Businesses hit by 'swine flu skivers'
Tuesday, 11th August 2009
Employees pretending to be sick with swine flu are causing chaos in British businesses.
Companies believe measures to deal with swine flu could create a "skivers' charter" for the workplace - and have a bigger impact than the virus itself.
Employment Law Advisory Services (ELAS) said it had been contacted by more than 1000 firms wanting advice about staff who use the pandemic as excuse to extend their summer holidays.
Unscrupulous employees are phoning the NHS swine flu hot line or visiting its website to get antiviral medicine and do not need a sick note from their GP for the first seven days’ absence.
Now there are fears this behaviour could cause more disruption to business that the actual swine flu outbreak.
ELAS's head of consultancy Peter Mooney said: "Managers feel that some staff are simply taking advantage of concerns about the transmission of swine flu to take an extra few days off work.
"Because the emphasis has been on not going to your local GP but using websites to assess the infection and the risk to others, those who stay at home are not going to need a doctor's note or have too many people calling on them to see how they feel.
"Based on the volume - and the nature - of calls we have been taking, the number of deliberate false cases of the condition is having a significant impact on workplaces across the country, something bosses are keen to tackle."
