The Flu and You: An Employer’s Guide
By Susan Leichter RN
The average number of days an employee misses from work due to illness each year is 3.9. According to multiple studies; influenza is one of the single leading causes of employee absences and it accounts for an estimated 10 to 12 percent of overall missed work days. The “flu” is generally contagious from the day before the person notices symptoms up to seven days later. What this means to you as an employer is that by the time an employee notices the symptoms of the flu, he or she has already exposed everyone in the work place to the virus.
As an employer or Human Resource Manager, one of the number one concerns that you have on a day to day basis is staffing. During the cold and flu season this concern is greater than any other time of the year. The purpose of this article is to help you decrease the incidence of illness in your workplace which will in turn help you maintain adequate staffing during the flu season.
There are two main actions that everyone can take to prevent the flu. First, get a flu vaccine. The CDC (Center for Disease Control) recommends that everyone that is at least six months old get a flu vaccine each year. Many insurance companies will pay 100% of the cost of a flu vaccine with no deductable and no co-pay. Large chains such as Wal-Mart, Walgreens, CVS, Costco, and Target provide flu vaccines without appointments at convenient times including nights and weekends. Employers can encourage their employees to get the vaccine by offering monetary incentives such as a $20 bonus on the employee’s next check or a gift card for anyone that can prove that they have had the flu vaccine during the key months of September and October. I suggest those two months because the flu vaccine can take up to two full weeks to reach its maximum strength and you will be protected through the peak flu months of January and February.
The second main action to prevent the flu is to use preventative measures to control the spread of the virus. The flu can be spread directly to others by respiratory droplets that people exhale when sneezing, coughing, singing, laughing, talking and breathing. It can also be spread by coming in contact with the virus and then touching your eyes, mouth, or nose. Measures that can be used to prevent this transmission include: wash your hands frequently (before and after you eat, after you use the restroom and any time you come in contact with bodily fluids); use hand sanitizer in between hand washings (especially after touching phones, doorknobs, keyboards etc.); cover your mouth and nose with a Kleenex when you sneeze or sneeze into the bend of your arm; wipe down your desk and personal items at least once weekly with antibacterial wipes; and last but not least STAY HOME if you sick with a fever and a cough.
Following the two main actions above can help you achieve a healthier working environment for you and your employees. It can also decrease the incidence of spreading the flu at both work and home and save you money on lost labor. Show your employees you care about their health by implementing a flu prevention program at your business.
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