Legal News

The potential liability impacts of swine flu

By Richard Binder

Many offices and factories in Inland Southern California are already doing business with fewer workers because of the dour economic situation. With the swine flu epidemic making headlines, employees have to weigh their fitness to work versus an absence that might jeopardize their job, not to mention that millions of California workers do not have paid sick leave. At the same time, employers need to remember the law requires them to provide a workplace that is not a health risk.

Bill Floyd, an attorney who practices employment law for the Riverside-based firm Best Best & Krieger, says, "It's reasonable for an employer to have some sort of clearance" in those situations. He added that he has fielded several calls from clients asking those questions in the last few days. "But, if he sent home every employee with a sniffle, that would be a bit of an overreaction."

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Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on May 04, 2009 (boomark / email).