10 Steps to Keeping the Workplace Healthy in the Height of Flu Season
KANSAS CITY (PRNewswire), March 2, 2008 - With a persistent new strain of flu affecting workers nationwide, employers may need to be more assertive to help keep the workplace healthy at the height of flu season, according to CCH, a leading provider of human resources and employment law information and services and a part of Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.
Based on a CCH Survey, about half of employers (54 percent) send workers back home if they show up for work sick. Other common approaches for discouraging sick workers on the job, according to the survey, include:
-- Educating employees on the importance of staying home when sick, used
by 40 percent of organizations;
-- Fostering a culture that discourages employees from coming to work
sick, used by 34 percent of organizations; and
-- Using telecommuting programs to allow workers to work from home, used
by 30 percent of employers to deter "presenteeism," a term used to
identify when workers come to work ill.
"With 87 percent of employers reporting that sick employees who show up for work are suffering from colds, the flu or other short-term illnesses that may be easily spread, it's apparent that companies have to get tough when it comes to telling employees to stay away," said CCH Employment Law Analyst Brett Gorovsky, JD.
"At the same time, they have to provide options that allow employees to do the right thing, such as flexible absence control policies, educating managers on handling workplace illness and making sure employees know that showing up and infecting others -- whether colleagues or customers -- is not behavior that will get rewarded," he added.
Among the suggestions CCH outlines for helping organizations maintain healthier workplaces include:
1. Offer a flu-vaccination program: 66 percent of organizations CCH
surveyed now sponsor flu-shot programs for employees, up from 61
percent in 2005.
2. Tap your employee assistance program (EAP) and healthcare support
services: Determine if they offer a hotline or web site your
employees can use to access FAQs and get guidance and information
about healthcare issues.
3. Establish and communicate guidelines: Help employees understand under
what conditions they should stay home, and when it's safe to return
to work. For example, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) estimates that individuals who get the flu may be able to
infect others from the day before their symptoms develop, to five
days after becoming sick.
4. Provide tips on how to avoid spreading germs: A good source is the
CDC web site: www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/stopgerms.htm Use
posters or offer the information on your corporate intranet.
5. Ensure absence control policies are not counterproductive: Programs
such as disciplinary action need to be assessed to ensure they don't
unnecessarily pressure sick employees to report for work.
6. Foster a healthy environment: Ensure managers are fostering an
environment in which ill employees feel comfortable asking to leave
the workplace or, better yet, not report to work in the first place.
7. Set a good example: Managers should be urged not to come in sick as
employees may then see the message to "stay at home" as lip service.
8. Work with employees and your facilities group to keep common areas
clean: Make sure these areas are cleaned regularly; this may even
include cleaning conference rooms between meetings.
9. Recognize helpful employees: Consider bonuses, rewards or other
recognition for employees who step in to help do extra work for ill
colleagues.
10. Telecommuting: Consider using, but not abusing, telecommuting; making
it an option for an employee who is improving, but is perhaps not
ready to return to work full time.
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Fourth Annual Bright Future Employment Fair
KANSAS CITY (kansascityfrontpage.com), February 10, 2008 - The City of Kansas City, MO, Youth Advocacy Office, a division of the City Manager's Office, will sponsor the fourth annual Bright Future Employment Fair on March 29 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Kansas City Convention Center, 301 W. 13th St.
Kansas City, MO, residents ages 15-22 who are interested in paid positions (full-time, part-time, seasonal, etc.) will have the opportunity to interview with a wide variety of employers.
"This program brings public and private sector employers together with the common goal of building a stronger work force for the future," City Manager Wayne A. Cauthen said. "One of the real benefits is that the candidates are pre-screened, which allows companies and government entities to select the employee that best suits their needs."
Applicants will have the opportunity to be interviewed and immediately hired by the more than 90 companies and City departments. Nearly 2,000 young people have been employed in the four years of the program.
The employment fair is sponsored by the City, the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, the Full Employment Council, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Monster and Making it Count.
Past employers include Walton Construction, AMC, Bank of America, the Kansas City Zoo and the Federal Reserve Bank.
Workshops and mock interviews for applicants will be facilitated by Making It Count, a subsidiary of the Monster Company. Human Resource professionals from organizations such as Sprint and the Diamond Network will help with the mock interviews prior to the employment fair.
Young people and employers can register for the Bright Future Employment Fair at www.kcmo.org/youth . The deadline for young people is March 1 and for employers it is March 22.
For more information, call the Youth Employment Line, (816) 513-1276. Young people also are encouraged to call the Youth Resource Line, (816) 513-1377, to hear the latest news about opportunities available through the Youth Advocacy Office.
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Global Survey Shows U.S. Employees Give Highest Marks to Their Managers
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