Social distancing – increasing the physical distance between people to reduce the spread of disease – is a key phrase in this year’s strategy to minimize the spread of the swine flu, H1N1, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
Depending on the severity of the epidemic, health officials may recommend closing schools and child care centers, canceling large business meetings, spacing workers farther apart in the workplace, canceling non-essential travel, and implementing work-from-home strategies.
The CDC also encourages employers to allow employees to stay home to care for family members. Those healthy employees are prime candidates for telecommuting.
Whether or not winter brings an epidemic of swine flu, companies should plan for the worst case. For many that will mean taking the first steps to develop a telecommuting program.
If you do not have a formal telecommuting program, it is important to immediately assess which employees have job functions that could be done from home. Then:
- Develop guidelines and procedures that protect the security of company property and data.
- Identify which portion of specific job functions can be done at home.
- Discuss the plan with all employees, explaining why some jobs are suitable for telecommuting and others are not.
- Test the plan with eligible employees by having them telecommute several times prior to their needing to stay home.
- Encourage all employees to stay home when they have the flu.
For more information on planning for the flu season, see www.PandemicFlu.gov.