Workplaces with colds/flu/covid

0ph0rce0 · 10-10-2022 09:13AM

Our office is riddled at the moment, at least 25 people walking around like zombies, some sort of cold/chest infection type thing.

Nobody will take a few days off because they get "interrogated" like a criminal as to why they wont be in, they have to pay for a doctor to prove they are sick and then have to fight to get paid.

Pretty big established MN company.

Any company I've worked in it's been like this. They'd rather have you in and infect the whole place than give you a day off.

10-10-2022 09:17AM

Like a lot of issues it will come to a head when an employer who forces people to come in to work when sick is sued successfully by someone whose health is broken long term by Covid.

That may be difficult as to proving where infection took place but given this is world wide and Ireland still looks to other common law jurisdictions for legal decisions it is going to happen somewhere and be relevant here.

greenspurs · 10-10-2022 09:27AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119724808#Comment_119724808

No....no it wont......

imagine suing your workplace because you got sick there !!! ffs ..............

Judge "Can you prove you got the cold/flu/'covid' during working hours?"

Paranoid employee - "well your honour , timmy was coughing and and and i was in the canteen with him for 22 mins on weds.. ..

Judge - " gway ta fcuk will yaa ......."

waterwelly · 10-10-2022 09:34AM

It's done. If you are working in hospitality you are in close contact with customers who have colds, bugs, coughs, COVID etc. all day long.

Similar in retail although not quite as close contact.

This idea of people staying home from an office because of a runny nose or cough is nonsense.

Jim2007 · 10-10-2022 02:59PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119724866#Comment_119724866

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119724893#Comment_119724893

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119682800#Comment_119682800

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119724866#Comment_119724866

Well if you say it often enough, you might convince yourself..... but it has not gone a way and it probably is not going to go away. Medicines are improving as are management techniques, but sensible people deal with reality not pretend it does not exist.

greenspurs · 10-10-2022 03:16PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119726536#Comment_119726536

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/31/a-man-lies-dead-in-the-street-the-image-that-captures-the-wuhan-coronavirus-crisis

Will this happen "again" ???

Its a cold ........

Medicines are improving ? but theres no cure for the 'common' (although not common anymore ? 🤔 ) cold or Flu ....

maninasia · 10-10-2022 03:21PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119724893#Comment_119724893

Staying home/WFH from the office because of a cold is getting more common, at least overseas. Seems like there's an epidemic of some sort of cold virus right now in Ireland..everybody has it.

waterwelly · 10-10-2022 03:22PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119726536#Comment_119726536

You might answer my statement.

People in hospitality are exposed to people who have covid and other coughs, splutters and sneezes, in an environment far more packed than any office, on a daily basis.

Are you saying we should keep all these places closed?

Its pointless moaning about people in offices staying at home when sick unless you want all high risk places closed again.

The reality of this nonsense is to shut aviation and hospitality forever.

People are flying on planes with coughs, splutters and covid.

waterwelly · 10-10-2022 03:25PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119726614#Comment_119726614

Good for office staff, but not an option in many other sectors. We would need to close schools and colleges, its rampant in these places and kids bring it home anyway to these precious office workers.

DoctorEdgeWild · 10-10-2022 03:37PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119713695#Comment_119713695

Same as any other sickness I would imagine? If you are too sick to work, you follow whatever procedure your work has. It is no longer a 'must' on the HSE website, it is downgraded, where they are using words like 'should' etc. Same as things were before Covid. It certainly hasn't gone away, but the major effects of it on society are slowly going away (with respect to those who we have lost of course).

ELM327 · 10-10-2022 03:43PM

It's over. Move on.

fun loving criminal · 10-10-2022 04:01PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119724866#Comment_119724866

The advice is still to isolate with symptoms. But Timmy came in with the flu and wasn't sent home. There's a claim right there.

fun loving criminal · 10-10-2022 04:03PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119726685#Comment_119726685

So basically, I can do away with other safety procedures in the workplace as well?

DoctorEdgeWild · 10-10-2022 04:07PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119726812#Comment_119726812

I've no idea where you got that from. Seems kind of a weird thing to think?

Mrs OBumble · 10-10-2022 04:12PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119726812#Comment_119726812

It's all about the probability of someone getting injured if you don't follow them. The chances of getting Covid from someone with cold symptoms and a negative covid test are low.

