Last month, the Congressional Budget Office projected that 90 million Americans could fall ill from avian influenza (widely known as 'bird' flu, since it is transmitted from birds to humans), and within a matter of days, more than a third of the nation's workforce would be calling in sick, if it reached a pandemic in the United States.

The Charlotte Observer ( North Carolina ) recently laid out the 'worst-case scenario' for employers who don't have communicable disease policies in place. Such employers might face:

• Collective-bargaining breeches if employers hire certain types of temporary employees or rehire retirees.
• Overtime violations in the event companies require a short staff to work extra hours.
• OSHA violations should employees be exposed to the disease at work.
• Privacy and discrimination claims should employers inappropriately request employees to disclose what sort of illness they have.

The disease has killed more than 70 people to date in Southeast Asia, and at least four in Turkey , where infected birds recently were discovered, the Observer reports. While the disease is transmitted from birds to humans, it is feared the disease may be soon be transmittable from human to human. The Centers for Disease Control has reported there would be little immunity to the disease if it became communicable between humans.

The Observer interviewed a number of employers in Charlotte who reported, for the most part, that they had contingency plans or disaster preparedness plans in place, but none specific to avian flu policy--at least not as of yet. One company with operations in the Carolinas , London-based HSBC Holdings, recently announced that it was preparing for operating with less than half of its staff if there's a bird flu pandemic, the newspaper reports.

Lynn Daniel, management consultant at The Daniel Group in Charlotte , told the Observer that in addition to curtailing travel (particularly to places where there is an outbreak) employers should have certain contingencies in place, such as:

• Telecommuting -- working from home reduces risk of exposure and transmission of communicable illness.
• A wellness program and online and print information that reinforces healthy lifestyle choices.
• Budget alternative or extended shifts, where employees work 10-hour days.

Source: The Charlotte Observer