Coronavirus and Flu Prevention

By: Chelsea Deal, Operations HR Manager

The world health community continues to monitor closely the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the disease it causes, named “coronavirus disease 2019” (COVID-19). At this time, no one knows how severe this outbreak will be. Given this uncertainty, and the fact that the seasonal influenza (flu) virus is also widespread, we are taking proactive steps to address several business concerns. First and foremost, we want to maintain a safe workplace and encourage and/or adopt practices protecting the health of employees, customers, visitors or others. We also want to ensure the continuity of business operations in the event of a pandemic.

We ask all employees to cooperate in taking steps to reduce the transmission of communicable diseases in the workplace. Employees are reminded of the following:

Stay home when you are sick.
Wash your hands frequently with warm, soapy water for at least 20 seconds.
Cover your mouth with tissues whenever you sneeze, and discard used tissues in the trash.
Avoid people who are sick with respiratory symptoms.
Clean frequently touched surfaces.

With the safety of all employees and personnel at a worksite as a top priority, if at any time and for any reason you feel unsafe or have concerns with your work environment, please reach out to me or your local branch via call or email, and inform us of your concerns. My direct office line is – 813 513-0835 and email: cdeal@dev.leadstaff.com

It is critical that employees do not report to work while they are experiencing respiratory symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills or fatigue. Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that employees remain at home until at least 24 hours after they are free of fever (100 degrees F or 37.8 degrees C) or signs of a fever without the use of fever-reducing medications. Many times, with the best of intentions, employees report to work even though they feel ill.

We do provide paid sick leave, as outlined in your employee handbook to assist employees who are unable to work due to illness. Employees who report to work ill will be sent home in accordance with these health guidelines.

For more information please review the following web pages.

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