Flu outbreak could harm businesses

A severe outbreak of swine flu with extended employee absences might hurt as many as four out of five U.S. businesses, according to a Harvard University survey.
An outbreak of H1N1 influenza that keeps more than half of workers home for more than a month would create “severe operational problems,” for businesses, according to Robert Blendon, a Harvard School of Public Health professor who led the study released last week.
Companies and health officials are bracing for increased cases of the flu, which closed businesses throughout Mexico City in April as health officials tried to stem an outbreak there. As the flu season begins, large numbers of employees in the U.S. may stay home to care for family members, mind children whose schools have been closed, or manage their own bouts with the flu, Blendon said.
“There is agreement that this flu is contagious and quite likely to return,” he said in a telephone interview.
Blendon asked 1,057 business leaders with employee numbers ranging from less than 20 to more than 500 about how they would be able to respond to disease outbreaks. About 74 percent offered paid sick time to some employees.
About two-thirds of the business leaders said they could avoid severe problems if one-fifth of their employees were absent for one month. Just under half said their companies could function with a third of employees at home for a month. &#8226