Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Tag: H1N1

Big 4 Sick Days: Open Thread

Benflu2_jpeg.jpgSince Team Jehovah is nabbing all the swine flu vaccine, there’s a pretty decent chance that some of you might come down with the H to 1 to the N to the 1. That has at least one reader concerned:

Can you look into the sick day policy at the Big 4’s? Is KPMG the only one who does not give any sick days? If you are sick you take the time from your PTO allowed (the days reduce your vacation time). I have seen people literally dying in the cubes – with temperatures, the chills etc – yet they insist on coming to work since they have no days left or don’t want to use their vacation time. Is this a responsible policy during the H1N1 epidemic???

We touched on this briefly but it’s worth revisiting since the swine flu coverage in the MSM is reaching fever pitch.
Discuss in the comments your firm’s sick days policy, if it’s forcing the bedridden to report, or it’s handing out surgical masks to everyone. Oh, and if you’re sick, for crissakes, stay home.

Will Big 4 Firms Get Access to the Swine Flu Vaccine?

swine.jpgNo idea! But we figure if you’re an auditor (or any other service delivery professional) at Goldman Sachs or Citigroup (PwC and KPMG respectively) you probably have a better chance than most.
Oh and it helps if you’re at high risk for developing complications. So if you’re aged 24 to 64, aren’t around kids, and don’t have serious health issues, you’re just going to have take your chances without the H1N1 vaccine.

Citigroup has been supplied with 1,200 units and Goldman with 200, says Jessica Scaperotti, press secretary for the Department of Health & Mental Hygiene. The agency has so far approved orders by 29 employers–including 16 that have yet to receive any vaccine–after they were cleared by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC). Big employers that have received or are scheduled to receive vaccine so far include Time Warner (TWX), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Memorial Sloan-Kettering, New York Presbyterian Healthcare System, and New York University.

Since we have the tendency to jump to conclusions, will assume there’s no plans to distribute any vaccines to any of the large accounting firms locations. Reaffirming our belief that the Rodney Dangerfield image remains intact for the accounting firms. Your best bet is to be on the client site of any company that has any systematic importance.
New York Businesses Get H1N1 Vaccine [Business Week via JDA]
Earlier: Deloitte Study Says That Half of You Aren’t Scared of Swine Flu. Tell That to a Backstreet Boy
Also Earlier: Our Token Swine Flu Post

Deloitte Study Says That Half of You Aren’t Scared of Swine Flu. Tell That to a Backstreet Boy

brian littrell.jpgDammit people, this is serious. Deloitte is doing studies for crying out loud. Yet, over half of you still aren’t completely freaking the hell out over swine flu.
Ordinarily, we’d let this slide by but it doesn’t seem to be a typical Tuesday, so we’ll ask that you bear with us.
How about one of the finest entertainers on the planet getting the H to 1 to the N to the 1? Will this convince you that this needs to be taken seriously?
When a member of a heartthrob boy band that, for all intents and purposes, has been annihilated from popular culture altogether is affected, doesn’t that cause you to stop and think?
Deloitte studies, fine, those are totally meaningless. We’re talking a step below D-List celebrities getting sick. Please reconsider your indifference.
Swine Flu Preparedness: Consumer Pulse Study Fact Sheet [Deloitte Center for Health Solutions]

Our Token Swine Flu Post

swine.jpgWe’re upping our pandemic coverage today because 1) it’s god-awful slow out there and B) refer back to #1. Apparently most businesses out there don’t really have a plan in case this whole H1N1 thing gets medieval on our asses.
Continued, after the jump


AP:

The survey found that two-thirds of the more than 1,000 businesses questioned nationwide said they could not maintain normal operations if half their workers were out for two weeks. Four out of every five businesses expect severe problems if half their workers are out for a month. “What we found is that a minority of businesses have started some sort of emergency planning,” said Robert Blendon, a professor of health policy and leader of the project sponsored by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Most, I don’t think, have thought through the implications of something so widespread.”

Surely you’d think that the accounting firms would not fall into this particular category. We glanced over the BW list again (because we’ve got nothing better to do) and surprisingly, only PwC and McGladrey & Pullen have sick days listed. P. Dubs is “Unlimited” and M&P provides five days. The other firms have nothing listed.
So are we to assume that the other usual suspects don’t provide any sick days? Most of you are aware of the really obnoxious habit that some people have of coming to work when they should probably be in the hospital. They pop some Airborne or overdose on Vitamin C and they think they’re cured.
Then, of course, there are types that assume that anyone who calls in sick is faking because, well, their jobs sucks. So the “sick” play at accounting firms is always a lose-lose-lose.
So the question should be asked: What the hell happens when half your team can’t crawl out of bed? Are the firms going to start giving you GASP sick days? Are the firms going to provide everyone with biohazard suits so everyone can still come to work? Maybe just the new associates and partners (probably the most likely scenario)? Discuss.