To minimize absenteeism, employers frequently offer flu vaccinations at no or low cost to their employees. Employers who don’t have an onsite clinic can contract with pharmacies and community vaccinators to provide vaccination services onsite. By providing the vaccinations at the workplace, employers reduce the many barriers that can prevent a worker from getting vaccinated.

To host a clinic, consider these tips from the Centers from Disease Control and Prevention:

Planning

• Get senior management buy-in to support a flu vaccination clinic at the workplace.
• Frame getting employees vaccinated against flu as a business priority and create a goal aligned with this effort.
• Identify a flu vaccination coordinator and/or team with defined roles and responsibilities. Occupational health personnel or workplace safety staff may lead these efforts for employers. Determine if you will need to contract with an experienced outside provider of flu vaccination services (such as a pharmacy or community immunizer). The planning process should also include input from employees, and labor representatives, if needed.
• Schedule the flu vaccination clinic to maximize employee participation.
• Gauge need and demand among employees for flu vaccinations. Provide sufficient and accessible flu vaccinations in as many business locations as possible.
• Ask managers and supervisors to allow employees to attend the onsite flu vaccination clinic as part of their work day and without having to “go off of the clock.”
• Consider offering flu vaccinations to employees’ families.
• Set a goal and help show employees how their participation matters. Each year, try to improve upon the percentage of employees vaccinated.

Hosting and promoting

• Use incentives to increase participation, such as offering vaccines at no or low cost, providing refreshments at the clinic, or holding a contest for the department with the highest percentage of vaccinated employees.
• Promote the flu vaccination clinic with the following

o Posters about the importance of flu vaccination posted in break rooms, cafeterias, and other high traffic areas.

o An article in company communications (i.e., newsletters, intranet, emails, portals, etc.) about the clinic and flu prevention.

o Promotional posters/flyers to advertise the date and time of the clinic posted in high traffic areas.

o Communications promoting vaccination from business leadership directly to employees.

Logistics

• Provide a comfortable and convenient location for flu vaccination clinics. Consider the demands of space and need for privacy.
• Set an example by encouraging managers and business leaders to get vaccinated first.

Source: Promoting Seasonal Flu Vaccination — A Checklist for Businesses and Employers, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; http://www.cdc.gov/flu/pdf/business/checklist.pdf.