So what do you when your employee comes to you and says they have been exposed to someone diagnosed with the H1N1 flu virus?  That just happened this week.  Our problem is that even though we encourage employees to get the flu vaccine each year, our employees are not at the high risk population that is going to get the H1N1 vaccination when it becomes available.

I find it ironic that the age population that the H1N1 virus hits the hardest is your 20 something group, which we have but the priority is going to go to persons age 65 and older.  A lot of politics went into that decision, not one made out of best interest of the population.

Now you are stuck with potentially someone who has been exposed, cannot get the vaccination and might impact your small or medium size business.  Unfortunately, you cannot quarantine all your employees and probably do not have the resources to be even a person short.  The best way to combat the regular and H1N1 flu season is to be proactive and have an action plan.

Flu.gov has a great resource for employers looking for help and questions concerning the flu season. When should you keep employees away, when should they come back to work are some of the questions this website answers. Keeping your employees updated with correct information and assigning a go to person who is responsible to coordinate leave and assignments is your best defense.

And remember to go get your FluMist Flu Shot.