Developing people to their full potential
Swine Flu
05/05/2009
When the recession is uppermost in employers’ minds and just as employees’ absences due to winter colds and normal ‘flu have subsided, along comes swine ‘flu. MDN Fusion Ltd cannot advise on medical matters, however the following points may be of some general HR assistance:
• The Health Protection agency web site at www.hpa.org.uk or the Government web site at www.direct.gov.uk have general advice and up to date news on the disease. The Business Link site at www.businesslink.gov.uk has specific advice for businesses.
• If you have a Health & Safety Committee or Safety Representatives
they should be consulted.
• With effective line management and absence management as part of your culture, you should be in a position to make informed staffing and operational decisions.
• You probably have a statutory obligation to give a few days' leave of
absence if employees need to care for their family who have the ‘flu.
• Even if your terms and conditions do not have an explicit reserved
right to send employees home if they appear to be sick, particularly in a pandemic it can be implied so that the rest of the workforce is protected from a potential source of infection.