The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend employees with swine flu stay home for seven days or until they’ve been symptom-free for 24 hours, whichever’s longer, according to a recent Chicago Tribune article.

Seven or more days is a long absence, especially in this economy. Many managers will probably be reluctant to allow that much time off. But they need to understand how low productivity could drop if the flu spreads to several workers.

Some of the ways the Tribune reports companies are dealing with the issue:

1. Financial company CME Group, Inc., has beefed up its telecommuting capacity so more employees can work from home if necessary.
2. In addition to offering seasonal flu shots and adding hand sanitizer dispensers in its offices, Kraft developed a special emergency response plan that includes options such as bringing employees from other areas to plants hard hit by absenteeism.
3. Ravinia Plumbing and Heating, a company of fewer than 40 employees, has cross-trained workers so operations won’t be disrupted if some folks are absent.

Has your company taken any steps to deal with the anticipated swine flu outbreak? Let us know in the comments section below.

Job seekers currently outweigh job openings six to one, according to the latest report from the Department of Labor (DOL). That’s the highest ratio since the DOL started recording those numbers in 2000.

Even though some things are getting better, experts say employers are too uncertain to start hiring again just yet.

What it means for HR: If you’re lucky enough to be hiring right now, it’s as much a buyer’s market as it’s been in recent years.

Some managers think their best employees will stick with the company just because they have nowhere else to go — but that type of attitude could leave many employers with a huge turnover problem in the near future.

Once more jobs are available, current employees will jump ship to take them. In fact, 54% say they plan on changing jobs once the economy rebounds, according to a survey from Adecco Group North American.

And the younger employees are, the more likely they’ll be out the door at the first opportunity. Of employees ages 18-29, 71% plan to look for a new job after the recession.

Why? It’s easier now than usual for employees to get disgruntled, considering many have survived layoffs and been asked to do more work for less pay.

To compound that, too many managers think they don’t need to worry about retention when the economy’s tanked.

But a lousy job market really only delays retention problems, which could leave companies stuck with a mass exodus of top talent.

Here are the top ways managers ensure people will leave the company as soon as they can:

1. Staying silent – Employees need honest, open communication. When managers withhold information, employees will always feel uncomfortable and on edge.
2. Being too cynical – Being honest and open doesn’t mean only focusing on negatives — employees still need a healthy dose of good news. To provide that, announce and celebrate the company’s small victories.
3. Keeping employees out of decisions – Top performers want to know what’s going on — and feel like they’re making a real impact in the company’s future. Managers should involve employees in some of the decision making about cost-cutting measures. That’ll generate some good ideas and make employees feel trusted and valued.
4. Forgetting the little things – Even when budget cuts lead to benefit reductions or salary freezes, there are still some low- or no-cost benefits managers can add — for example, flexible scheduling and training.
5. Ignoring compensation concerns – Though everyone should understand what difficult times mean, top employees still want to know their interests are important to the company. It’s important for managers to maintain an open dialogue throughout the entire process and remind employees that only their hard work will ensure that pay raises are available in the future.

About 40% of employers say they’ll rehire many employees who were let go during the downturn, according to a recent survey by OI Partners.

Higher numbers were in the industries most affected by the economic downturn. For example, half of respondents in the financial sector expressed interest in rehiring laid-off employees, along with 47% in the construction industry.

The reason: To avoid training costs, it makes sense to bring back people who already know the work and the company.

The number of applicants per job opening varies widely depending on geography. These are the most competitive markets right now, according to a study by Simply Hired:

1. Detroit (1 job for every 46 applicants)
2. Grand Rapids, MI (1 job/35 applicants)
3. Miami (1/29)
4. Sacramento, CA (1/28)
5. Las Vegas (1/26)
6. Greenville-Spartanburg, SC (1/25)
7. Greensboro-High Point-Winston-Salem, NC (1/25)
8. Los Angeles (1/25)
9. Providence, RI (1/25)
10. Cleveland (1/23)
11. Orlando, FL (1/22)
12. Louisville, KY (1/21)
13. Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL (1/21)
14. New York City (1/20)
15. Cincinnati (1/20)

And the markets most friendly to job seekers:

1. Des Moines, IA (1 job for every 5 applicants)
2. Washington, DC (1/5)
3. Omaha, NE (1/5)
4. West Palm Beach-Fort Pierce, FL (1/6)
5. Salt Lake City (1/8)
6. Baltimore (1/8)
7. Albuquerque-Santa Fe, NM (1/9)
8. Pittsburgh (1/10)
9. Oklahoma City (1/10)
10. Austin, TX (1/10)
11. Boston (1/10)
12. Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY (1/10)
13. Denver (1/11)
14. Dallas (1/11)
15. Seattle (1/11)

