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AbsenceHR practicePay & benefitsWellbeingSick pay

Swine flu question of the day: testing for the virus

by Personnel Today 28 Jul 2009
by Personnel Today 28 Jul 2009

Q If an employee has flu symptoms, can the employer insist that he or she is tested for swine flu?

Employers cannot insist that their employees are tested for swine flu. Testing an employee without his or her agreement would constitute a criminal assault and could also result in a claim for constructive unfair dismissal.

For an employer to require an employee to submit to a test for swine flu, it would need a contractual right to do so contained in either the contract of employment or a separate policy.

Even where the employer has the contractual right to require such a test, the employee must be willing to be tested, although a failure to agree in these circumstances can be treated as a disciplinary issue. The level of any disciplinary sanction should be set out in the relevant policy and should be reasonable in the circumstances of the case.



XpertHR - frequently asked questions on swine fluAll this week, Personnel Today will be bringing you highlights from XpertHR’s frequently asked questions.
Other questions answered today include:

Q Can an employer insist on its employees having a flu vaccination?
Q Should employees who are absent due to swine flu be required to get certification from their GP to confirm that they are ill?

Topics later this week, include:



  • swine flu and public transport
  • childcare
  • sick pay
  • covering for absence.

Read the previous day’s swine flu question of the day.
Read the next day’s swine flu question of the day.

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Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

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