NEW YORK  --  Employers across America are preparing for the possibility of massive employee absences due to the H1N1 Virus.  "The Wall Street Journal" says many are devoting time to cross-training. 

Hormel Foods, for example, is devoting work hours every Friday to teaching people in various departments each other's jobs.  The idea is to keep the company running if any one department is hit by a massive number of flu cases at the same time.  Other companies are hoping to avoid as much illness as possible by installing hand-sanitizer dispensers and making sure workers use provided alcohol wipes to sanitize desks and phones.

Even though it could be tough, employers are being encouraged to enforce a rule telling workers "If you're not feeling well, stay or go home."  Dallas-based Texas Instruments has started a policy allowing employees to borrow against future sick day allowances so they won't feel a need to return to work before they're well.

Many companies are encouraging workers to be vaccinated.  While vaccination clinics for seasonal flu are an annual event at many worksites, getting a supply of H1N1 vaccine has been difficult because supplies are being steered toward those considered at highest risk.
  
Only one-third of more than 1,000 businesses surveyed across the U.S. by the Harvard School of Public Health said they could avoid operational problems over a two-week period if half of their workforce was out with the flu.
 

(Copyright 2009 by VERTEXNews/Newsroom Solutions)