In the face of the H1N1 pandemic, the Public Health Agency’s message to Canadians this flu season is clear: if you’re sick, stay home from work. But what if staying home from work means not getting paid? Or what if sending an employee home means business slows down?
Not everyone can work from home – restaurants, cafés, bakeries and grocery stores need staff on-site, and often, people who work in these jobs can’t afford to take time off if they fall ill.
Owners and managers are taking extra safety measures to keep workplaces as sick-free as possible, especially in customer service jobs.
“Of any job, this is the one to take the most precautions,” says Daniela Garofalo, manager of Eggspectation.
Gary Johns, a management professor at Concordia University and an expert in presenteeism (showing up to work despite being sick) says it’s wise for businesses to take that approach when it comes to a contagious flu.
“If you can prevent a few sick people from showing up at work the net benefit of this in terms of your overall productivity of your organization might be improved,” he says.“Many of these service jobs would be most prone to productivity damage . . . There’s not much flexibility because you’re expected to bring the food out, you’re expected to smile.”
At the same time, employees in these businesses – who come into contact with hundreds of people each day serving food or working the till – say they would sooner forego their pay rather than take a shift when they’re sick.
Clare Brebner, who works at Bridgehead, says when it comes to the flu or any other serious illness, she doesn’t worry about missing shifts and getting paid.
“In the long run, it’s more important to make yourself well. That compensates for whatever money you might lose.”
But Johns says doing some thinking in advance on how they can cope with unexpected staff shortages may pay off.
“[Attendance] is a lot more closely managed in very small firms and that provides a good opportunity for the boss to engage in some conversation with employees about ‘Gee, what’ll happen here? What should we do if . . .’.”
Depending on the size of their staff, local business owners say they can find many ways to manage if some of their employees get sick.
Johns says one way to cope is to think about other sources of labour on which to draw from.
At Oriental House Dining Lounge on Elgin Street, server
Lina Chaw says staff shortages can be made up by calling on family members to fill in.
“If there’s only one server, then it could collapse,” says Chaw. “But that’s never happened . . . We usually rely on relatives and friends. It’s a family business so everybody chips in.”