Business Continuity

The Harvard School of Public Health released the results of a survey they conducted in June/2009 regarding Americans’ views and concerns about the potential for a more severe outbreak of Influenza A (H1N1) in the fall or winter.

Gartner always advises businesses to review their pandemic preparedness planning from the perspective of 40% absenteeism – some of which is going to be workers staying home in order to care for children who are home due to school closures.  This particular point was considered in the June/2009  Harvard survey and the results are:

• 51% of US workers would be likely to stay home and miss work in order to care for children,
• 43% would be likely to lose pay or income and have money problems as a result, and
• 26% would be likely to lose their job or business as a result of staying home to care for children.

These survey results are something that businesses should take notice of and respond to in order to provide the workforce with as much information as possible regarding their approach to compensation and HR practices during a pandemic.   Not every business can afford to pay workers for time off during a pandemic – but providing the information to the workforce ahead of time means that they can plan for the event, and potentially have some of their fears allayed.

There are many areas where HR policies come under review for pandemic preparedness planning:

1. Paid time off;
2. Facility closures and quarantines;
3. Bereavement time;
4. Short-term and long-term disability;
5. Flexible work options; and
6. Sick workforce handling procedures.

There are no standard answers to these issues because HR laws are different by jurisdiction, and HR policies vary by organization and worker type (exempt and non-exempt).  Every organization must review its policies with internal and possibly external HR and compensation experts to find the right approach that is based on their business practices and their culture.

Finally, pay attention to privacy issues when developing sick workforce handling procedures.  Never disclose the name of a sick worker to the rest of the organization.  That said, most people in their work group already know who they are.  Therefore, regularly educate the workforce about their own need to maintain the privacy of their colleagues.