With the swine flu H1N1 pandemic still gathering momentum in this region, corporate and health department leaders are focusing their efforts on keeping sick people away from workplaces.

For instance, Seattle-based Pemco Insurance has implemented one section of earlier pandemic planning: giving employees extra paid time to stay home, even if those people have maxed out their sick-time accounts.

"If you have the flu, we're going to ask you to stay home and get better; we don't want you coming in sick to the office," says Pemco Business Continuity Manager Shelby Edwards.

While the virulency of the H1N1 flu has been relatively mild, with one person dead so far in King County, the danger for at-risk individuals is high, says Michael Loehr, preparedness manager for Public Health-Seattle and King County.

Especially vulnerable are children, people with underlying health conditions, and pregnant women.

"For the business side," Loehr says, "this is a serious message: It's not going to get all your people, but you don't know who has underlying health conditions."

This flu epidemic is mild enough, however, that the health department isn't calling for more draconian measures such as cancelling public events and asking companies to avoid face-to-face group meetings.

"You don't cancel meetings, anything like that—you just keep sick people out," Loehr says.

In a similar vein, another company is giving people an extra sick day as a reward for getting vaccinated.

"That's our message we've really wanted to convey," Loehr says. "It's like seasonal flu for most people but not all, so you want to maintain those conditions to prevent spread throughout the organization."