Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
The flu is spreading like wildfire! So, is a flu-caused absence protected under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)? Calling Out Sick Here’s a typical scenario: Employee is off for four days. He calls in and says he has the flu. He returns to work. The company has an absence control policy. The question: […]
Employers worried about the safety of employees and clients, especially during the annual flu season, have moved toward implementing vaccination policies in the workplace. At the time of this writing, health officials are warning that early 2024 could evolve into a “tri-demic” as the flu, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) spread at the same […]
The long-awaited COVID-19 vaccine’s arrival has provided a ray of sunshine for employers hoping for a better 2021. But it also raised a slew of questions: How long until my workforce has access to it? Can I require all employees to be vaccinated? What if an individual worker refuses? Let’s look at the reasoning behind […]
The 2018–2019 flu season was the longest the United States experienced in a decade. It lasted 21 weeks, with a total of 42.9 million people falling ill. Unfortunately, health experts fear that the 2019–2020 flu season could be even worse.
The arrival of cooler temperatures signals the coming of fall—and the coming of flu season. No one likes to feel sick, but employers face the added burden of illnesses spreading throughout the organization, which amplifies and prolongs the problem and increases the amount of productivity lost to illness each season.
It’s hard to imagine, but flu season is almost upon us once again. Today we are joined by Jocelyn Sivalingam, M.D., F.A.C.P., and Medical Director at West’s Health Advocate Solutions to discuss the flu.
Many healthcare providers in North Carolina have instituted policies requiring their employees who have patient contact to receive the flu vaccine each year. Such policies will typically include a process by which an employee can object to receiving the vaccine based on religious beliefs or medical concerns, such as an allergy to the vaccine’s ingredients. […]
If an employee comes to work sick (as in the flu, fever, vomiting, etc.), do we have the right to send that employee home and make them use their Paid Time Off (PTO)? Or are we obligated to paying a sick employee if we decide to send them home?
It’s bad enough that flu can make people miserable and hamper an employer’s operations, and it may be even worse when employees decide to power through and come to work sick, thereby spreading the misery. But besides dealing with the illness, employers have legal and policy issues to consider, including whether they can require employees […]
Trying to avoid cold and flu in the workplace has reached desperate levels, as nearly half of people surveyed would give up a vacation day to a sick worker to ensure they don’t bring illness to the workplace, according to the seventh annual cold and flu season survey from Staples.