing. Customers picking up merchandise will be emailed a delivery contract via their phone to avoid having them come into the store and the employee will either hand the merchandise to them curbside, or the customer will be allowed to come into the vestibule of our store, to pick up their merchandise in this area without the need to enter the store. Given the fact that we will not be allowing our customers to wait in the waiting area of our store, the gathering of groups should not be an issue. Each employee will be assigned an area of the front counter with the necessary supplies needed, ie computer, phone, pens, etc. and will be responsible for cleaning them at the end of their shift. In our work environment, no one is required to ride or share a vehicle with anyone else to perform their job. We have and will continue to encourage our employees to bring any concerns to their manager or submit them via email if they are not comfortable doing this in person. Masks, gloves, sanitizing wipes and cleaners will be provided for our employees. We will be emailing all customers asking that they come with their own masks, and if they do not, masks provided by Bella Bridal Boutique will be given to them upon entering our vestibule. We will also be encouraging our customers via email and or text, to not bring anyone that may be sick. We also have a contactless thermometer for employees or customers that we could use if necessary.
Cleaning, disinfection, and ventilation
Regular housekeeping practices are being implemented, including routine cleaning and disinfecting of work surfaces, equipment, and areas in the work environment, including restrooms, break rooms, lunchrooms, meeting rooms, checkout stations, fitting rooms, and drop-off and pick-up locations. Frequent cleaning and disinfecting will be conducted in high-touch areas, such as phones, keyboards, touch screens, controls, door handles, credit card readers, delivery equipment, etc. We will have a schedule with all these tasks listed and an employee responsible for seeing that the checklist has been done each day. If there is any question about an employee or customer being COVID symptomatic, they will be asked to leave and the areas that were exposed by said person will be cleaned.
Appropriate and effective cleaning and disinfectant supplies have been purchased and are available for use in accordance with product labels, safety data sheets and manufacturer specifications and are being used with required personal protective equipment for the product. We have purchased touchless soap dispensers for each of our restrooms to decrease the potential for germs on the soap container. Sanitizing wipes and sprays have been purchased for cleaning work areas and restrooms. We are providing washable fabric masks for our employees and disposable masks for customers not wearing their own. 2 types of gloves will be provided for our employees for their protection when working with customers and or cleaning work surfaces and restrooms. Our heating/cooling system is programmable with the ability to override the system to circulate airflow. Managers would be the only employees with permission to program or set thermostats in the store and we will communicate in our Zoom meeting on Friday, 5/15/20 that this feature will not be allowed to be used with the intent of not spreading any germs that may be airborne.
Communications and training
This COVID-19 Preparedness Plan was communicated via email in BWS (Bridal Web Solutions) as well as in our Zoom meeting to all workers on Friday, 5/15/20 and copies will be available for reading during store hours. Any additional ongoing communication with employees will be through email in BWS (Bridal Web Solutions), in store briefings, emails to customers and texting to both employees and customers. Any employee not available for the Zoom meeting will be followed up with by myself, Lisa Westafer, Heather Sward, or Kirsten Walfoort. Instructions will be communicated to customers and visitors via email about: how drop-off, pick-up, delivery and in-store shopping will be conducted to ensure social distancing between the customers and workers; required hygiene practices; and recommendations that customers and visitors use face masks when dropping off, picking up, accepting delivery or in-store shopping. Customers and visitors will also be advised via emails and text messages, not to enter the workplace if they are experiencing symptoms or have contracted COVID-19. On a weekly basis, managers will be communicating either in person, via email, text or Zoom to ensure all protocols are effective and being implemented. In an ongoing effort to adhere to the policies set forth in this plan, managers and employees will be communicating and addressing changes that may become necessary in order to provide an environment that is both safe and healthy for our staff and our customers. This COVID-19 Preparedness Plan has been certified by Bella Bridal Boutique management and was posted throughout the workplace 5/15/20. This plan will be updated as necessary and it will be communicated to employees and customers via methods previously described above.
Certified by:
Lisa Westafer
Owner/Bella Bridal Boutique