People coming into work when they're ill

whoopsadoodles · 19-01-2017 12:33pm

Kashton Hundreds Laborer wrote: »

I was assuming that until her remark that she was on the side of my colleague, which I presume meant that she thought she was right to come in.

I took it as she was on the side of your colleague in that she understood why she felt pressured to come in.

Bambi985 · 19-01-2017 12:36pm

Kashton Hundreds Laborer wrote: »

My colleague was genuinely sick, not 'pisstaking'.

I didn't say she wasn't. I said the pisstaking people make it difficult for people who are genuinely ill to take sick days - because there's a perception that they'll be lumped in with the "oh my allergies are acting up" brigade who routinely schedule sick days for themselves for any and every reason.

Your colleague clearly should have stayed at home. But she probably didn't want to seem like she was slacking off, she didn't want her reputation to be affected - which it may not have been, but your brain doesn't always think that way when you've worked in offices with the aforementioned types and seen other colleagues rolling their eyes or having their days ruined yet again because of them.

B.A._Baracus · 19-01-2017 12:36pm

I know a lot of people don't do this, but some people in fact like to pass it on to others.
They feel since they had the unfortunate luck to catch it, it's gonna be your turn next.

Bambi985 · 19-01-2017 12:37pm

Kashton Hundreds Laborer wrote: »

I was assuming that until her remark that she was on the side of my colleague, which I presume meant that she thought she was right to come in.

Not right: but I can empathise. I can understand why she would.

Blazer · 19-01-2017 12:38pm

After numerous cases of people or coming in sick and infecting people HR started to crack down after one particular bad bout left 9 people out of a 13 man team out sick for over a week. Basically told if you're sick stay at home and take a sick day or work if you had an online connection but under no circumstances come into the office.

pickarooney · 19-01-2017 12:39pm

B.A._Baracus wrote: »

I know a lot of people don't do this, but some people in fact like to pass it on to others.
They feel since they had the unfortunate luck to catch it, it's gonna be your turn next.

Helping everyone build up immunity and forestalling the propogation of supervirii.

True heroes.

Lorelli! · 19-01-2017 12:47pm

I'd rarely ring in sick and don't get sick often, maybe the odd cold. I have found in a few places where I've worked, that if you did ring in sick, the manager's tone on the phone would change and they would become very abrupt. They'd basically give you the cold shoulder for calling in sick.

Riddle101 · 19-01-2017 1:03pm

Not as easy as it seems. I know one of workplace that looked down on the idea of taking work off due to being sick. They seemed to imply that unless you were practically dead or in hospital, then taking time off for something like a cough, cold, or vomiting bug would't be tolerated.

It really depends on the severity of the illness though. If I had a cough, or cold I would still go into work because I can't afford to take time off, and i'm still physically able for work. If I had a vomiting bug or the flu then I would ring sick because I wouldn't be physically able to work while running to the toilet every few minutes, or failing that being bedridden due to the flu.

AudreyHepburn · 19-01-2017 1:10pm

I would be slow to take a sick day to honest and it's not out of selfishness or anything close to it.

I just don't ever want to be one of those people that calls in sick for every little thing.

That said if I have something like a stomach bug I will call in, not to so would be beyond selfish, unhygienic and just downright disgusting.

That some here would come to work with the likes of the Vomiting Bug or conditions serious enough that they should be in hospital beggars belief.

There is always a choice when it gets that bad.

Goya · 19-01-2017 1:51pm

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

I would be slow to take a sick day to honest and it's not out of selfishness or anything close to it.

I just don't ever want to be one of those people that calls in sick for every little thing

But there is a vast chasm between phoning in sick when you are too unwell to be productive (this doesn't mean practically having to be at death's door either) and phoning in sick for every little thing. People wouldn't see you as the latter for doing the former.

