Plenty of flu caution as Mexico returns to work

In gleaming office towers and gritty markets, Mexicans returned to work Wednesday after a five-day swine flu shutdown, and dozens returned to a heroes' welcome from "humiliating" quarantines in China. But Mexico's death toll rose, feeding fears of more infections now that crowds are gathering again.

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The World Health Organization urged countries not to quarantine visitors or impose trade restrictions without scientific reasons. But China defiantly justified its quarantines as protection for its densely populated cities. And even impoverished Haiti turned away a Mexican ship carrying desperately needed food aid because of flu fears.

In Mexico City, friends and co-workers greeted each other with back slaps, firm handshakes - and dollops of hand sanitizer. Some high-rises stationed doctors in their lobbies who questioned returning employees and required visitors to fill out forms stating they had no flu symptoms. Maitre d's in surgical masks stood at attention amid rows of sidewalk tables that were pulled out and washed down for the first time in days.

The city's health secretary late Wednesday announced that all businesses - including sports arenas, dance halls, movie theaters and all restaurants - will be allowed to operate Thursday. But Armando Ahued said businesses must screen for ill people and make surgical masks mandatory for employees and customers.

"We're returning to normal," said Eugenio Velis, 57, a graphic artist sipping coffee with friends in the trendy Condesa neighborhood.

But Ernesto Viloria, 40, worried about his children using public transit and returning to school.

"Nothing can be the same," insisted Viloria, who works in finance. "The virus continues, even though it's declining, and we have to pay attention."

Mexico's government said the shutdown reduced the spread of the virus at its epicenter. Deaths have slowed as the country mobilized an aggressive public health response to the epidemic that has sickened thousands in 24 countries.

Sweden and Poland were the latest countries to confirm swine flu cases, both in women who had recently visited the U.S.

In Mexico, the confirmed death toll reached 42 Wednesday - mostly as backlogged cases got tested, but also two new deaths on Tuesday. It also confirmed more than 1,100 nonfatal cases. Eighty percent of Mexico's swine flu infections have been in and around the capital, and a majority of the dead were between 20 and 39 years old.

There was some concern that Mexico was relaxing too quickly, especially with high schools and universities reopening Thursday, and primary schools reopening next week. While "filter teams" prepared to screen out sick students and teachers, epidemiologists warn that the virus has spread throughout Mexico, and could bounce back.

"We have seen a tendency (of the outbreak) to diminish but not disappear," Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova acknowledged.

Indeed, this swine flu seems to have a long incubation period - 5-7 days before people notice symptoms, according to Dr. Marc-Alain Widdowson, a medical epidemiologist from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now tracking the flu in Mexico City. And that means the virus can keep being spread by people who won't know to stay home.

But from gritty taco stands to the Cartier store on Mexico City's version of Rodeo Drive, people were glad to be back at work.

Jesus Cortez, 43, manned El Taquito Veloz, "The Speedy Little Taco," in the rough Tepito neighborhood, offering roasted pork on a spit as its specialty - tacos al pastor. Nearby, workers sliced chunks of meat from a boiled steer's skull, flanked by cilantro branches.

Swine flu creates anxiety at some small businesses

Small business swine flu news. Swine flu dilemma? Some small businesses are stocking up on disinfectant wipes and spray. Others are asking employees returning from vacations to Mexico to stay home for a few days.

While the swine flu cases diagnosed in this country appear to be mild, they are causing anxiety at some small companies. Human resources consultants say they've gotten more inquiries from employers who want to prevent an outbreak or need information about sick time policies.

Staffers at Patricia Thorp's Coral Gables, Fla.-based public relations firm are concerned about flu germs in the workplace. Swine flu school closure

"I had a couple of staffers saying, 'what are we doing?'" said Thorp, president of Thorp & Co. So she's been buying disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizers, and the office kitchen is being cleaned each day by the firm's employees, not just the landlord's cleaning crew.

Thorp also had to deal with a flu-related issue when one of the vice presidents was sick. The message from the boss was, don't come to work.

"You have to stay home all week. None of this being a hero," Thorp said she told the staffer, who turned out not to have the swine flu. "It's for yourself but also for everyone else."

Human resources consultants say many owners are wondering if it's legal to force sick staffers to leave work.

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The answer: "You can ask people to go home if you think there's a reasonable suspicion that they have the flu," said Alecia Latimer, HR services manager for AlphaStaff, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based company that provides human resources outsourcing. Latimer said her company has a large number of worried clients in Orange County, Fla., where tourism is the dominant industry, and in Texas, where there is concern because of its proximity to Mexico. The swine flu is believed to have originated in Mexico.

Labor lawyer Martin Gringer with the firm Franklin Gringer & Cohen in Garden City, N.Y., is also fielding more inquiries. One company asked about two workers who had gone to Mexico but weren't sick.

"They didn't want the couple to come back to work," Gringer said. And, just as with sick staffers, employers do have the right to tell workers they shouldn't come in - as long as the companies aren't discriminating in some way. Gringer warned that employers who tell staffers of Mexican descent that they shouldn't come in might be seen as creating the hostile environment that could the basis of a discrimination lawsuit.

What isn't clear is whether a staffer sent home or told not to come to work must under the law be paid. HR and legal experts have differing opinions. But many advise owners to pay the staffers so they won't be tempted to come to work just to be paid.

"If people are really sick you want to encourage them to stay home," Gringer said.

Latimer's company is also getting questions about sick time policies, and what they need to do if an employee is sick for an extended period of time.

Owners are not required under federal or most state laws to grant employees paid time off when they're sick, but the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, known as the FMLA, might require that companies give workers unpaid sick leave.

Owners should also keep in mind that granting sick time is a benefit that makes them more competitive employers. A draconian sick time policy is likely to make good employees leave, and make your best prospects think twice about working for you.

A more difficult question is what to do if workers have used up all their sick time. Should an owner give them some more time or dock their pay?

Latimer and Gringer say that's something each owner needs to decide, but if they do opt to give staffers more time off, they have to do the same for all staffers. Which means the slack you're cutting your best employees you also have to cut the worst ones.

Many owners are likely to be flexible. Thorp, who has already been pondering the question, said, "I would just give people the extra day off."

Depending on the type of work a small business does, an owner can get around the issue of more sick time if an employee could telecommute, working on a PC at home. That's not so easy if the company is a manufacturing operation, and the worker has to be physically present to get the work done.

Gringer said employees can in some cases be fired if they're too sick to work, but that step should only be taken in consultation with a labor lawyer or HR specialist. The Americans with Disabilities Act covers some workers who have medical problems, and firing them could mean a lawsuit.

Gringer said employees frequently calling in sick need to be handled case-by-case. While some are legitimately sick, there are some who always seem to out sick on a Friday.

But, Gringer said, "most employers know who's abusing the system and who's not." And the abusers can indeed be dismissed.

Owners who want to learn more about the laws that deal with employee illnesses, including the FMLA and the ADA, should look online.