Minimizing the spread of the virus is our goal. You should contact your supervisor and report that you are ill. You should not report to work if you believe you are ill. Use of sick leave will be handled as usual pursuant to existing policies and collective bargaining agreements.
This will be handled as usual. Use of sick leave, FMLA leave or other discretionary leave will be administered in accordance to the labor agreements and plans. Use of discretionary leave may be limited.
CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has recommended that certain groups of the population receive the 2009 H1N1 vaccine when it first becomes available. These target groups include pregnant women, people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age, healthcare and emergency medical services personnel, persons between the ages of 6 months and 24 years old, and people ages of 25 through 64 years of age who are at higher risk for 2009 H1N1 because of chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems.
No. As state employees, we have obligations to keep services up and running to the extent possible during an emergency. We will need to have people working in order to maintain the state’s most critical services.
Before an emergency is declared, you may request leave time, and it will be reviewed and approved or denied in accord with the leave provisions of your contract or plan. Our objective is to ensure that the State’s critical services are continued during a pandemic. At this time, our goal is to encourage healthy employees to report to work. In a declared emergency, we anticipate that discretionary leaves generally will not be approved; however, based on the virility of the virus and recommendations from the Minnesota Department of Health, discretionary leaves may be considered.
Yes, unless directed not to. If you are assigned to work in a situation that would put you at greater risk of exposure than the typical interactions you would encounter in conducting your usual life activities, the state will make an effort to provide the appropriate protective measures, such as increased hygiene measures, protective equipment, social distancing measures, physical barriers.
No. You must work as assigned unless granted leave. As the effects of a pandemic are realized in Minnesota, state employees should anticipate that they may be required to assist in performing work for absent or ill co-workers or ensure that the state is able to provide essential services.
No. You must work as assigned unless granted leave. As the effects of a pandemic are realized in Minnesota, state employees should anticipate that they may be required to assist in performing work for absent or ill co-workers or ensure that the state is able to provide essential services.
If you are assigned to work in a situation that would put you at greater risk of exposure than the typical interactions you would encounter in conducting your usual life activities, the state will make an effort to provide the appropriate protective measures such as increased hygiene, protective equipment, social distancing measures, physical barriers.
Social distancing measures are measures intended to reduce the spread of a pandemic flu virus by reducing direct contact between individuals. Social distancing measures may include minimization of face to face meetings, staggered work hours and days, work from home measures, spacing of work areas, physical barriers between individuals, and other similar practices. Depending on the severity of the illness, agencies may being implementing social distancing measures.
Employees must still report to work unless they are exhibiting influenza-like-illness symptoms. Employees who believe they have been exposed to the flu should monitor themselves for symptoms.
Yes, MMB has developed the policies and provided agency HR Directors with a copy. An employee who becomes ill at work should contact their supervisor and leave the workplace. An employee may be given the choice of using a tissue or surgical mask to cover their mouth and nose when leaving the work place. If possible, the employee can clean and sanitize their work station.
For employees that have an up-to-date policy for short-term disability, the standard eligibility requirements would apply. Employees would be eligible for illness disability benefits after 7 days of full disability due to an illness.
Yes, if the employee is covered by the Advantage Health Plan. Vaccines are covered as preventive services (no deductible, no co-pay) under the Advantage Health Plan.
Currently, patients coming into health care facilities exhibiting influenza-like illness are not being tested for H1N1 unless they are hospitalized, or the testing is necessary for other reasons. Minute Clinics are not testing for H1N1 flu.
Personal protective equipment (PPE) including masks and/or respirators will be provided to employees by the state when employees are required to conduct work tasks for which the MN Dept of Health or the employer recommends PPE.
Yes, subject to prior review by the employer to ensure that the face mask/respirator meets the minimum recommended level of protection for the circumstances.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) defines four levels of risk for exposure to pandemic influenza in the workplace; low, medium, high, and very high.
Office type workplaces and similar environments that don’t require close contact with the public are generally considered low risk exposure workplaces.
Guidance from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) for low exposure risk workplaces does not recommend the use of surgical masks or respirators. The guidance also does not prohibit employees from wearing surgical masks or respirators.
Minnesota Management and Budget strongly discourages well employees wearing masks or respirators in the office setting.
State agencies are provided with the most current public health recommendations regarding infection control. Agencies will be encouraged to employ social distancing into their work. Increased cleaning of frequently touched surfaces is recommended.
Custodial services are expected to focus on frequently touched surfaces or items. Guidance on workplace cleaning has been provided by the Department of Administration.
Requests made by employees will be taken into consideration and where possible, allowed. However, the decision to allow any adjustments in work schedules will ultimately be determined by the employer based on continuing critical functions necessary to the state.
Yes, the employer may make changes to work schedules without prior notice in order to continue the critical needs of the agency. Some of these changes may result in payment of overtime depending on collective bargaining units/plans. The employer will consider on an individual basis the personal needs of those employees whose schedules may change.
