Flu Prevention--Mostly Common Sense, but Do Your Benefits Policies Support It?

The Chicago Tribune's cover of the Sunday business section has a story, like dozens we're seeing now, about Firms bracing for a rash of flu absences. While I hope the H1N1 flu season doesn't prove to be much worse than a typical flu season, most companies (and certainly the major media) are already assuming the worse.

What struck me from this Tribune article was the prevention advice: 

Tips for H1N1 flu prevention and treatment

-- Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.

-- Wash your hands often with soap and water, or use alcohol-based sanitizers, especially after you cough or sneeze.

-- Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth to limit the spread of germs.

-- Avoid close contact with sick people.

-- If sick, stay home for seven days after your symptoms begin or until you have been symptom-free for 24 hours, whichever is longer.

-- Follow public health advice regarding school closings, avoiding crowds and other social-distancing measures.

-- Get both the seasonal and H1N1 flu vaccinations, when available. This is especially important for pregnant women, caregivers to infants and health care personnel.

-- If you contract swine flu, talk to your doctor about antiviral medications Tamiflu and Relenza, which can lessen the duration and severity of the illness.

-- For more information visit flu.gov.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Pretty much all common sense, right? The first 5 tips especially are behaviors that make sense ALL the time--not just when there's a pandemic. But, no matter how much the CDC says it, and no matter how much we all know it makes sense, how many people actually stay home when they are sick? (Let alone for seven days!?!!?)

This isn't all about company policy (it is also a lot about individual choices) but, there are a ton of benefit programs and policy factors at play here--time off programs, sick leave, coverage for preventive care, short-term disability policies, family leave, access to child care, the list goes on and on. A company can't be successful with the message "please stay home when you're sick" if they don't have the policies, business process and culture that allow for that.

While many companies have moved from separate sick, holiday and vacation banks to one single "Paid time off" for flexibility, those policies may unintentionally encourage people to work when they are sick. Would you rather come into the office with the sniffles or take a day off of your upcoming vacation to Maui?

What if furloughs have drained people's vacation and PTO banks this year? How will you encourage workers to stay home when they're sick if they are going to have to take a pay cut to do it? Do your policies support parents who may need to stay home with sick kids?

And, what about hourly and low-wage workers? How do you encourage them to take time off if being sick for a week may mean not being able to make rent that month?

Think about the business culture too. Do the work requirements of a specific line of business set the expectation that no one can ever miss a day? How many knowledge workers still come into the office when they're sick even though they have laptops and cell phones, because they don't have a good relationship with their manager? How many managers don't really understand the time off and benefit policies in the first place?

Lots of questions and no easy answers. And, much at stake as we know the cost of lost productivity and absenteeism. As you plan for the flu season, look deeper--beyond common sense communication and business planning--are your benefits programs, policies and business culture truly supporting the health of your workforce this flu season? Or, are they discrediting your message and encouraging exactly the opposite behaviors you need?

Editor's Note - Jennifer Benz is founder and chief strategist at Benz Communications, a boutique consulting firm that focuses on employee benefits communication. You can reach her at jen@benzcommunications.com or via Twitter @jenbenz. 

Comments

[Margaret O'Hanlon]

Great, practical insights that we should all consider closely. Will your company help people cope, or just repeat your existing policies?

I met someone at a recent conference who went back home to Australia and promptly came down with the swine flu. He was in bed for a week and feeling a bit weak after that. Apparently, this is the reality of the flu.

If your company culture encourages people to work sick, you'll not only have more people catching the bug, some may end up with lingering medical problems. You can have a communications campaign ready now (and kept in your back pocket) that will help shift employee behaviors by explaining how to make the most judicious use of their sick time options.

[twitter.com/benefitsmstuart]

At my organization, we offer a regular PTO bank (vacation, sick, holidays) and an Extended Illness Bank (EIB). EIB is to be used for extended personal illness or injury. The first three consecutive missed days of work come out of PTO and then you may begin using EIB time for the remainder of the same illness/injury. It helps take the bite out of a flu-type situation.

[Kay O'Brien]

Lots of great questions to consider. We offer short-term disability if someone runs out of sick leave. But some employees could really help out by reserving sick leave for when they (or their family) are actually sick, rather than calling out because they have a hangover, or their football team lost, or they need a mental health day or it's 80 degrees and sunny or whatever.

Just saying. :)

[BrownBomber]

Good Information. My present employer sent out an E-Mail regarding excused sick leave for H1N1 and posted a flyer regarding H1N1 prevention. In the E-mail, it presented itself as if it would forgive an employee if they took time off for illness due to being diagnosed with H1N1 but no official policy changes went into effect. This of course, sub-consciously deters employees from taking sick leave due to the strict attendance policy. (Catch 22) I am quite sure some employers use occurences like this to their advantage to terminate undesirables if too much time is taken off from work, whom otherwise may not be subject to discipline.

[fran melmed]

jen, i think you raise really great questions about how policies support or detract from their intent. one thing i wanted to point out about the guidelines from the article, the cdc guidelines now support staying home 24 hours after a fever breaks, not after all symptoms disappear. obviously, this does not alter your main point -- just adds some assurance that last year's strict guidelines in reaction to h1n1's appearance have been adjusted. business guidelines are available at http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/business/guidance.

f

[Jennifer Benz]

Thanks, all, for the great comments and feedback. Clearly a topic we are all thinking about a lot right now!

Fran -- Thanks for the update on the guidelines!

[Michael Haberman, SPHR]

Another question? How do you deal with this in terms of FMLA? Does it meet the standard? "a period of incapacity requiring absence of more than three calendar days from work, school, or other regular daily activities that also involves continuing treatment by (or under the supervision of) a health care provider" Probably so. If you are out 7 days is that all getting recorded. Have you sent all the paperwork?

Going to be a busy time for HR.

[Ron Tredway, SPHR]

Jen, I concur with your comments regarding prevention, and believe a lot of our HR colleagues are applying these basic principles of prevention. I even suggest using the 'poster' developed by Homeland Security for small business, which is linked from the CDC website.

I believe the questions you've raised are helpful, although perhaps the easy part. The hard part is finding meaningful answers that fit the organization in a non-discriminating, consistent manner, such as Mike's point on FMLA.

Practical solutions to these tough questions by the readers would be most helpful, as we continue to encourage shared best practice across the profession.