In April 2009 the World Health Organization called the Spring 2009 swine flu outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern” and the New York Times said the world was at “the leading edge of a global pandemic.” With no vaccine yet in existence and with public health officials recommending extreme precautions, the emergency became truly global: As of late April, the crisis was most acute in Mexico, the US and Canada, but infections were emerging as far away as Spain, Israel, Scotland and New Zealand.
Because a workplace pulls employees together into close daily contact, the employment context raises real concerns in any communicable-disease outbreak. Employers have a keen interest in keeping staff healthy and in containing the spread of a disease, not only for the obvious reason of employee welfare but also to keep business operations running and to minimize liability exposure