Seasonal Flu Information

Employers should prepare their workplaces and employees to fight the flu. Consider these “common sense” measures:

• Encourage employees to wash their hands and cover their coughs and sneezes.
• Tell employees that if they are sick they should stay home to recover and not spread the infection to other workers.
• Telecommuting can be an option for employees who are under the weather but still able to work.
• Make sure essential positions are backed up; if the entire accounting department is home sick, does your company have a plan in place to cover their work?
• Update your emergency contact list so that you can check in on employees who don’t report to work.
• Examine your leave policies. Many organizations using paid-time-off (PTO) banks find their employees are unwilling to use PTO for sick days, preferring to save the days for vacation. “Are your policies encouraging people to come to work sick?”
• Tell managers to model the behavior they want their employees to follow. If managers are coming to work sick, then employees will feel pressured to do so as well.
• Employees who must travel should make sure that flu activity is low in their destinations, and be prepared with masks, hand sanitizer and the knowledge of where to go if they get sick during their trip.

Most importantly, take the flu seriously. Flu can be dangerous and even life-threatening to people with chronic conditions, such as asthma and diabetes. “Don’t blow this off as if it were a head cold.  Visit the Center for Disease Control and Prevention web site for more information.