Yes, when it becomes a critical situation. The employer will closely consider the personal needs of the employee before determining if redeployment is necessary. Employees refusing to report to work as assigned will be subject to discipline in accordance to contracts/plan.
Employees should work with their supervisors to request the extension to the usage of their vacation time. If an employee has been redeployed or has not been able to use their vacation time due to working for others who are out ill, they may request an extension to their vacation usage.
If an agency needs to redeploy within its agency, no action is necessary from MMB. If there is a need to get staff from another agency, that request must come to MMB to coordinate, so we can ensure state-wide priorities are being met. Agencies will be asked to submit their staffing request form. MMB will be providing state agencies with a Redeployment Guide in the near future.
Yes, employees will be expected to come to work and as an employer we can require employees to be redeployed. The state will make an effort to provide the appropriate protective measures such as increased hygiene, protective equipment, social distancing measures, and physical barriers.
MMB will be tracking the movement of employees and will be in communication with agencies on who is available to be redeployed. If they are no longer doing priority service 3-4 for an agency and another agency needs priority 1-2 services to be sustained, we will be communicating (through the HR Directors) the need for the staff.
Influenza is a virus that infects people, birds, pigs and other animals such as ferrets. Swine flu, or swine influenza, is a form of the virus that normally infects pigs. There are many forms of flu, and the different varieties have the ability to exchange genes with one another. The form of flu that originated in Mexico is a genetic mixture of viruses that have been seen in pigs, birds and people. It’s now called H1N1 novel influenza virus because it’s a new virus never before seen in humans.
Studies are ongoing about how this particular H1N1 Novel Influenza Virus is transmitted. Flu is generally transmitted through the respiratory tract. Droplets of infected body fluids may carry flu when people cough or sneeze. Neither contact with pigs nor eating pork has been linked to the spread of the flu.
About one to four days usually elapse between the time a person is infected and the onset of symptoms. Influenza normally causes symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, headaches and body aches, fever, and chills. H1N1 Novel Influenza Virus causes the same symptoms, but can also cause vomiting and diarrhea, and may be difficult to distinguish from other strains of flu and respiratory illnesses. Severe cases of seasonal flu that lead to death are normally seen in very young and very old people whose immune systems are too weak to fight off the virus. Adults with severe illness may also have difficulty breathing, dizziness, and confusion.
Children who are breathing abnormally fast or slowly may have respiratory illness. Bluish skin indicates a need for quick attention. Children who are abnormally sluggish and sleepy, irritable, or have fever or rash may also need attention.
Yes. Health officials said in 1976 that an outbreak of Swine Flu in people might lead to a pandemic. Widespread vaccination was carried out in the U.S. before experts determined that the virus was not dangerous enough to cause a pandemic. The Swine Flu Virus occasionally infects people in the U.S. without causing large outbreaks. From 2005 through January 2009, there were 12 reported Swine Influenza Virus cases in the U.S. None of them caused deaths.
When flu viruses mix genes with one another, they can take on new forms. New flu viruses are harder for the human immune system to defend against. With little or no opposition from the immune resistance, the virus can grow quickly and invade many tissues and organs. They may also set off a harmful immune overreaction in the body, called a “cytokine storm,” that may be lethal in itself. While we are currently seeing mild cases in Minnesota, viruses are unpredictable and can change as they spread.
A flu pandemic occurs when a new influenza virus spreads quickly and few people have immunity. While influenza viruses were only discovered about a century ago, researchers believe flu pandemics hit about two or three times each century. Some pandemics kill a few million people globally. The most severe flu pandemic on record was the 1918 Spanish Flu. Researchers estimate it killed about 50 million people around the world.
Flu viruses are classified by two proteins on their surface, called H for hemagglutinin and N for neuraminidase. The H1N1 Novel Influenza Virus found in Mexico and the 1918 Spanish Flu viruses are of the H1N1 subtype. Both viruses appear to have originated in animals. Researchers believe the Spanish Flu spread to people from birds. The two viruses are not identical, and there are still many genetic differences between them that researchers are studying.
Yes. Roche Holding AG’s Tamiflu and GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s Relenza both react against H1N1 Novel Influenza Virus. According to the CDC, the drugs should be administered within the first 48 hours of the onset of symptoms. Tamiflu and Relenza may also help prevent H1N1 Novel Influenza Virus in people who have been exposed to someone who was sick.
Personal hygiene measures, such as avoiding people who are coughing or sneezing and frequent hand-washing, may prevent flu infection. Those who aren’t health professionals should avoid contact with sick people. People who get sick with flu symptoms should stay home. Studies have suggested that closing schools, theaters, and canceling gatherings in the early stages of a pandemic can limit its spread. Such measures would likely take place if health officials determine that the virus is deadly enough, or spreading quickly enough to cause a pandemic.
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