March 20, 2006—Mercer Human Resource Consulting has launched a global initiative and a dedicated Web site to provide companies with planning information and advice to address the people challenges of a potential global avian flu pandemic. The site includes a white paper, a Mercer survey, and a review of employee benefits.
This initiative was developed in response to growing client concerns as the avian flu outbreak spreads from Asia to key commercial centers in Europe.
According to Mercer, in the case of a pandemic, employee absenteeism could be a major problem, creating significant disruptions to essential services, so proactive business continuity planning by governments and the business community is critical.
Mercer’s pandemic preparedness program addresses the key HR issues of crisis leadership, employee communications, workforce planning of critical business functions, and the review of HR policies such as employee insurance coverage, travel restrictions and evacuations, sick leave, working remotely, and preventive health measures.
