Oct 15, 2009

Companies try to get a jump on swine fluBy Katie Johnston ChaseBoston.com

The Massachusetts Port Authority is training extra workers to operate the 68-foot-long snowplows that clear the runways in case the regular drivers come down with swine flu. The law firm Foley Hoag gave each of its employees a kit with hand sanitizer, tissues, and telephone disinfectant pads. And HarborOne Credit Union has gone so far as to cancel its annual holiday party.

Local employers are gearing up for the H1N1 influenza virus, which the Boston Public Health Commission is cautioning could infect 30 percent of the population this fall and winter. So far this season, the city has not been as hard hit as many other areas across the country, and the commission has urged businesses to update their pandemic plans and take precautions now to prevent the disease from spreading through the workplace.

Many companies are going beyond the usual winter flu precautions of supplying tissues and seasonal flu shots as they try to make sure business doesn’t suffer if a swine flu outbreak occurs. A recent survey of more than 1,000 businesses by the Harvard School of Public Health found that only a third could function without suffering major operational problems if half their workforce were out sick for two weeks.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises employees who come down with the flu not to return to work until at least 24 hours after the fever is gone – and a few businesses are modifying their sick leave policies accordingly. Investment consulting firm Cambridge Associates has granted its employees five additional paid days off to use if they or their children come down with swine flu. A few workers have already used a day or two of the extra time, said Shannon Ciempa, the company’s human resources project manager.

In light of CDC recommendations, which warn that doctors could become overloaded with flu patients this season, Cambridge Associates, which has 437 employees in Boston, will not require employees to bring a doctor’s note.

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