Why Swine Flu H1N1 Should Matter to Employers

By Susan M. Heathfield

Employers have a legal obligation to provide a safe, disease-free workplace for employees. Consequently, you need to take proactive steps to prevent the potential spread of any contagious disease, including Swine Flu H1N1, in your workplace. Employers also need to address business continuity in the event that a Swine Flu H1N1 outbreak affects the ability of your employees to come to work.
Even if current speculation about the spread of swine flu (Influenza A virus, H1N1) in pandemic proportions proves wrong, a workplace plan for employee health and safety and business continuity, in the event of any disaster or contagious disease, makes good business sense.

Swine Flu: What Makes Swine Flu a Concern to Employers?

Swine flu (Influenza A virus, H1N1) is the latest contagious disease predicted to potentially reach pandemic status. Swine flu differs from normal seasonal influenza, to which many employees have developed some immunity. Because vaccine is available to combat expected annual flu strains, some employees have obtained flu shots to prevent contagion.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of the United States Department of Labor, describes the difference between seasonal flu and a potentially pandemic flu: "pandemic influenza refers to a worldwide outbreak of influenza among people when a new strain of the virus emerges that has the ability to infect humans and to spread from person to person. During the early phases of an influenza pandemic, people might not have any natural immunity to the new strain; so the disease would spread rapidly among the population."

A vaccine is not currently available for swine flu H1N1, and might not be available for many months following the onset of the disease. This is partially why workplaces need to prepare for a potentially devastating impact should swine flu H1N1 reach pandemic proportions.

OSHA predicts the following potential impacts on the workplace.

• Absenteeism and Swine Flu: A pandemic flu outbreak could affect as much as 40% of your workforce during periods of peak swine flu infection. You may experience severe absenteeism. Employees may be absent because they are sick or because they must care for sick family members.
  
  Schools and daycare centers may close so parents will need to tend their children in the home. Even if daycare centers remain open when schools are closed, daycare centers will not accept potentially infected children from closed schools.
  
  Some employees may be afraid to come to work for fear of catching the swine flu H1N1, especially employees with weaker immune systems who easily become sick. Sadly, in a worst case scenario, some employees and their family members could die.
  
  You need a plan for how you will deal with the serious increases in absenteeism you will experience during any contagious disease outbreak.
• Presenteeism and Swine Flu: Employees come in to work sick. “We all know what it feels like to have the flu – you’re not operating at 100 percent, you may not even be operating at 50 percent,” said CCH Employment Law Analyst Brett Gorovsky, JD. “The bottom line for most organizations is that it’s in everyone’s best interest for sick workers to simply stay away, even in normal times.”
  
  “Employers need to discourage both the ‘hero employee’ – and even more so, the ‘hero boss’ – who try to muddle their way through the day when they shouldn’t,” said Gorovsky. “Employees are sensitive to the differences between what management says and what it means, and when they see their supervisors coming in sick, they’re convinced that’s what’s expected of them also.”
  
  How an employer deals with a sick employee who is showing signs of illness in the workplace is tricky. Technically, you can ask the employee to leave work and not return without a fitness for duty note from a physician. This option is apt to create unhappy employees, potential lawsuits, and charges of discrimination if not handled appropriately and similarly across your workplace. Consult an attorney as to the appropriate steps to follow. Consider publishing a policy about what sick employees can expect from the employer if they come to work with symptoms of contagious illness.
• Potential Commerce Disruption and Swine Flu: Both your customers and your suppliers may also be experiencing the affects of swine flu H1N1 infection. Just as your ability to produce your product or service will be affected, so will theirs. You may experience reduced sales and revenue and an inability to ship or receive supplies and parts in a timely manner. At the same time, you will have fewer employees on your end to deal with any of these issues.

In 2007, the CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey revealed that only 27% of companies reported that they had a plan in place in the event that a large percentage of employees become ill. This was almost a 100-percent increase over 2006, when only 14% of companies surveyed had such plans, however, it still represented just over one in four organizations. This is shortsighted in the event of a pandemic.

