10 Action Items against the H1N1 aka Swine Flu Threat

HR Advisor feature article | May 2009

The World Health Organization (WHO) has been coordinating the global response to cases of influenza A (H1N1) – popularly known in the news as swine flu – as well as monitoring the possible threat of an influenza pandemic.

There likely have been many conversations already among your employees about this situation and how it may affect the workplace. To prepare your company for a potential pandemic, consider any combination of the following actions items to help protect the health of your employees and the continued operations of your business:

1. Designate a company representative as the primary contact to address any employee questions or concerns.
2. Establish a communications plan with your employees as well as your vendors and suppliers.
3. Immediately send home employees who may have come down with flu-like symptoms in the course and scope of work. Also, consider contacting your workers’ compensation administrator regarding these potential employee cases.
4. Avoid disciplining or retaliating against employees who refuse to work or come to work if reasonable health risks exist in the workplace.
5. Be flexible with your attendance and leave policies and how they may apply to affected employees, including employees who may have infected family members.
6. Arrange for your workers to work remotely by telecommuting and / or conducting web-conferences.
7. Develop or update the company’s travel policies. Monitor and even restrict employees’ travel plans for scheduled meetings, trade shows, conferences, and other events to any of the identified high-risk areas.
8. Review and update as you see fit the company’s benefits insurance policies such as short-term disability or salary continuation.
9. Develop or update the company’s health and safety policies including any injury and illness prevention plan in place.

Develop or review the company’s emergency preparedness response plan. Be sure to determine how to manage operations and communication in case you lose direct access to company facilities. 

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