With the recent outbreak of H1N1 Influenza Type A (Swine Flu), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has issued precautionary measures that individuals can take to stay healthy and reduce spread of the virus. We are writing to provide you with guidance on how to work with your employees by taking the necessary precautions during this outbreak to meet the University's obligation to provide a safe workplace.
Based upon CDC recommendations, members of the campus community who develop flu-like symptoms (fever and chills AND a cough or sore throat) should stay home for a period of at least 24 hours after they no longer have a fever or no longer have signs of a fever without using fever-reducing medicines. This would likely be a period of 3-5 days.
Employees who are self-isolating due to flu-like symptoms should contact their supervisors promptly to let them know. Managers and supervisors should encourage employees who appear to be ill to take leave and seek medical assistance from their health care provider.
If an employee reports to work ill and declines to take leave, managers and supervisors should consult with their Staff Human Resources Partner or the Academic Personnel Office for assistance in determining whether there is objective evidence of influenza-like illness. Action should not be taken based solely on a manager's or a supervisor's subjective assessment of an employee's medical condition.
During this time, it is extremely important that the Student Health Center be able to monitor the prevalence of flu within our campus population.
To assist in this effort, we have established a web based H1N1 Incident Reporting tool:
http://shr.ucsc.edu/h1n1_report.htm.
Reporting is voluntary, but important because of the public health implications. Managers and supervisors are asked to report, on a weekly basis, the number of known or suspected flu incidents within your staff and academic employee population. Academic department managers are asked to coordinate the reporting of incidents within their academic employee population by requesting that academic employees inform the department office if they are ill with flu-like symptoms. You are asked to submit your reports by close of business on Thursday of each week. Please note that this is an incident count: one employee who calls in sick for 5 days should be reported as one incident.
The Office of the President has prepared a Frequently Asked Questions and Guidance for Managers and Supervisors document available at: http://www.ucop.edu/riskmgt/emergprep/eonews/documents/h1n1_faq.pdf
For more information regarding the H1N1 virus, and further recommendations for flu prevention and preparedness, please visit the campus UCSC website: H1N1 Flu: Helping you Stay Informed and Healthy
