What obligations do employers have towards staff during the swine flu pandemic?

Employers are under a general duty to provide a safe system of work and safe place of work for all employees, and must take reasonable steps to ensure such safety.Although employers are not usually liable for unforeseen events, the swine flu pandemic is known about and may well trigger the duty to take any reasonable steps necessary to protect employees from the risk of infection. In addition to this general duty, employers have a statutory duty to ensure health and safety of employees at work under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
 

Language does not simply reflect what is going on in organisational life: it also influences what people think and what they do

Linda Holbeche, director of the Holbeche Partnership and visiting professor of HRM/OD at Cass Business School