Want to know the swine flu prevention steps for employers and employees? Here are steps for preventing the spread of swine flu.

Recommended Steps to Address Swine Flu H1N1 Prevention in Your Workplace

These swine flu prevention steps are recommended for the employer to prepare for and manage a potential swine flu H1N1 contagion in the workplace.

• Communicate to your employees the steps you are taking to prevent the spread of swine flu or other communicable diseases in your workplace. It is important that employees understand that you are monitoring the spread of the swine flu and protecting their interests.
• Educate your employees about swine flu, the symptoms, and the potential medical treatments. Inform employees to wash their hands frequently and to use material or tissue to cover their mouth and nose when they cough or sneeze. Dispose of tissues in containers lined with plastic bags. Post this information about swine flu in employee break rooms and distribute via email.
• Stay up-to-the-minute by accessing current information from state, local, and federal authorities and sharing it with employees.
• Form a business continuity team to determine what steps must be taken in advance of a pandemic to assure your organization’s continuing ability to serve customers.
  
  --Identify the key employees and business processes that must continue to operate and form a backup plan for their continuance.
  --Develop an emergency communication plan.
  --One component of the plan must enable employees to telework if your company encourages telecommuting or closes to interrupt the spread of the disease. Consider staggered work shifts to minimize contact.
  --Another component should involve backup strategies for serving customers when employees are absent from work. Cross-training in jobs that must be done on premise, such as shipping, is also recommended.
• Encourage sick employees to stay home from work. In fact, develop an organization culture that persuades employees to stay home when they are sick, rather than coming in to work and infecting coworkers. Make sure your managers are setting the example and remaining home from work when illness or symptoms appear.
  
  Make sure your sick leave policy encourages employees who have influenza-related symptoms (e.g., fever, headache, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle aches, or upset stomach) to stay home so that they do not infect other employees. Recognize that employees with ill family members may need to stay home to care for them and certain cases may be covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
• Encourage employees to frequently wipe down their work areas, light switches, door handles, phone receivers, and touched objects with sanitizing wipes.
• Develop practices that distance employees from each other, customers and the general public. Consider minimizing face-to-face contact between employees by using email, websites and teleconferences. Minimize employee travel.
• Provide convenient access to health and safety information and equipment such as sanitary wipes, tissue paper, and plastic garbage bags.
• Ask custodial or cleaning staff and services to disinfect all surfaces in the workplace daily.

 

Recommended Steps for Employees for Prevention of Swine Flu H1N1 in Your Workplace

These swine flu prevention steps are recommended for the employees to prepare for and work during a potential swine flu H1N1 contagion in the workplace.

• Stay home if you are experiencing illness or any of the above mentioned symptoms of flu.
• Practice sanitary personal habits. Wash your hands frequently and cover your mouth and nose with tissue or a handkerchief when you sneeze or cough. Place used tissues in plastic-lined garbage cans.
• Wipe down your work areas frequently including light switches, door handles, phone receivers, and touched objects with sanitizing wipes.
• Maintain a distance of three feet between yourself and your coworkers to discourage the spread of swine flu and other contagious diseases.
• Don’t use or touch the equipment or tools of other employees.
• Limit your contact with other employees and the public maintaining a distance when possible. Use email, teleconferencing and telecommuting to inhibit the spread of the disease. Do not shake hands or touch in greeting until the spread of swine flu H1N1 has dissipated.

Prevention is key in weathering a bout with contagious illness. These actions by both employer and employees will help prevent the spread of swine flu.

Additional Resources for Dealing With Swine Flu H1N1 Prevention in Your Workplace

• Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for an Influenza Pandemic
• Each state has a website designed specifically to provide pandemic flu information. Add your state’s name to the end of the following Web address: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/.
• Here is a swine flu H1N1 map of the spread of the disease in the United States, by About.com’s Vince Ianelli.

A special thank you to Wolters Kluwer Law & Business for part of this information.