You already know that in the beginning of the fall season word starts to spread about the flu shot and the importance of protecting yourself from this highly contagious and prevalent virus. Why should you consider the flu shot in relation to your business? Below we explore the reasons why the flu may be costing your organization lost time and revenue, and why a convenient, on-site workplace flu clinic is the best way to protect your employees and your business.
Flu and absenteeism
The flu is a contagious respiratory illness caused by the influenza viruses that is spread very easily when people cough, sneeze, shake hands or touch an object that someone with the flu has touched.
- The flu has detrimental effects on industry and employers alike, as it is the leading cause of lost time.
- This represents thousands of dollars in lost productivity for your company and higher labor costs associated with replacing the worker who is absent.
- The 2011 Direct Health Solutions Absenteeism Survey found organizations lose an average of $385 per day per employee in lost productivity when a staff member is away sick.
- Each flu season, nearly 111 million workdays are lost due to the flu.
- That equals approximately $7 billion per year in sick days and lost productivity.
- The average flu-related absence is one work week.
- The flu cannot be treated with antibiotics.
- Some corporations will have the healthy employees work overtime to keep up with the production demands when others are sick
How on-site flu clinics can help
On site flu clinics are a great choice for organizations big and small because:
- On-site flu clinics are a convenient, quick and affordable way to get all your employees immunized at one time, in one place, without having them leave the work site or lose worker productivity.
- On-site flu clinics ensure your employees are vaccinated and lessen the risk of spreading the virus to family and other high-risk groups.
- On-site flu clinics ensure that your employees are protected if exposed to the virus from outside sources.
- Many employees intend to get to the clinic and get their flu shot, but life gets in the way and they just never get around to it. Others know they should get to the clinic, but the thought of sitting in a packed waiting room is not appealing and they decide to wait until they’re not so busy – a time that never comes.
Vaccinated employees experience:
- 13 – 44% fewer doctor visits;
- 18 – 45% fewer lost work days; and
- 18 – 28% fewer days with reduced productivity
Dealing with employee objections, fears, and misconceptions
Some employees may hesitate to get the flu shot because they fear that the flu shot will give them the flu. In truth, flu is caused by a virus — and there’s no virus in the flu shot. There is no scientific evidence for — absolutely no truth — to the urban myth that vaccine will give you the flu. Rather, what the flu shot does is introduce your body to the killed virus so that it can develop a proper immune response in case you encounter the live virus later on in the flu season. Vaccinations are often in the new as people fear possible links between vaccinations and autism. This fear first surfaced because of thimerosal, a form of mercury used as a vaccine preservative, which was purported to be linked to autism but has since proven unrelated. As a precaution, thimerosal was removed from all childhood vaccines and most, but not all, flu shots in 2001.
Final thoughts
If money is tight, then you can’t afford to not host a workplace flu shot clinic! It will cost you approximately $16.00 to immunize an employee against the flu. Compare that to how much it will cost you to pay that employee’s sick benefits for a week, in addition to all the other indirect costs like production delays and having to bring in a replacement worker.
Book your workplace on-site flu clinic today- contact us.
