Ford plans health screenings, temperature checks to bring office workers back beginning in June

Ford Motor expects to begin calling back salaried employees who have been working remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic beginning in late-June, executives said Thursday.

About 124,000 white-collar workers are expected to be in the “final group” of employees to return to their offices, according to Ford Chief Human Resources Officer Kiersten Robinson. She said employees will gradually return starting in late June and into early July.

Plant workers are expected to gradually return to work as early as next month as the company plans to gradually reopen its U.S. plants beginning in the second quarter. The facilities have been shut down since last month due to Covid-19.

Ford has not announced an exact start date for plants as it negotiates with the United Auto Workers union about safety and protocols.However, the company when discussing its first-quarter earnings Tuesday, said it expects the process to begin in the second quarter. General Motors and Fiat Chrysler also are in talks with the union, which has opposed an early-May reopening.  

“We want to restart as soon as we can and do it safely,” Ford Chief Operating Officer Jim Farley said Thursday during a call with media.

Farley and other executives said Thursday both groups of workers will return to work with extensive safety measures and protocols in place.

The plans include extensive cleaning; mandatory face masks and, in some cases, face shields. Employees will need to clear a pre-work health assessment and temperature checks, including thermal body scanners and handheld readers, when entering the building. Ford is also redesigning workplaces to allow for social distancing where possible.

There also will be protocols in place for how people enter and exit facilities, which can be a complicated process at large manufacturing facilities with thousands of workers on multiple shifts. The process will include audits of the facilities and staff monitoring the entering and exiting of the plants, Chief Manufacturing and Labor Affairs Officer Gary Johnson told CNBC.

The actions are similar to those being implemented by Ford at international operations in Europe and China as well as its domestic facilities currently producing ventilators and personal protection equipment.

Regarding negotiations with the union, Johnson said he feels the sides are “aligned” on what needs to be done “from a protocol standpoint” as state governments end or lessen stay-in-place or shelter-in-place orders.

“I’m confident we’re addressing everything we know now,” he said. “It’s just going through and next step and how do we go forward?”

The UAW did not immediately have a response to Ford’s comments. 

The union has cited testing and data as important factors in its members returning to work. There have been different discussions about what that would entail and whether mass testing would be available and appropriate, people familiar with the plans previously told CNBC.

Johnson said if plant employees say they have coronavirus symptoms through their pre-work questionnaire or while at the plant, the company will arrange plans for testing and the results will be available within 48 hours.

GM previously said it plans to have testing kits available at all of its U.S. plants that also would include a 48-hour or less turnaround.

Ford’s Farley said he “absolutely” would feel safe sending his family to work under the company’s new safety protocols, something the union has pressed executives to answer.

“I think our playbook is benchmark,” he said. “I completely trust the process we’ve come up with.”