Flu season keeping people at home, emptying schools, workplaces

As the flu, RSV and the common cold sweep through the province, Saskatchewan schools and workplaces are seeing extreme absentee rates.

“There’s rarely a day that goes by where one person isn’t calling in sick,” said Taso Barlas, owner of Mano’s Restaurant. “At least once a day, at least one person. Last week it was three people in one shift.

“The staff gets stretched. Everyone is trying to pick up the slack of that missing person and it creates a stressful environment.”

Brianna Solberg senior policy analyst with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said that business owners have been filling in for sick employees, so they don’t have to cut opening hours or decrease services.

“Business owners simply can’t deal with a lack of staff, especially during what should be a busy holiday season. They’re trying to offer higher wages. They’re trying to offer better flexibility for their staff to sort of avoid them becoming burnt out.”

Business owners and schools have been increasing health and safety precautions to avoid being short-staffed, but it sometimes isn’t enough to keep operations at their most efficient.

The provincial school illness absenteeism rates are currently sitting at 15 per cent according to the Community Respiratory Illness Surveillance Program (CRISP), with the southern half of the province being hit the hardest.

West said that the exact cause of missing students, whether it be covid or the flu, is unknown, but the CRISP reports show that influenza test positivity is at 25.5 per cent.

1:23 Flu season keeping kids home from school

“When people are sick, even if they’re not super-duper sick, they’re staying home,” said Twylla West, communications and media coordinator for Regina Catholic Schools.

The changed perspective on illness is partially a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, people may have pushed through a cold while attending work or school, but now they are more wary about infecting those around them.

“We don’t want out staff coming in to work, but I will say that there is a new culture around calling in sick and it’s a lot easier than it used to be. I’m hoping that we will get back to our old culture and that there won’t be so much fear around a sniffle and a cough,” Barlas said.

He said that only businesses who adapt to the current environment and make changes to accommodate their staff, will make it through successfully.

“It’s been a trying few years.” said Barlas, “We are all just waiting for the next challenge to overcome and hopefully we will see some light at the end of the tunnel soon.”

“All potential solutions to help with the labour shortage have been tried,” Solberg said. “Inflationary pressures, supply chain issues, and heavy debt loads are creating a perfect storm for small businesses right now and many are stressed out about the holiday season and whether they will be able to weather that storm and whether they will be adequately staffed.”