According to a recent survey by the body, the majority of businesses have insufficient plans to deal with a swine flu pandemic, despite predictions that absence affecting up to 12% of employees could occur in the event of an outbreak.

Ben Willmott, senior public policy adviser at the CIPD, said: "There is a real danger that senior management teams ignore the threat to their business posed by a second and more serious wave of swine flu.

"The media and public hysteria sparked by the initial stage of the pandemic has created a 'cry wolf' effect where the temptation for business leaders is to ask what all the fuss was about."

He added that it was not simply large-scale absenteeism that businesses had to plan for, but also supply chain and customer issues that would need to be considered to keep a business afloat.

The CIPD recommends that businesses have a plan that would enable the prioritisation of essential activities: cross training of staff in critical areas; provision for remote working; and increasing self-service customer options, such as telephone or online transactions.

In July, the government warned that swine flu could not be contained and cases could reach 100,000 by the end of August.

This has not materialised so far, however, experts have warned that an outbreak could occur in the autumn or winter.

For more information about swine flu, visit the government's dedicated website.