Naturally one of the ways to prevent the spread is for sick people to stay home. However, in a recession employees are going to be extra sensitive to things that might make them seem to be "expendable." They will try to show their work ethic by coming to work sick, hoping this will show the boss that they are hard workers and loyal and thus should be retained. And some bosses will expect this. Unfortunately this is short-sighted on the part of both parties.
Employees that come to work sick run the risk of making everyone sick and thus having a more detrimental effect on the workplace than if they had just stayed out and recovered. Bosses who expect employees to "suck it up" and "give one for the team" are poor managers. How many managers are prepared to deal with a "pandemic of flu" that wipes out their workforce? Well you should be prepared. Here is a link to a website for dealing with pandemics in the workplace.
The early symptoms of swine flu are early nausea and high fever. If you feel any of these symptoms don't be a "hero", stay home! If you are a boss make sure you let your employees know that if they are sick they are to stay home.
What plans do you have in place?
3 comments:
Mike,
Very good post and extremely important for folks to read and understand. Thanks for the link to the pandemic website which, for employers who have not already prepared an action plan, is vital information.
Here's hoping this will fizzle out before becoming a crisis.
Greg
Managers...PAY ATTENTION!! Excellent post Mike!
Managers need to bypass "managing" in this situation and lead. There are folks in workplaces that are especially vulnerable to this (and other)type of infection who may appear healthy - kidney transplant recipients, former open hear patients, etc. Don't take anything for granted.
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