During the past few decades employers have gained experience dealing with natural disasters, epidemics and terrorist threats. These unfortunate circumstances have forced employers to plan for complex scenarios and think through how to keep their organizations from being paralyzed and economically damaged.

The recent emergence of influenza A(H1N1) has posed yet another challenge, but this time the threat has not been isolated to a few locations. While the initial mortality rate was low, governments and health officials were clearly concerned that the local epidemic could become more serious and transform into a global pandemic.

The World Health Organization (WHO) assigned the influenza a pandemic alert Phase 6 to provide “a signal to governments, to ministries of health and other ministries, to the pharmaceutical industry and the business community that certain actions should now be undertaken with increased urgency, and at an accelerated pace.”

This Perspective addresses the questions and concerns employers have expressed regarding the influenza epidemic. Primarily, employers have focused on the following questions:

• What is influenza A(H1N1)? How did it develop, and what are the concerns
  about how it might spread and evolve?

• Should we have a contingency plan?

• Do we know how this flu virus can affect workforce operations, policies
  and procedures?

• How can employers protect their organizations and employees?

 You can download the full Perspective: The emerging global influenza pandemic: Human resource contingency planning (PDF format - 9 pages)