HR Guidance for Responding to H1N1 Virus (Swine Flu)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released guidance to help employers prepare for and respond to both seasonal flu and H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu) during the upcoming flu season.
The guidance includes actions employers should take now, important elements of a flu preparedness plan, and recommended responses for the flu season. The guidance includes additional strategies to use if flu conditions become more severe and some new recommendations regarding when a worker who is ill with influenza may return to work.
The CDC recommends that all employers and employee be prepared for the flu. Employers should work with employees to develop and implement plans that can reduce the spread of flu and encourage seasonal flu and H1N1 vaccination (when that vaccine becomes available).
The CDC recommends that employers' plans 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. The World Health Organization declared a pandemic of the H1N1 virus in June 2009--the first pandemic since 1968. Across the country, there have been more than 43,000 confirmed and probable cases of H1N1 infection, including more than 5,000 people who were hospitalized and more than 300 people who died.