The H1N1, better known as the Swine Flu, is coming soon to your business.
It is critical for all businesses to be prepared as the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the swine flu strain a pandemic.
It has killed almost 1,800 people worldwide through mid-August 2009.
What is the difference between an epidemic and a pandemic? An epidemic occurs when a disease affects a greater number people than is usual for a locality or one that spreads to areas not usually associated with the disease.
A pandemic is an epidemic of world-wide proportions.
Many companies developed their first pandemic plans after the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome scare, better known as SARS, back in 2003.
Plans range from the very simple to the extremely complex, usually based on the type of business in operation or the expertise of those writing the plan.
What should be in a plan? At a minimum you should address the following: 1.
What to do with infected employees.
2.
Preparation to reduce swine flu in the workplace.
3.
When to close a facility or suspend operations.
4.
Caring for infected family members.
Infected Employees WHO has stressed that most cases of swine flu are mild and require no treatment.
The problem for employers is figuring out who has the flu without violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, as violations can result in a big fine.
Having a policy that requires mandatory reporting of exposure by an employee is a big risk.
While that risk is reduced if being infected places other employees at a high likelihood of infection (e.
g.
, those working in the medical field in close contact with others), case law is very unclear.
The better course is to avoid a mandatory reporting policy.
If an employee volunteers their medical condition, that's fine, but employers are not allowed to ask.
Most companies want employees who even think they are sick to stay home.
Some companies incent them to stay home by making sick leave available even if the company does not typically allow it or if the employee has used his allotment for the year.
The swine flu pandemic should reinforce some basic behaviors and facts for businesses: 1.
Sick employees who come to work are not as productive.
2.
Sick employees are 10 times more likely to suffer a workplace injury or to injure another person.
3.
Sick employees spread the disease to others, further impacting productivity.
4.
Employees who do not take the proper time to become well stay sick longer and further negatively impact productivity.
While certain employees might take advantage of the swine flu to get a few days off on the company's dime, you must manage to the majority of people who don't lie.
You do not want to be on the news for firing someone who has the swine flu.
Reducing the Spread of Swine Flu in the Workplace Restrict business travel to any severely impacted area.
If the Center for Disease Control (CDC) issues a warning as it did earlier this year for Mexico, stop business travel to that area.
Consider recommending that employees defer vacations to impacted areas.
Some employers tell employees returning from trips to CDC-identified hot spots that they must wait a week before returning to work.
This is pretty risky legally but is a possible strategy to reduce the chance of a swine flu outbreak at your company.
Like other strains of influenza, swine flu spreads mainly through person to person contact or by touching surfaces with the virus on it, then touching one's nose or mouth.
Make sure that you emphasize the importance of washing your hands at all times.
Provide hand sanitizer and wipes throughout your place of business.
Have frequent cleaning of common areas such as bathrooms and break rooms.
Shut off all water fountains and advise against the sharing of foods from employees' homes.
When Should You Close Your Doors? Only under the most severe conditions should a business consider suspending its operations.
Those conditions would involve a situation where working employees known to be infected with the virus could seriously risk the health of customers.
A much more likely scenario is that a business would be working with a reduced or skeleton crew that is not infected but still providing services to customers.
Identify vendors who could provide temporary workers or determine how non-essential work could be delayed because of reduced staffing levels.
Consider cross training employees to prepare for potential absences, especially if you have workers whose tasks are critical to the continued operation of the enterprise.
When Family Members of Employees Get H1N1 Employees with school-aged children may need to stay home to care for their children.
The school situation could become more critical if a school actually closes as a result of the illness thereby making the employee responsible for care of a child during the work week even though their child may not be ill.
Employers should review leave policies for the flexibility to allow employees to stay home if they need to care for their children or other household members.
If flu conditions are more severe, the guidance for school-aged children is that they should stay home for five days from the time someone in their home became sick.
This guidance, however, does not apply to adults.
An employee with an ill household member may go to work, but it is especially important that these employees monitor themselves for illness.
Businesses need to develop action plans for widespread illness such as H1N1, as well as contingencies for business disruptions caused by natural disasters and weather conditions.
