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Sick Leave
Policy vs.
CDC Recommendation |
Renee Bucklin
Bucklin Human & Administrative Resources
401.885.3569
www.bucklinhr.com
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Below is an article on sick
leave policy modification in response to the current
situation with the H1N1 “pandemic.” Please feel free to
share it with your clients/business partners.
The RI Department of Health has recommended that
companies review their sick leave policies in
preparation for flu-related absenteeism, which may
adversely impact your business. It is suggested that
companies consider cross-training employees so they can
fill in where absenteeism has become a problem, and that
they review options for telecommuting.
Managers should be trained about how not to share
employee absence information, in conjunction with
privacy issues. Federal laws, including the Americans
With Disabilities Act, prohibit revealing health
information about any employee.
I am available to help review your policy(ies), suggest
modifications and assess your overall current human
resource policy compliance. Feel free to visit my
website (www.bucklinhr.com)
for a complete overview of all the services that my
company provides. |
Most companies with formal
sick leave policies include a requirement that an
employee who has been out ill for three days bring in a
doctor’s note affirming their ability to return to their
job. This, in theory, protects the employer’s workers
from potentially contagious employees making others ill.
In addition, the note tells the employer that the
employee is able to perform their job, unless otherwise
restricted. Of course, it also proves to the employer
that the employee was, indeed, out due to illness.
Due to the H1N1 situation, however, the Center for
Disease Control (CDC) is recommending that the
stipulation requiring a doctor’s note be waived for
those with flu-like symptoms. CDC does recommend that
people do not return to work until they have been
symptom-free for 24 hours. Their rationale is that
doctors’ offices will be overwhelmed with requests for
these notes, possibly when they haven’t even seen the
patient during the illness. (Some industries, such as
healthcare, childcare and education, should not waive
the requirement to ensure the safety and health of their
employees and clients.)
A lawyer in NJ disagrees, however. Marvin Goldstein,
with Proskauer Rose LLP in Newark, says that the
opposite should be true, and that employers should
become more stringent, because sick employees who come
to work could spread the illness and worsen the
pandemic. One of his clients even instituted a policy
that anyone coming to work with the flue could be
terminated!
However, some employers who decide not to comply with
CDC recommendations should so notify employees.
“Companies should carefully consider possible employee
relations fallout from going against the CDC’s
recommendation on doctors’ notes, pointed out Stephen
Woods, an Ogletree Deakins attorney in Greenville, S.C.
Woods said that whether a company decides to waive the
requirement may depend on how widespread the H1N1 flu is
in an employer’s area and how strong the related strain
on the health care system is. But he said, ‘Most
employers should suspend their ‘doctor’s note’
requirement for H1N1 absences, given the CDC’s position
on this.’” (www.shrm.org;
10/13/09) The employer should be up-front about their
decision, and explain why they choose a more
conservative approach, i.e. health and safety of
co-workers and clients, as well as continued operation
of the business.
A couple of options that a company can use:
1. Have an employee sign a form confirming that they did
have the flu but were unable to provide written
documentation clearing them to return to work.
2. Allow employees to work from home as much as possible
when family members are ill.
3. If the company has a sick leave “bank,” ease the
restrictions for allowing access to that time.
4. Allow employees to use sick leave from the next year,
so that they will not come back to work too soon because
they will otherwise incur devastating financial
repercussions.
5. The company will communicate to employees that they
reserve the right to send an employee home who comes in
while contagious or with symptoms.
While every effort should be made to establish a climate
of trust, employers should continue to monitor
situations for abuse and respond accordingly…using extra
care to assure that no discrimination is involved.
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