Most American Workers Say Their Employers Not Communicating About H1N1 Virus

Most American Workers Say Their Employers Not Communicating About H1N1 Virus:

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"Most American Workers Say Their Employers Not Communicating About H1N1 Virus

Sept. 22, 2009 — Most American workers said they have not had any direction from their employers regarding the upcoming flu season and continue to feel pressure to show up for work when sick due to the current economic environment, a new survey found.

The survey by Mansfield Communications found that 69% of respondents said they have received no communication about policies in the workplace relating to H1N1, including information about hand-washing or sick leave. Eighty-four percent of American workers believe the recession creates more pressure to show up for work — even if they are feeling sick, the survey found.

“Many workers are understandably concerned about how absenteeism due to sickness will impact their job security in the current economic environment. However, sick employees coming into the office during the H1N1 flu season will undermine the health and productivity of the entire workplace,” said Rob Ireland, partner at Mansfield Communications Inc. “Employers need to clearly communicate with employees about such things as extended sick leave policy and procedures to minimize the spread of infection. During a pandemic, employers must become trusted sources of information and help employees make the right choices.”

The survey found that 80% of workers felt they were knowledgeable about precautions that should be taken if the virus reached their workplace. Yet 47% of the respondents said that they would still engage in public activities (such as riding the bus, picking up a prescription or grocery shopping) even when they were infected with H1N1 and required to stay home from their office due to a company-imposed quarantine.

“The gap between professed knowledge and practice is alarming,” Ireland said. “Nearly half of respondents said that they would continue to engage in public activities with full knowledge of their infection. Clearly, there is much to be done to educate America’s workforce and help people act appropriately in order to contain the spread of H1N1.”
Other key findings:

- When asked how concerned they were about the H1N1 virus, 50% of workers rated their concern a six or higher on a scale of 1-10.
- When asked if they planned to get vaccinated if a vaccine was made available this fall, 49% of all respondents said yes and 51% said no.
- When asked about public activity while infected, 52% of men said that they were either somewhat or very likely to engage in it, while 43% of women said the same.

Survey MethodologyFrom Sept. 10-12, 2009, Angus Reid Strategies conducted an online survey among a randomly selected, representative sample of 1,028 adult Americans. The margin of error for the total sample is +/- 3.1%, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Statistics most current education, age, gender and regional data to ensure a representative sample of the entire adult population of United States. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.

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http://dreamlearndobecome.blogspot.com This posting was made my Jim Jacobs, President & CEO of Jacobs Executive Advisors. Jim also serves as Leader of Jacobs Advisors' Insurance Practice.