Let’s say you’re an employer in New York or New Jersey and one of your employees has been exposed to Ebola and is under mandatory quarantine. What are your obligations to the employee? And, frankly, what is your obligation to your remaining staff?
Think calmly. Before you have a freak out and start mandating all sorts of rules and thinking about firing this person because you never, ever want to be near him again, remember that the flu kills a lot more people than Ebola has and 90 percent of us come to work when sick. As many as 49,000 people die each year from the flu, in the United States alone. Worldwide since 1976, Ebola has claimed 6703 lives, total. So chill. When your employee returns, you’re not all going to be infected and die.
To keep reading, click here: Your Employee Is Under Ebola Quarantine. Now What?
Kudos for this. We were just speaking about ‘life responsibilities’ (childcare and sick kids actually) earlier today in the office and someone mentioned “it’s not the companies problem if someone’s kid is sick!” My response was “actually it is!” which led to a conversation about how people who feel supported by their employer regarding their ‘life responsibilities’ will be more loyal – and THAT is the companies concern for sure. If you can’t support an employee when they are sick, have sick kids, have a disaster at home, etc. they will for sure leave, and you may lose other employees (and their loyalty) who see it happen.
Thank you for commenting on bosses having some compassion and helping their staff through health issues and other responsibilities:) I don’t know why so many still do not have that attitude!