The recent flu outbreak in Dallas raises questions of how employers should respond, including what to do if a sick employee insists on coming to work, and what to do if a seemingly healthy employee prefers to stay home. Therefore it is important that every business employer consult with legal counsel long before they run into any of these issues.
According to the Dallas Business Journal, flu cases not only pose risks for individuals, but also threaten businesses whose productivity can decrease as employees stay home to avoid infecting others or work at half-speed because they're feeling less than 100 percent. Businesses should update employee handbooks and sick leave policies, as well as require employees sidelined by the flu to get a doctor's note declaring them fit for duty before they return to work. It is also important that employers should also take the outbreak as an opportunity to educate their employees about washing their hands.
Dianna D. Bowen, a partner in the Dallas office of Fisher & Phillips law firm, commented that employers can require mandatory flu shots, but should do so with care. Anti-discrimination laws can come into play if employees request an exemption to the vaccination based on a disability or a religious belief. Bowen advises, “what the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) and the courts are going to look at is whether the employees' objections are reasonable, you have to look at it case by case rather than just having a blanket rule."
Flu season is not going away anytime soon. Fortunately, with the help of Dallas employment lawyers, any businesses in and around Dallas that need legal advice can find affordable guidance with the help of innovators like UpCounsel, who helps connect businesses with specific attorneys that best match their needs and budget. In this case, a variety of employment lawyers are able to connect with potential clients online via UpCounsel’s private and secure legal marketplace, where a variety of Dallas lawyers are able to offer much more competitive costs for legal services since they are primarily working online and carry minimal overhead when compared to big law firms. This is an obvious advantage for both employees seeking out a contract to protect them as they work from home and for companies as they adopt new policies and procedures.
About UpCounsel
UpCounsel helps businesses and entrepreneurs to easily hire great attorneys on-demand that best match their legal needs and budget. By using UpCounsel’s virtual legal marketplace to get advice and compare free proposals from specialized attorneys, businesses save hours of time searching for legal services and reduce their legal costs by 60% on average when compared to expensive law firms. To date, thousands of companies have used UpCounsel to save millions of dollars on legal services.
For more information, please visit: https://www.upcounsel.com
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