Good Advice: Dealing With H1N1 in the Workplace

The folks over at Benefit Buzz published some good advice and raised alot of questions on dealing with the Swine Flu in your employee population. So I direct you to Flu Prevention: Mostly Common Sense but do your benefit policies support it. Make sure you read the comments as well. Some very good information in there. I raised the issue that this will most likely be a FMLA event for many of you. Are you handling paperwork on a timely basis? Busy time.

Another issue may be your "continuity" plan. Who is in place to do the work? Are people crosstrained? If not how are you going to fill the gaps? All very good things to prepare for.

Stay healthy!

Is Lack of Training Going to Cost Your Company?

The Wall Street Journal Online today had a report on the Buffalo crash of the Colgan commuter plane that killed 50 people. The article, "Captain's Training Faulted In Air Crash That Killed 50" , indicated the pilot had been poorly trained, had failed many tests, yet the company put him back in the air. A very costly mistake. You would not think that companies would do this, yet it probably happens more often than we think.

In fact most companies make this mistake. We put supervisors and managers in positions of responsibility often with little or no training. Few have training in employment law, or labor law, or safety law, or proper interviewing or how to conduct a legal termination. We let them rely on their HR "co-pilot" to keep them out of trouble. Well that is a big mistake. They need to have a much better understanding of their duties and responsibilities in case HR is not around. Sometimes HR cannot correct a mistake that could have been prevented.

So train your supervisor and managers. Although the mistakes they make may not cost lifes they will cost money and time and possibly livelihoods. Ongoing training will often prevent a "crash and burn" incident.

BTW, the co-pilot in this deadly crash was sick and should not have been at work. Another reason to enforce rules about staying home when you cannot perform, e.g., when you have the flu.

How the Recession Will Make the Swine Flu Worse

The U. S. Government has declared a public healthy emergency with the outbreak of swine flu. The CDC has some guidelines and more information about the swine flu. You can find that here.

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?