- Sick employees should stay home. Businesses may need to increase flexibility in sick leave policies.
- Sick employees at work should be asked to go home. Employees who get sick at work should be separated from other workers and asked to go home until they feel better.
- Cover coughs and sneezes to help protect the spread of airborne virus particles.
- Improve hand hygiene. People should wash hands often with soap and water or use a hand sanitizer, especially after coughing or sneezing or shaking hands with someone else.
- Clean surfaces and items that are more likely to have frequent hand contact. Workstations, telephones, countertops and doorknobs should routinely be cleaned to prevent the spread of the virus.
- Encourage employees to get vaccinated. Employees should get vaccinated for the traditional seasonal influenza as well as the H1N1 influenza when it becomes available.
- Take measures to protect employees who are at higher risk for complications of influenza, including pregnant women, children ages five and under, adults and children who have chronic lung disease such as asthma, heart disease, diabetes and diseases that suppress the immune system and other chronic medical conditions, and those who are 65 years or older.
- Prepare for increased numbers of employee absences due to illness in employees and their family members, and plan ways for essential business functions to continue.
- Employers should prepare to be flexible for the likelihood of early school dismissal or temporary closure of child care programs.
Source: The Centers for Disease Control
