Containment of swine flu at work and school difficult photo:geniusreviews.org

Corporate sick-leave policies need to change in light of a pending H1N1 pandemic, a CDC official says

“If we bring sick people into the workplace,” she said, “they are likely to infect others.”said Lisa Koonin a senior adviser to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. TwinCities.com

The gung-ho policy of coming to work sick or not will have to change quickly to stop the spread of the swine flu epidemic expected to happen shortly said officials at University of Minnesota summit of experts.

Employees and employers need to re-think how dangerous this is in the spread of the virus and move towards a containment strategy of staying home when we feel ill.

In particular, Koonin told employers to stop requiring sick workers to obtain doctors’ notes. The requirement not only discourages sick workers from staying home, she said, it distracts doctors with paperwork when they are busy with flu patients.

But Harvard researchers collected surveys of businesses that indicate nearly 70 percent required doctors’ notes. Only 10 percent had plans to soften those policies during a serious outbreak. TwinCities.com

While the whole story of how swine flu spreads is still a mystery, the CDC says that a person with swine flu is contagious for seven days.

In the story, only 10% of companies said they planned to change their sick leave policies.

Maintaining the status quo will increase the spread of the swine flu in schools and businesses. Other students, employees and customers are easily infected when someone with the swine flu only stays home for the two or three worst days.

Time will tell if people can act beyond short-term self-interest.