I had a cold before Christmas but was still well able to go to work, but the next morning after a night of fever... ok I could have gotten out of the bed and gone to work but I felt miserable and needed sleep (slept until the evening) so why do that to myself? I felt the same the next day, but by the third day i felt fine again and returned to work. But I actually wasn't fine and relapsed on the fourth day, however by then it was Christmas. Was sick for Christmas though.

c68zapdsm5i1ru · 19-01-2017 1:55pm

Goya wrote: »

But there is a vast chasm between phoning in sick when you are too unwell to be productive (this doesn't mean practically having to be at death's door either) and phoning in sick for every little thing. People wouldn't see you as the latter for doing the former.

I had a cold before Christmas but was still well able to go to work, but the next morning after a night of fever... ok I could have gotten out of the bed and gone to work but I felt miserable and needed sleep (slept until the evening) so why do that to myself? I felt the same the next day, but by the third day i felt fine again. Although I actually wasn't, and relapsed on the fourth day but by then it was Christmas. Was sick for Christmas though.

I got a bad chest infection before Christmas and the advice from my doctor was not to go back to work until I was completely recovered because otherwise I'd just pick up the next bug going and be back to square one.

I know some people are a pain in the ass, ringing in sick for every minor thing and creating a culture where sick leave is regarded with suspicion and 'throwing a sickie' becomes a common expression. But there's a happy medium, and going in to work when you're really not well, or rushing back from sick leave before you've properly recovered, can just cause more problems in the long term. Illnesses just start spreading around offices like wildfire, and people end up going out on a second cert., for a longer period of time, when a couple of extra days at home would have seen them completely recovered.

jester77 · 19-01-2017 2:02pm

I can't remember the last time I was sick, but I know if I was, then I would be better able to recover in the office than at home where the kids would be running around and demanding things and not giving me a break. At least in the office I would have some peace.

check_six · 19-01-2017 2:06pm

A friend once told me that they were 'expected' to 'use up' their sick days in the place they worked. I was slightly flabbergasted so it didn't really sink in until later, but they were saying that they had a 12 day 'sick day' allowance that they were expected to use up each year as it would not carry over. I was so startled that I struggled to even ask what happened if you were actually sick.

Looking back I'm certain that this couldn't be a company policy, and more just a corrosive tradition that had seeped in over time. Still, seems pretty bonkers to me.

Has anyone ever heard the like before?

Dr Crayfish · 19-01-2017 2:10pm

I had strep throat a couple of years ago and was out of work for about a week. Bad infection, could barely stand up or walk, it was really horrible. I ignored it for a couple of days as I didn't want to pay a GP, but by the time I got to a doctor they said I was close to being hospitalised. When I lived in England you can see a GP for free whenever you want, there's been times where I'm hard up for cash here so I don't go to a doctor, or I ignore things that I should probably get checked out. Then people on the dole get doctors for free... Not really fair is it?

eoinzy2000 · 19-01-2017 2:12pm

Kashton Hundreds Laborer wrote: »

Someone has been in work doing the dying swan all over the place for the past couple of days. Their area is not particularly busy, she will be paid if she stays off work, there will be no issue made of it. But no, she insisted on coming in, coughing and sneezing all over the place, looking all pale and miserable, and telling us all how awful she felt.

She is now out and on antibiotics, but a couple of other people who work in the same room as her are starting to feel shivery and one girl is getting a scratchy throat and generally people are annoyed that this woman didn't just stay at home out of people's way.

I understand that sometimes it can be difficult to stay at home when you're sick (won't be paid, unreasonable employer or somesuch). But in circumstances such as the above, why can't people use common sense and stay at home and not spread their germs all over the place?

Let me guess.. public service? Where you clearly feel it doesnt matter if sick days are taken for an auld sniffle?
If this is the case, you can probably go to your union to get some direction on the matter. That should kill a couple of weeks....

B.A._Baracus · 19-01-2017 2:16pm

check_six wrote: »

A friend once told me that they were 'expected' to 'use up' their sick days in the place they worked. I was slightly flabbergasted so it didn't really sink in until later, but they were saying that they had a 12 day 'sick day' allowance that they were expected to use up each year as it would not carry over. I was so startled that I struggled to even ask what happened if you were actually sick.

