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Why the H1N1 Virus Matters to You
Flu season brings new challenges to employers (and production) this year. Do you have a response plan?
by Catherine Banich
October 23, 2009
The impact the H1N1 virus will have on
businesses this year has the potential to be far reaching. Some medical professionals have
recommended that people with flu-like symptoms should remain home for seven full days to help
prevent the spread of the virus. But the extent the virus spreads through a business will depend in
large measure on the steps that organization takes to reduce that spread.
Employees are
looking to their employers for guidance on how to reduce the risk of spreading the H1N1 infection.
Yet the Society of Human Resource Managers reports that nearly 70 percent of responding workers
reported they had received no communication from their employers about workplace policies as they
relate to the H1N1 virus. In this challenging economic environment, where companies and their
employees are doing more with less, the most important thing a business can do to stop the spread
of the virus and minimize disruption is to adopt, communicate and implement a pandemic flu response
plan.
A flu response plan should contain measures to prevent the spread of the virus among
co-workers and provide contingency arrangements so business operations can continue in the face of
employee absences. Such a policy should identify key employees, business operations and supply
chains as well as contain a contingency plan in case supply chains are interrupted or key employees
or large numbers of employees are absent.
Consider a more flexible sick leave policy that allows employees to telecommute, create
staggered shifts and distance themselves from one another in the workplace. The policy should
include a method for tracking the beginning and end of a flu outbreak in the workplace by, among
other things, reporting and tracking absentee numbers.The specifics of your company's policy should
be developed with information provided by the CDC and local health officials. For current flu
conditions, the CDC recommends that employers:
* Provide alcohol-based hand cleaners and tissues
* Separate employees who become sick and ask them to go home
* Routinely clean surfaces that receive hand contact
* Prepare for employees to stay home while ensuring essential business functions can
continue
* Encourage employees to be vaccinated against the flu
The CDC also recommends that companies advise their employees to:
* Stay home for at least 24 hours after they are fever-free without the use of
fever-reducing medications
* Cover their coughs and sneezes
* Wash hands frequently
* Contact their health care providers
Once established, communicate the policy to employees in a manner that ensures the
information is received and understood by the employees. The effective training of front-line
managers and supervisors also is important so they can anticipate, prevent and respond to issues
created by absenteeism due to illness.
In the event that the H1N1 virus or seasonal flu becomes more severe at your workplace, the
CDC recommends screening employees for flu symptoms when they arrive at work, extending the time
that sick employees stay home from 24 hours to 7 days after they are fever-free and canceling
non-essential meetings and travel.
More than anything else, sick employees should be encouraged to stay at home, particularly
if the work culture otherwise creates an expectation that employees will work when they are sick.
Whatever incremental amount of productivity is saved by having a sick worker report for duty will
surely be lost if that one person infects several other employees.
Catherine Banich is an attorney at Stites & Harbison, PLLC, a regional law firm with
offices in Atlanta where she concentrates on Employment Law and Business Litigation. She can be
reached at
cbanich@stites.com.
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