On the back of an economic crisis, employers now find themselves grappling with the issues arising from 1124 influenza A (H1N1), more commonly referred to as swine flu.

Reports indicate that the government soon expects 100,000 people per day to contract the disease, so employers need to review what preventative measures they can take in the event of an outbreak at their workplace.

Swine flu is contagious, with symptoms similar to those of regular seasonal influenza infection, including fever, fatigue, lack of appetite, coughing and a sore throat.

As a precaution, employers should consider sending home any employee who suffers from these symptoms, since retaining sick employees will increase the likelihood of further spread of the virus to the workforce. Employers should also determine whether other staff members who have been in close contact with the sick employee are also at risk or showing symptoms of the flu virus.

If an employer has genuine concerns that an employee is endangering the health of other employees, then it may be a reasonable management instruction to require the employee to remain away from the workplace. But review your employee contracts and sickness policy first.

If an employee is away from work on sick leave, they will be required to self-certify the first four days of their absence and thereafter will be required to produce a sick note in order to claim statutory sick pay. Employers should ensure that they have an effective ‘return to work’ policy to deter employees from unwarranted sickness absence.

As for pay, if an employee is genuinely ill then they will be entitled to ordinary sick pay, details of which should be set out in the contract of employment, a separate sickness policy or both. After a period of absence of seven days, an employer can obtain a doctor’s certificate for confirmation. Check your policies to determine what, if anything, you should be paying.

Employers have an obligation to implement systems that involve curbing the spread of the flu as far as is reasonably possible. Under these circumstances, employers should consider allowing employees to work from home, if appropriate. Consider remote electronic working to reduce the need for employees to attend the office or have face-to-face meetings.

If there is a pandemic and the government advises everyone to stay at home, you may still have to pay your employees. The definitive answer on payments will depend on what you have put in your policies. Consider reserving the right not to pay an employee who does not attend work, but remember that might create much bad feeling.

Where schools are closed, affected employees may be entitled to time off work for dependents - this is because an employee is legally entitled to take a “reasonable” amount of time off work to deal with emergencies involving a dependent. Note that all employees are entitled to time off work for dependents, regardless of length of service and whether or not they are employed on a full- or part-time basis.

If an employer suspects that this right is being abused, the employee should be dealt with in accordance with the contractual or workplace disciplinary procedure.

Employers are not under a duty to pay employees for time off work for dependents and may therefore need to ensure that any policy dealing with absences caused by a flu pandemic dovetails with a policy dealing with time off for emergencies.

Employers must be aware of their obligations under the Working Time Regulations 1998 if the remaining healthy workforce is expected to cover the duties of those employees absent due to sickness.

Gareth Edwards is a partner in the employment team at Veale Wasbrough Lawyers. http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/index.htm