(Spirit Lake)– A potential H1N1 epidemic has some governmental entities, businesses and industries re-visiting their personnel policies as they pertain to sick leave.
The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention has recommended human resource officials review their policies and possibly amend them to make provisions in the event of an outbreak that could effect critical operations.
The Spirit Lake city council Tuesday adopted a resolution approving some temporary revisions to the city’s personnel policy regarding sick leave. City Adminstrator Mark Stevens told the council it will give employees more flexibility for taking care of sick family members. He says it will only be on the condition that city operations will be able to continue as normal.
Stevens added other policies may need tweaking as well.
One councilman, Steve Balm, said he’d like to see city employees get vaccinated against both the seasonal flu now and H1N1 when that vaccine becomes available. Stevens said he’ll be in contact with the local Public Health Department to inquire about the availability of vaccine and cost.
