“I think they saw the writing on the wall and they
wanted to protect their residents. I was surprised
by how quick it was. We didn’t really have a
chance to prep the staff, so it was really a shock.”
– TRUDY SMITH, Spa Manager, The Spa at Kilaga Springs
a local customer base of senior citizens and retirees. Given
that both age and underlying health issues are significant
risk factors for severe COVID-19 symptoms, the community
responded quickly to the growing pandemic.
“On March 12, I got a call from the management team
at Sun City Lincoln Hills that they had decided to close
[the community] on March 13,” says Spa Director Trudy
Smith. There was virtually no time to react, and Smith was
admittedly surprised by the sudden closure. “I think they
saw the writing on the wall and they wanted to protect
their residents,” Smith notes. “We didn’t really have a
chance to prep the staff, so it was really a shock.”
Immediately, Smith started making decisions necessary
to the financial stability of the spa. She furloughed her
staff of 22 service providers but kept on a few front-desk
staff to assist with phone calls and cancellations, then to
help ready the facility for closure. Once their work was
done, however, Smith had to reduce the staff further—at
the time of the interview, it was just her and one other
employee. Like many spa directors, Smith had to choose
between furloughs and lay-offs, a choice which was influenced
by local and state regulations. Smith says that
she furloughed staff to enable them to use any vacation
and/or sick time so that they remained paid as long as
possible, while also being able to collect unemployment
benefits. This decision was made after consulting with the
spa’s HR management service, ADP TotalSource.
Before the final reduction in staff, however, Smith and
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