Go home! Keeping swine flu out of the office
October 26, 2009 by Sam NarisiPosted in: Special Report - Tech
No one wants to work around people who are sick, especial during flu season. But how many of your company’s employees would stay home if they weren’t feeling well?
In a recent survey by Mansfield Communications, 91% of employees (not surprisingly) said flu-ridden co-workers should stay home.
But most of them aren’t listening. According to the survey of more than 2,000 Americans:
- 84% said the recession creates more pressure to show up to work, even if they’re sick, and
- 47% said they’d still engage in public activities like riding the bus and going to the grocery store, even if they had swine flu.
With the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommending those with the swine flu stay home for at least seven days, some managers might be reluctant to tell workers to take time off, especially in departments that are already understaffed. That could be one reason 69% of employees haven’t heard anything about their companies’ policies regarding H1N1.
How should firms prepare? The most important step experts recommend: Get sick employees to stay home. Luckily, many jobs can still get done from an employee’s home. But companies to prepare now so the telecommuting infrastructure is in place before everyone gets sick.
Also, many businesses have started cross-training employees so that essential jobs will still get done even with several absences.
Companies can check out these online resources for flu preparedness help:
- CDC’s Communication Toolkit — Includes facts you can share with employees, health tips and sample policies.
- Flu.gov — Offers a guide for businesses and information on vaccines.
- FluTracker — Find out how big the threat is in your area.
How is your company preparing for a swine flu outbreak? Let us know in the comments below.
Tags: h1n1, sick policy, swine flu, telecommuting
October 27th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
The way I see it, these days there is another reason many employees will not stay home even if they are very sick. Many companies have very limited paid time off policies and by the end of the year, most of that time gets used, or is alocated for holidays and such. For those employees who are making just as much as they absolutely need to pay bills, taking unpaid sick days is not an option.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Still it’s selfish to come to work sick, especially when something like the swine flu is going around and many people are dying from it. Who cares if you can’t pay your credit card bills…these ought to come in as least important when it comes to swine flu. It’s not right to make other people sick just so one can pay their bills. I tell you, sometimes we ought to go back to times when whole towns were quarantined to control diseases. Seems like no one cares anymore who they pass their sicknesses on to. People will go out for the most trivial things when sick- out to eat, to the store, heck they will even send their sick, feverish kids to school only to make others’ children sick. It’s a selfish and prideful attitude that is prevalent in our society that causes sicknesses to run so rampant……..
STAY HOME
October 27th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
I have a daughter that works for a company that requires their employees to allocate their entire PTO a whole year in advance. Besides the fact that choosing your days off a year in advance is ludicrous, it does not allow for illness. So if she gets sick, she has to take time off without pay, even though she has PTO because it is allocated to specific days already. How stupid is that!
October 27th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
I think it is shameful that more companies are doing away with paid sick time due to the economy. This lack of care is what makes employees feel like they have to come to work when sick. My company gives 40 hours per year of paid sick time to employees once they have worked here for a year and it can be used at any time. We encourage that it be used for sickness, including to take care of a sick child.
October 27th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Well how is this for an example of employers NOT encouraging their employees to stay home when they are ill. FYI: We have no sick days at all. I went to my direct supervisor (the VP of the company) and explained that I didn’t feel well and if I ended up getting a fever I was going to stay home tomorrow so I didnt’ spread whatever I may be ill with around the office-60% of our employees have already missed 2 or more days from the flu since September 1. He told me he didn’t care if I was sick I was to come to work anyway. He explained that there is no excuse to miss work and I needed to “Buck Up” and take it like a man (I’m a female). I believe employers are taking advantage of their employees in the present state of our economy.
October 27th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
It’s not selfish to come to work when you are sick when it could cost you your job or you can’t afford to pay for food or heat! The company I work for has a very strict attendance policy and limited vacation days for our floor personnel. Companies, including ours, need to be more understanding in situations like this.
October 28th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
As I sit here coughing and blowing my nose I can tell you I came to work today because we run a very lean office and the one person who could back me up and process payroll is out sick because her daughter is sick. I am on antibiotics and everyone is running around behind me with a can of Lysol. I am staying in my office as much as possible and I will go home as soon as it is done. I would of preferred to have stayed home but sometimes there really is no alternative, whatever the reason may be.
to LM; your work for a really bad company and should try to find another job.
October 28th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
More “progressive” countries, such as those found in Europe, have policies that help protect an employee’s sick days, besides the fact that vacation times tend to be 2 to 3 times longer than those in the USA. While there are some employees who abuse sick days by taking it when they don’t need, there also those who get little to none, as documented in the posts above. I have a sister-in-law who has to use up PTO before she can use her sick days…..and she works in a hospital.
Company policies in the USA are the exception in first world countries, not the norm.
October 31st, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Our company has just added a new policy to react to the H1N1 epidemic. I work for a supermarket, and CEO’S are asked to send anyone home who has any cold like symtoms.
We have an online feedback program where customers can make comments to us. One customer complained about a deli clerk coughing terrible on duty. Corportate Office called the store and had her sent home. We are taking ever precaution to prevent contamination.
Our employees receive 3 personal days (they can use them however they want), any unused personal days are automaticly paid to them a week before Christmas.