A report published in the Jan. 16th edition of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) estimates that this season’s flu vaccine reduced a person’s risk of going to the doctor because of flu by 23 percent for all ages, making it one of the least effective flu vaccines in recent years.
So, with flu season underway, Purdue University Professor Ellen Kossek says employers need to be proactive in dealing with ill workers.
Kossek, a specialist in work-life issues, says the United States has a large number of workers who aren’t paid if they stay home because of personal illness or the illness of children or family members.
“This can lead to something called presenteeism,” Kossek says. “That means an ill worker shows up on the job but isn’t really working. And that person can easily be spreading the illness.”
Read more on workplace illness on EHS Today.
EHS Today is an NED companion site within Penton's Manufacturing & Supply Chain Group.