(C) 2009 Jerry Ballard, Perfect People Solutions
It is critical for all businesses to be prepared as the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the swine flu strain a pandemic.
It has killed almost 1,800 people worldwide through mid-August 2009.
What is the difference between an epidemic and a pandemic? An epidemic occurs when a disease affects a greater number people than is usual for a locality or one that spreads to areas not usually associated with the disease.
A pandemic is an epidemic of world-wide proportions.
Many companies developed their first pandemic plans after the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome scare, better known as SARS, back in 2003.
Plans range from the very simple to the extremely complex, usually based on the type of business in operation or the expertise of those writing the plan.
What should be in a plan? At a minimum you should address the following: 1.
What to do with infected employees.
2.
Preparation to reduce swine flu in the workplace.
3.
When to close a facility or suspend operations.
4.
Caring for infected family members.
Infected Employees WHO has stressed that most cases of swine flu are mild and require no treatment.
The problem for employers is figuring out who has the flu without violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, as violations can result in a big fine.
Having a policy that requires mandatory reporting of exposure by an employee is a big risk.
While that risk is reduced if being infected places other employees at a high likelihood of infection (e.
g.
, those working in the medical field in close contact with others), case law is very unclear.
The better course is to avoid a mandatory reporting policy.
If an employee volunteers their medical condition, that's fine, but employers are not allowed to ask.
Most companies want employees who even think they are sick to stay home.
Some companies incent them to stay home by making sick leave available even if the company does not typically allow it or if the employee has used his allotment for the year.
The swine flu pandemic should reinforce some basic behaviors and facts for businesses: 1.
Sick employees who come to work are not as productive.
2.
Sick employees are 10 times more likely to suffer a workplace injury or to injure another person.
3.
Sick employees spread the disease to others, further impacting productivity.
4.
Employees who do not take the proper time to become well stay sick longer and further negatively impact productivity.
While certain employees might take advantage of the swine flu to get a few days off on the company's dime, you must manage to the majority of people who don't lie.
You do not want to be on the news for firing someone who has the swine flu.
Reducing the Spread of Swine Flu in the Workplace Restrict business travel to any severely impacted area.
If the Center for Disease Control (CDC) issues a warning as it did earlier this year for Mexico, stop business travel to that area.
Consider recommending that employees defer vacations to impacted areas.
Some employers tell employees returning from trips to CDC-identified hot spots that they must wait a week before returning to work.
This is pretty risky legally but is a possible strategy to reduce the chance of a swine flu outbreak at your company.
Like other strains of influenza, swine flu spreads mainly through person to person contact or by touching surfaces with the virus on it, then touching one's nose or mouth.
Make sure that you emphasize the importance of washing your hands at all times.
Provide hand sanitizer and wipes throughout your place of business.
Have frequent cleaning of common areas such as bathrooms and break rooms.
Shut off all water fountains and advise against the sharing of foods from employees' homes.
When Should You Close Your Doors? Only under the most severe conditions should a business consider suspending its operations.
Those conditions would involve a situation where working employees known to be infected with the virus could seriously risk the health of customers.
A much more likely scenario is that a business would be working with a reduced or skeleton crew that is not infected but still providing services to customers.
Identify vendors who could provide temporary workers or determine how non-essential work could be delayed because of reduced staffing levels.
Consider cross training employees to prepare for potential absences, especially if you have workers whose tasks are critical to the continued operation of the enterprise.
When Family Members of Employees Get H1N1 Employees with school-aged children may need to stay home to care for their children.
The school situation could become more critical if a school actually closes as a result of the illness thereby making the employee responsible for care of a child during the work week even though their child may not be ill.
Employers should review leave policies for the flexibility to allow employees to stay home if they need to care for their children or other household members.
If flu conditions are more severe, the guidance for school-aged children is that they should stay home for five days from the time someone in their home became sick.
This guidance, however, does not apply to adults.
An employee with an ill household member may go to work, but it is especially important that these employees monitor themselves for illness.
Businesses need to develop action plans for widespread illness such as H1N1, as well as contingencies for business disruptions caused by natural disasters and weather conditions.
(C) 2009 Jerry Ballard, Perfect People Solutions
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