If you think you’re coming down with the flu, here’s advice from all of us: Stay home.
Sick employees could wind up costing employers $9 billion in lost productivity, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., an executive coaching firm that crunched the stats.
“The current strain is particularly aggressive and those who are sick can be contagious for up to seven days. Workers who have the flu or need to care for someone with the flu should absolutely not come into work,” Andrew Challenger, the firm’s vice president of global outplacement consultancy, said in a statement. “This is exactly why employers have sick leave benefits.”
Challenger came up with the $9 billion estimate like this: It took the number of people over 18 who got sick last year, combined it with how many people are employed and the average hourly wage of $26.63. That came to 11 million people. Now times 11 million by four sick days and Challenger’s cost estimate to employers is precisely $9,415,586,823.84.
Challenger didn’t have a comparable cost from last year’s flu impact on the workplace, but a spokeswoman pointed to the Centers for Disease Control, which put the number .
The CDC, meanwhile, reports that Colorado has seen a “ activity this season . And while flu shots are recommended in the fall, it’s not too late to get a flu shot today.
