H1N1 Influenza - E-mail to UMKC Staff
September 11, 2009
To UMKC Faculty/Staff:
• Employees with symptoms of influenza-like illness (such as fever of 100° or higher, body aches, cough, sore throat, etc.)are recommended to stay home and not return to work until fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications.Departments should plan now to allow and encourage sick employees to stay home without fear of losing their jobs.
• Employees who become ill during the day and appear to have influenza-like illness should be advised to go home and not return to work until fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications.
• If an employee becomes ill at work and displays symptoms of influenza-like illness, managers should inform co-workers of their possible exposure in the workplace but maintain confidentiality.
• Expect employees with influenza to be out for 3 to 5 days in most cases, even if antiviral medications are used.
• Managers are encouraged to not require a doctor’s note for employees who are ill with an influenza-like illness. Doctor’s offices and medical facilities may be extremely busy and unable to provide such documentation in a timely manner.
• Employees who are well, but who have an ill family member at home with influenza, can go to work as usual. However, these employees should monitor their health every day, and stay home if they become ill.
• Departments should be aware that more often than usual, employees may need to stay home to care for ill family members, and should permit employees to do so.
Compensation
• Employees absent from work due to illness can use accumulated sick leave, in accordance with HR 404. If all sick leave has been exhausted, an employee may use vacation and/or personal days in accordance with HR 402 and HR 403
• Employees can check sick leave, vacation, and personal day balances by visiting the myHR website.
• Employees without paid time off can use leave without pay if they are ill or must care for a family member with an influenza-like illness.
Other resources
• Future employee updates related to H1N1 as well as information related to seasonal flu shots for employees, can be found on the UMKC Human Resources website
• Additional information related to the H1N1 virus can be found at Flu.gov
• Information regarding H1N1 as it pertains specifically to our UMKC community can be found at UMKC Alert
Carol Hintz
Associate Vice Chancellor Human Resources
