Avian Flu Pandemic Planning
As I was writing this post, I realized that Michael Fitzgibbon had a similar post a while back. Since the article is a worthy read, I'll include it anyway. This article, written by Littler attorney, Dale Deitchler, discusses the need for proper advance planning in the event of an avian flu pandemic. He notes that, should this occur, up to 40% of employees could be out sick at one time. His advice:
1. Employee relations - employers need a communicable disease policy to deal with the need to adjust benefit and time off policies to respond to a pandemic. In addition, companies must anticipate what they will do in the event employees use all of their available time and what they will do to adequately staff to get the work done.
2. OSHA - Employers must comply with OSHA when dealing with communicable diseases in the workplace.
3. Privacy - Don't forget about HIPAA's privacy requirements when dealing with employee health information.