|
|
 |
Federal Guidelines Encourage Employers to Plan Now for Upcoming
Influenza Season
Recommendations Range from Encouraging Hand Washing to Allowing Some
Employees to Stay Home
Department of Commerce (DOC) Secretary Gary Locke, Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and
Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced
new guidance for businesses to plan for and respond to the upcoming
flu season.
The guidance, released by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), is designed to help employers prepare now for the
impact that seasonal and 2009 H1N1 influenza could have this fall
and winter on their employees and operations.
Employers’ plans should address such points as encouraging employees
with flu-like symptoms or illness to stay home, operating with
reduced staffing, and possibly having employees who are at higher
risk of serious medical complications from infection work from home,
according to the CDC guidance.
It is not known whether the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus will cause
more illness or more severe illness in the coming months, but the
CDC recommends that everyone be prepared for influenza. Because
seasonal and 2009 H1N1 influenza pose serious health threats,
employers should work with employees to develop and implement plans
that can reduce the spread of flu, and to encourage seasonal flu
vaccination as well as H1N1 vaccination when that vaccine becomes
available.
Secretary Locke suggested businesses set the right tone in the
workplace. That means implementing common sense measures to reduce
the risk of spreading the flu and encouraging workers who are sick
to stay home.
“The President has mobilized the federal government to get America
prepared,” DOC Secretary Locke said. “But government can’t do it
alone. For this effort to be successful, we need the business
community to do its part.” Making the right decisions will not only
improve public health, it also has the potential to protect economic
productivity: Employees who are sick and stay home will not spread
the flu in the workplace.
“This new guidance will help our private sector partners continue to
prepare for the upcoming flu season to keep our economy functioning
and our critical infrastructure secure,” said DHS Secretary
Napolitano. “Ensuring business continuity is important to our
cooperative efforts to keep Americans safe.”
There are many actions that can be taken to help reduce the spread
of flu. The guidance notes the importance of using these actions,
including regular and frequent hand washing and routine cleaning of
commonly touched surfaces.
“One of the most important things that employers can do is to make
sure their human resources and leave policies are flexible and
follow public health guidance,’’ said HHS Secretary Kathleen
Sebelius. ``If employees are sick, they need to be encouraged to
stay home. If people begin to experience flu-like symptoms at work,
they should be sent home and possibly encouraged to seek medical
treatment.’’
Employers should review sick leave policies and ensure employees
understand them, according to the guidance. Employers should try to
make sick leave policies flexible for workers who may have to stay
home with ill family members or if a child’s school is closed, the
CDC says.
Employers should consider offering vaccine against seasonal flu, and
encourage employees to be vaccinated against seasonal and H1N1 flu,
the guidance says.
Employers also might cancel non-essential face-to-face meetings and
travel, and space employees farther apart, the report says. And
employees who are at higher risk for flu complications might be
allowed to work from home or stay home if the flu is severe, it
says.
“Keeping our nation’s workers safe is a top priority,” said Deputy
Secretary of Labor Seth Harris, who participated in the
announcement. “Faced with a renewed H1N1 challenge during the coming
flu season, we are developing tools that will help ensure America’s
workers stay healthy and our businesses remain viable.”
For more information, visit www.flu.gov.
|
