A food service manager learns that an employee has been diagnosed with Hepatitis A. What is the manager's responsibility?

HEPATITIS A — MANAGER RESPONSIBILITY: Hepatitis A is one of the Big 6 highly infectious pathogens. When an employee is diagnosed: (1) EXCLUDE the employee from the food establishment (not just restrict); (2) NOTIFY the local health department (Hepatitis A in a food handler is reportable and may require public health action, including notifying potentially exposed customers and offering post-exposure prophylaxis); (3) Follow health department guidance for the employee's return (typically requires medical clearance);

Why: Hepatitis A is transmitted fecal-orally and can be shed before symptoms appear; an infected food handler can cause large outbreaks; the health department may need to investigate and respond; MANAGER'S ROLE in food safety includes: enforcing illness reporting and exclusion policies; training employees to report symptoms and diagnoses; maintaining a culture where employees feel safe reporting illness; knowing which conditions require exclusion vs restriction and which are reportable; this is a critical food safety management responsibility.