Swine flu causing greater staff absenteeism
Tue, 07 Jul 2009
A significant increase in the number of staff absences is being seen as the swine flu virus spreads, it has been reported.
Data from absence management company FirstCare indicates that one in 400 UK workers is currently off sick with a cough, cold or flu, compared to the one in 630 that is usual for this time of the year.
Aaron Ross, chief executive of FirstCare, told the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development that there is a "direct correlation" with the spread of the H1N1 strain of swine flu and increased absenteeism, while the trend has intensified in the past week.
He commented: "Alarm bells should be ringing in employers' offices across the country. It is no surprise that we are seeing such an increase, but we are concerned that employers are not taking the warning signs seriously enough.
"For one in 400 employees to be absent because of a cough, cold and flu in June is unprecedented, but much more worrying is the rapid increase we have seen in the past seven days."
Mr Ross predicted that if the growth continues, cough, cold and flu will cause one in 250 employees to be absent within two weeks.
H1N1 swine flu was recently upgraded to pandemic status by the World Health Organization.
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