And in the background, there's an open question about the effect of isolation on human immune system development. It may still be that isolation and over sanitisation actually ard more dangerous long term.

washman3 · 10-10-2022 04:18PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119726591#Comment_119726591

Anyone tell you along the way that the people "dropping dead on the street" never happened. It was all staged to frighten the bejaysus out of people.

Same way as the "toilet paper shortage" was a social experiment to see how fast chaos would spread around the world. It began in Australia and within 36 hours there were fights in UK supermarkets.!!

10-10-2022 04:29PM

Kinda sounds like since you didn't catch Covid, the system worked.

Sono Topolino · 10-10-2022 04:42PM

Currently in my workplace you can only take sick leave under the following circumstances:

You are physically incapable of working and have a medical certificate to prove it
You have a medical appointment.

We aren't allowed to work from home due to GDPR concerns as we handle personal data. If you have a positive Covid-19 test you must come in and wear a mask (this is not policed).

At a recent staff meeting, the managing director stated that "Covid is a cold now" and "forget about the new normal, this is the 'real normal'". A few people complained about the policy, but the MD told them that if they aren't happy they should quit - "I pay you 20% above the market rate to work, not complain. If you don't like how I run my business, there are a lot of other jobs out there right now". Nobody has actually resigned (yet).

waterwelly · 10-10-2022 04:53PM

So little Johnny gets the sniffles. Sensible Daddy takes the week off work and uses his holidays to mind him.

Sensible family are due to go on holidays on the Saturday. They cancel, as Johnny is isolating.

It's only €4000, but it's the sensible thing to do. God knows we can't be infecting the plane.

Little Mary gets the sniffles a month later, a day before her communion. Sensible Daddy cancels her big day, the hotel and all the rest.

He pays the hotel €1000 because it's not their fault, they have all the staff and food arranged.

xhomelezz · 10-10-2022 05:17PM

I think you really pushing it there..

Jim2007 · 10-10-2022 08:10PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119726615#Comment_119726615

If you don’t want to deal with reality that is your choice.

10-10-2022 09:16PM

Antigen tests are snake oil remember.

10-10-2022 09:34PM

People won't stay home if they are sick. Fair enough. But I'm not sitting in an office with them coughing and spluttering anywhere near me.

If someone does that within 15 feet of my desk, I'll be the one leaving, and working from home.

Happy to do it. The more I get to work from home, the better, as far as I'm concerned.

waterwelly · 10-10-2022 10:13PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119728265#Comment_119728265

Well that sounds lovely, but what if nurses, barmen, airline cabin crew and teachers all took that approach?

What would you do if your employer said no can do to wfh?

WFH is only an option for a small segment of society.

WFH then sit down for dinner with the kids who have been mingling in a cold / flu / covid infested school all day.

No point in taking your approach unless you are willing to avoid pubs and restaurants, shops, your children, aircraft etc. etc.

10-10-2022 10:38PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119728396#Comment_119728396

Here's the thing - something I learned during the pandemic, was only to worry about myself. Because nobody else will. And in my case, if someone is visibly symptomatic, coughing, sneezing around me at work, I will leave, and go home. I've done it once already.

I'm not a nurse, barman, or teacher - they can worry about themselves.

I have no small kids, don't frequent pubs or restaurants, and haven't travelled on a plane in years (but if I did, I'd mask up) so thanks for your concern, but I'm not going to waste time or headspace worrying about what anyone else does.

Flinty997 · 10-10-2022 10:49PM

Seems to be rising again.

https://www.rte.ie/news/health/2022/1004/1327049-donnelly-winter/

Flinty997 · 10-10-2022 11:00PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119728396#Comment_119728396

Flight crew can't fly with colds flu for many reasons not least they can damage their ear drums.

Generally you can't be coughing and sneezing over patients or did preparation or drinks.

This is just common sense.

If you're a builder and put your back out you can't work either. That's just life.

fun loving criminal · 11-10-2022 12:01AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119728493#Comment_119728493

Covid on the increase and people thinks it's just a cold. For **** sake, will we ever learn.

greenspurs · 11-10-2022 06:48AM

Winter cold on the increase again.....

Lets all go use dodgy tests and see if we have 'the covid' .....................

Lock us in ... Lock us up .....

greenspurs · 11-10-2022 06:49AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119728396#Comment_119728396

They have no comeback to that ..................

Workplaces with colds/flu/covid

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