In a flu epidemic, it's not the most severe cases that spread the disease. Those people stay home. It's the milder cases -- people who have the virus but are still well enough to get out and about. Those dedicated employees who feel kind of lousy -- but hate to call in sick.
Oh, that presenteeism
You know why they do it. Some are ultra-conscientious. Some don’t want to let teammates down. Others are insecure about their jobs, and are afraid nobody will miss them if they stay home.
But when folks show up sick, usually nothing good can come of it. Either they infect colleagues, or don’t get much if anything done, or both. It’s called “presenteeism,” and ultimately it's counterproductive.
Using Paid Time Off
You may want to draft an all-staff e-mail reminding people that if they’re feeling unwell, they have vacation, sick and/or personal days – whatever your organization offers – to cover the time off, and they should use them.
With top management’s approval, you might even temporarily relax your paid time off policies – for a month or so – to allow absences to exceed PTO limitations as long as the employee produces a doctor’s note.
(It’s not clear at this point whether those with swine flu would qualify for FMLA leave. DOL says only that such flu “may” amount to a serious health condition under FMLA regulations. If somebody actually comes down with swine flu, you might want to be liberal in your judgment about paid time off eligibility.)
Finally, you could consider reminding people about hygiene – for example, frequent hand-washing is recommended as a swine flu prophylactic. The government’s pandemic flu website (www.pandemicflu.gov) has recommendations for employers and downloadable flyers and posters. Simple preventive measures may have a big impact on your organization's productivity.
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