Blog Archives « All Editorial Blogs

Pet Product News Editorial Blog:

Protecting Our Health

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Although I’m pretty sure everyone in the United States has had more than his/her fill of conversation about healthcare in the last six months, I’m going to take a risk and bring it up for discussion here amongst our friends in the pet boutique business. I’m not about to share my opinion about legislation or anything else going on in Washington here on this blog, but I would like to talk about sick days.

Every year when cold and flu season comes around, many of us do the delicate “How sick am I?” dance, in which we try to figure out whether the cold is actually the flu, if it’s worth it to miss a day of work, and if we’re contagious. But this year things are a little tricky, aren’t they?

My teenage cousin in Georgia is just getting over swine flu and when she returned to school, 12 of her classmates were also out sick. College students were quarantined by the thousands by the end of August across the country. We all know by now that swine flu isn’t deadly for most of us, but it’s certainly no picnic for anyone. This year my sense of personal responsibility for the health of others is heightened.

Two of my best girlfriends (who also happen to be sisters) are pregnant, so they are among those for whom any form of the flu can be very dangerous. Add to that the fact that they both also have a genetic immune disorder and it’s no secret that coming into contact with swine flu or other viruses would be devastating.

Most of us have enough sense to stay away from a visibly pregnant woman when we’re coughing and sneezing, but even aside from their pregnancies, these two women are still working with compromised immune systems and you would never know it to look at them.

This brings me to my point, which is that protecting the health of others is a primary responsibility as a business owner, particularly in a retail establishment where hundreds of people can walk in and out every day.

Since many pet boutiques hire part-time employees and may not offer benefits like healthcare coverage and sick days, I am curious how some businesses manage to fulfill (or not fulfill) this obligation. Do you put the sick employee in the back to work on inventory or online order fulfillment that day?

For those of you who do manage to provide health insurance and/or sick days for your employees I am sure other boutique owners would love to know how you managed to do that with your small business.

Above all, I would like this blog entry to serve as a reminder to business owners whose employees interact with the public that you do have a responsibility to protect your customers and their families. If a member of your staff is sick and comes into work, interacting with 50 customers during her shift, and each of those 50 customers has three family members at home, just think of the number of people who may have to suffer illness as a result. If any of those people are immune-compromised, the results could be deadly. Not to mention the fact that those family members may be kids who will then bring the germs to school. It’s such a slippery slope. I urge you to either provide paid sick days for your employees or find a way to keep them away from the clientele and other staff members on days when they’re not feeling well but can’t afford to miss a day of work.

« All Editorial Blogs

Industry Professional Site: Comments from non-industry professionals will be removed.