The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is predicting that the H1N1 influenza virus could reach pandemic proportions, causing extraordinary absenteeism among the nation's employees. To address this potential crisis, the federal government has recommended that employers review their sick leave policies and strive to make them as flexible as possible for workers who may have to stay home while ill themselves or to take care of stricken family members.

HR departments will need to prepare and pre-plan for the employment issues that H1N1 could raise. Universally, experts caution that there is no template that works for all employers or even for all operations within a single employer.

BNA’s collection of H1N1 Resources are designed to help you meet the workplace challenges raised by the H1N1 outbreak. The report and conference CD’s provide practical guidance on how to deal with the issues H1N1 may present for various corporate areas—specifically policies and practices, nondiscrimination, and compensation and benefits.
The report provides guidance in a comprehensive question-and answer format, including:

• What are the most common employer concerns regarding the possibility of an H1N1 outbreak?
• What should be in our H1N1 disaster plan?
• Can employers require employees to get seasonal or H1N1 flu shots?
• How does employment discrimination factor into discussions about H1N1 flu?
• Is reimbursement of the cost of H1N1 flu vaccination taxable to the employee?
• What kinds of leave must we make available to employees if they or their family members contract H1N1?

The conference CDs provide a look at three of our popular HR webinars on the topic of H1N1 and Pandemic Planning:

• H1N1: Are You Ready?
• The Potential Swine Flu Pandemic: How Employers Can Protect Themselves
• Pandemic Planning – Protecting your Business and Managing the Situation