Looking back I'm certain that this couldn't be a company policy, and more just a corrosive tradition that had seeped in over time. Still, seems pretty bonkers to me.

Has anyone ever heard the like before?

Yup. Happens in my mates job. You're given a certain amount of days and then told to use them. IIRC, it's a set number of days given over two years in his job.

But your not ordered to take them! You're just told how many you have left and better to use them as you will lose them.

Wouldn't say corrosive tradition at all (don't know where you got that from) it's just people have days they are entitled too and they should use them up.

lawred2 · 19-01-2017 2:17pm

suicide_circus wrote: »

The culture in many places of work is entirely hypocritical on this. On one hand it's all about "wellness" and telling people they should have stayed home and on the other sanctioning people (officially but mostly unofficially) for taking sick leave and it hurting their standing and prospects within a firm.

In one. Typical double speaking horsesh!t.

harry Bailey esq · 19-01-2017 2:21pm

Kashton Hundreds Laborer wrote: »

Someone has been in work doing the dying swan all over the place for the past couple of days. Their area is not particularly busy, she will be paid if she stays off work, there will be no issue made of it. But no, she insisted on coming in, coughing and sneezing all over the place, looking all pale and miserable, and telling us all how awful she felt.

She is now out and on antibiotics, but a couple of other people who work in the same room as her are starting to feel shivery and one girl is getting a scratchy throat and generally people are annoyed that this woman didn't just stay at home out of people's way.

The girl you speak of is what's generally referred to as a common or garden lickarse.Geebag,if you were to use my own reference.It reminds me of an ad years ago for lempsip max strength (a flu medication) where the chap turns up to work, a deathly palour on his face and then he has a mug of this stuff and the colour is back in his face. The tagline? 'Lempsip max strength, separates the men from the boys'
What they didn't tell us about this 'brave man' was that guttersnipe probably infected half the poxy office with his filthy germs.

lawred2 · 19-01-2017 2:21pm

Bambi985 wrote: »

I don't get "sickie" people. The type that gets the flu and a chest infection and tonsillitis and a stomach bug every year without fail. And takes at least one sick day every month or two to deal with it all. And there's one of these in every office, and they grind everyone's gears for the strain they put on the whole team who have to pick up slack for them every other week.

I get sick -truly sick enough to be unable to work or do anything other than lie in bed convinced I'm dying - probably once or twice a decade. The flu last year where I couldn't eat or breathe properly and dropped a stone off my already slim frame. Took two days for that. Before that, probably tonsillitis around 2009. I'm not some super human either, I just don't succumb to a few sniffles and take the piss every other month.

I'd be more on your colleague's side tbh. The pisstaking "sickies" ruin it for the rest of us, who are ambitious and value how we're seen by our bosses and don't want to fracture trust just because there's another sick-day addict in the office who makes everyone automatically disbelieve they are actually ill.

I don't get foolish martyrs personally nor do I get those who take it upon themselves to monitor everyone else in the office...

howiya · 19-01-2017 2:21pm

I don't get sick pay so I go in if I can

A week or two ago I was really sick though but somebody else on our small team was off on annual leave and there was nobody else to do certain bits of the work if I didn't go in. So I did go in, manager would send me home as early as possible once everything had been done.

Agree with whomever else said its a very poor way to run a business. No contingency planning whatsoever but its falling on deaf ears inside.

Goya · 19-01-2017 2:24pm

eoinzy2000 wrote: »

Let me guess.. public service? Where you clearly feel it doesnt matter if sick days are taken for an auld sniffle?
If this is the case, you can probably go to your union to get some direction on the matter. That should kill a couple of weeks....