It can be a great time to hire. Here’s how to calculate whether hiring makes sense for you now, according to Diana Ransom of the Wall Street Journal:

1. Pick the right areas – Some departments may need more people, while others have too many. The first step in deciding when to hire should be to talk with managers and find out where increased headcount is necessary.
2. Estimate future sales – Sales reps can talk to existing customers and ask how much they plan to buy in the next 12 months. Also, ask the sales manager to estimate revenues from new customers.
3. Project added revenues – This can be tough to do for some positions, but Ransom uses the example of a production worker: If an employee can build 5 units per day, and each unit sells for $40, that’s $52,000 of revenue a year (as long as sales thinks it can sell that much).
4. Add up all costs – It’s important to keep in mind the total costs of hiring and employing a new person. In addition to salary and benefits, look at time and money spent recruiting, training costs and any equipment that must be purchased to accommodate a new worker.
5. Figure out profits – Use total costs compared to added revenues to estimate how much the company will make on its investment.
6. Hire temps – If there isn’t enough room in the budget to hire workers full-time, you can try hiring through a temp agency. That way, you’ll also avoid laying someone off if there’s no longer enough work in a few months.

Once more jobs are available, current employees will be jumping ship to take them. In fact, 54% say they plan on changing jobs once the economy rebounds, according to a survey from Adecco Group North American.

The numbers are even worse for younger folks. Of employees age 18-29, 71% plan to jump ship.

Why? Often, it has to do with conditions worsening at employees’ current jobs, Adecco says. When employees see co-workers laid off and have to work longer hours with no pay increase, it’s common to become disgruntled.

That’s why it’s HR’s job to help managers keep employees as happy as possible right now. Some supervisors may assume they don’t have to worry about retention in this economy, but as the survey above shows, that attitude will only backfire later.

One in ten employees are working a second job now, according to a recent CareerBuilder survey. Here are some of the most interesting moonlighting activities employees are taking on:

1. Juggling chainsaws in a talent competition
2. Working as a tarot card reader
3. Participating in university research studies
4. Taking notes in class for college students
5. Testing recipes for a cookbook
6. Working as a movie extra, and
7. Researching stories for a gossip columnist.

What unorthodox ways of maying money have you heard of workers trying? Let us know in the comments section below.

Companies face a lot of staffing decisions in a rough economy — which are often complicated by tough legal questions. For clarification, the Department of Labor (DOL) recently released a fact sheet on legally trimming exempt employees’ salaries and schedules.

Reducing salaries and hours for exempt employees can easily lead to FLSA violations. Here are the DOL’s answers to some of trickiest questions about legal staffing strategies during a slowdown:

1. Can we require exempt employees to take unpaid days off?

Only if it’s for a full week, the DOL says. Exempt employees must be paid for any week in which they perform any work — other than when a full day of pay is deducted because the employee took off for personal reasons.

But when the day off is the employer’s decision, pay can’t be deducted.

2. Can exempt employees volunteer to take time off without pay?

Employers can’t force exempt employees to take unpaid days off — but when it’s 100% voluntary, the DOL counts that as a “day off for personal reasons” and pay can be deducted in full-day increments.

3. Can we require exempt employees to use vacation time?

Yes, companies can deduct from an exempt employee’s leave bank for absences, even when it’s for less than a full day and the absence was mandated by the employer.

The tricky part: Exempt employees need to be paid a full salary in weeks in which they perform any work (except when a full day of pay is deducted when the employee is absent for personal reasons) — which means if someone’s leave bank is empty, pay cannot be deducted.

4. Can we just reduce exempt employees’ regular salary?

Yes — as long as salaries aren’t regularly changed to get around the salary basis requirement. What’s the difference? According to the DOL:

Allowable pay deductions involve “a prospective reduction in the predetermined pay to reflect long-term business needs,” rather than a “short-term, day-to-day or week-to-week deduction” based on how many hours employees work.

Telecom firm BT has worked out an arrangement with other companies in “like-minded industries.” The deal: Would-be layoff victims can temporarily work for — and be paid by — those other employers.

Then, once BT’s ready for them, they’ll get their old jobs back.

The temporary re-assignments are being offered on a voluntary basis, but employees will be forced to make the move if the need arises, a BT spokesperson said. As for how long the workers will be employed by competitors, the company has only said it will be at least a month, according to the Times Online.

Supporters of the scheme say it will allow BT to cut costs while maintaining morale and making sure they have their best employees back once the economy picks up. But detractors say it will only encourage staff to move to other employers permanently.

What do you think? Is the loan of workers a smart way to avoid layoffs? Or a bad move for everyone involved? Give us your opinion in the comments section below.