Sick of Being Sick: Ask HR Guy
Dear HR Guy,
Winter is upon us, and so is flu season. Last year we got hit hard, with over half the office out sick at one time or another. What can we do to keep employees healthy this year? Also, not to sound callous, but I suspect several of our employees abused the situation last year and stayed away longer than they should have - one even filed for Family and Medical Leave Act coverage! What can we do to make sure this doesn't happen again?
Regards,
Sick of Being Sick
Dear Sick,
The first thing to do is get your employees vaccinated as soon as possible. Most doctors' offices provide flu shots, and some hospitals will even make visits to offices if enough people commit to getting vaccinated. If you have a large office and this is a truly serious concern for you, consider providing an incentive to your employees - say, tell them to bring in proof of vaccination, and the department with the highest percentage of vaccinated employees gets a prize. The flu can be a serious hamper on workplace productivity, so an ounce of prevention along these lines can produce more than a few pounds of cure.
As far as abuse goes, you're in a tough spot. It's difficult to say whether an employee who stays away an extra day is being abusive, or simply cautious - and, after all, you'd rather have a still-contagious or otherwise ill worker kept away from the rest of your employees, anyway. And while FMLA abuse is a serious consideration, FMLA claims for the flu are perfectly legitimate - just ask AT&T, which terminated an employee for taking a week off because of the flu; that employee then sued and won (Miller v. AT&T (No. 2:98-0808, Southern District of West Virginia, August 9, 1999). To check abuse, require doctor's notes from all employees who spend more than a preset period of time on sick leave.
Stay well,
HR Guy
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