Jeez, either on a wind-up, barely read the post you quoted, or worst comprehension skills ever!

lawred2 · 19-01-2017 2:26pm

Riddle101 wrote: »

Not as easy as it seems. I know one of workplace that looked down on the idea of taking work off due to being sick. They seemed to imply that unless you were practically dead or in hospital, then taking time off for something like a cough, cold, or vomiting bug would't be tolerated.

lol

I'd love to see someone in the office with a vomiting bug...

ger vallely · 19-01-2017 2:26pm

I work in preschool. Since coming back after the break we've had kids being sent in and within an hour of them arriving they've wilted. Fever and general unwellness. When the parents come to collect them the say 'yeah, well she had a fever earlier but I thought she'd be fine.' That kind of thing. Having a few children come in like this means that virus will spread like wildfire. I am now out all this week with a lung and sinus infection, fever, pains, shallow breathing. This was all avoidable. People who are contagiously ill should stay home away from the public. Common sense. I mean it's basic knowledge, containing a virus. As for going into work while suffering with a vomiting/stomach bug, well that's hugely irresponsible, no excuse. A co worker could bring that home to an elderly sick relative or a young baby. Very bad form.

c68zapdsm5i1ru · 19-01-2017 2:32pm

eoinzy2000 wrote: »

Let me guess.. public service? Where you clearly feel it doesnt matter if sick days are taken for an auld sniffle?
If this is the case, you can probably go to your union to get some direction on the matter. That should kill a couple of weeks....

Let me guess. Private sector begrudger, always looking for an excuse to bash the public sector, even if it means completely distorting posts to try and make your invalid point?

coffee_cake · 19-01-2017 2:33pm

I hate calling in sick, even when I'm in and the manager is like wtf, go home
There's so many people who boast about never having taken a sick day and then you just feel like a total loser

c68zapdsm5i1ru · 19-01-2017 2:35pm

jester77 wrote: »

I can't remember the last time I was sick, but I know if I was, then I would be better able to recover in the office than at home where the kids would be running around and demanding things and not giving me a break. At least in the office I would have some peace.

Yes, but what about the other people in the office? Don't they deserve consideration?

infogiver · 19-01-2017 2:36pm

Kashton Hundreds Laborer wrote: »

Someone has been in work doing the dying swan all over the place for the past couple of days. Their area is not particularly busy, she will be paid if she stays off work, there will be no issue made of it. But no, she insisted on coming in, coughing and sneezing all over the place, looking all pale and miserable, and telling us all how awful she felt.

She is now out and on antibiotics, but a couple of other people who work in the same room as her are starting to feel shivery and one girl is getting a scratchy throat and generally people are annoyed that this woman didn't just stay at home out of people's way.

I understand that sometimes it can be difficult to stay at home when you're sick (won't be paid, unreasonable employer or somesuch). But in circumstances such as the above, why can't people use common sense and stay at home and not spread their germs all over the place?

The employers need to make their position clear on this via notices on the workplace notice board and in the contract of employment
Why did her superior not come and tell her to leave?

c68zapdsm5i1ru · 19-01-2017 2:45pm

infogiver wrote: »

The employers need to make their position clear on this via notices on the workplace notice board and in the contract of employment
Why did her superior not come and tell her to leave?

That never happens around here. People might say 'God you don't look well. You should go home'. But you would never get an official instruction to go home.
A couple of years ago someone in here was working her final week before going into hospital for major surgery. She also had a close relative in hospital with pneumonia, who she was visiting in the evenings. Some dolt who shared a room with her decided to come in with a bad cold, and cough and sneeze all over the place. If ever any one should have been told to go home it was her. We wouldn't have minded, but normally she's the type who rings in sick over anything. That particular week, she chose to be a martyr!

jester77 · 19-01-2017 2:46pm

Kashton Hundreds Laborer wrote: »

Yes, but what about the other people in the office? Don't they deserve consideration?

Of course, but it's not as black and white as people are making out here. Some people might not have optimal situations for recovering at home.

allthedoyles · 19-01-2017 2:46pm

Was sick recently . caredoc was 60e . prescription 37e . stay out of work lose paydays . illness benefit you get nothing for first 6 days .
For me it was a financial decision to stay working .

People coming into work when they're ill

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