Why do people come to work when they are ill??!

Because I get colds all the damn time, and if I can manage to go into work I will. Because we are only allowed 2 episodes of sickness (whether that is one day or 4 months) and the third time puts us on performance management plans and discipline plans.

As such, I'll save my two allowed sickness events for when I actually am far too unwell to drag my arse to work. Because I need my job to pay my bills, and not be dismissed because I took off with a cold 3 times in 12 months..

They can't afford to be sick.
They feel guilty taking time off.
There is no one to cover them if they are ill, so the department/shop can't open.

I really doubt they have flu.

allmylifelong

My boss would make me feel so shit if I called in to say I was ill. She’d encourage us to come in even if we weren’t 100%. It was easier just to come in sick than to call in sick.

Same as this, most jobs I’ve had (retail), you’d have to be on the floor not to go in, I once asked to leave because my throat was sore, I was coughing, sneezing and burning up and manager asked did I want to work in the stockroom instead so I didn’t have to deal with customers

Because for me it’s an easier option if I can struggle through. this is due to deadlines, workload.
about 70% of my work will wait for me to return. That’s a thought and a real consideration before phoning in.
I get 6months full pay but agree with others that I would go in with a cold.
when I have called in sick it’s difficult knowing much of my work is waiting … and growing by the day..

I do get 6 months full pay, but I can also work from home so in the event of a cold would do so - as I am not too ill to actually work. I believe that there is a protocol in the event that someone was off frequently.

My first employer also had a full 6.months sick pay but I know for sure that they also had policies in respect of number of sick leave occurrences and amount of time off over 12 months - which would trigger warnings leading to dismissal - I believe it was the Bradford scale - so 3 occurrences of total 6 days for example might trigger a verbal warning- to avoid people misusing the sick pay I guess. So you would only be off if you were too sick to work.

OP, your thread title asks the following question:

"Why do people come to work when they are ill??!"

Well, posters have offered you reasons for why this happens. If you wanted to ask why employees come into YOUR work specifically when they are ill, given your sickness policy, then you should have asked that. But really, how the hell would anyone on MN know why people come in sick to YOUR place of work. The person best placed to find that out is you.

@Confused228 if people repeatedly took sick leave they would soon be without a job. The leave is for serious illness

Another one of these bloody threads. I had a sinus infection last year that went on for six weeks. I looked and sounded like I had a contagious cold the whole time.

People go to work while they are sick for loads of reasons. It’s not something you can control. The only thing you can do is not let it wind you up, shit happens, people get colds and viruses.

@SicknessMadness the same has happened to our son, although not cancer . He went to the meeting , they’d got one of the dates wrong and he was actually in work when they have him down as sick so he has asked them to clarify the dates and also to show him the proof / evidence of any return to work interviews that are supposed to happen after any absence . They of course have none of this as no such interviews have ever taken place so now they are at an impasse as he has pointed out that if they wish to implement the sickness policy they actually need to have followed their own policy - it’s ridiculous .

I agree it’s selfish and unpleasant. I work in an office job where we can work-from-home and I would be cross if a colleague chose to come into the office when clearly infectious. I have a colleague who is immunocompromised so hopefully it wouldnt happen.

I understand it is different when people do jobs where they cannot hybrid work or where they don’t get sick pay.

Because I am a TA and it would be very hard for my colleagues to cope if I didn’t come in.

Another reason. Our boss makes it clear that we can only take annual leave at times such as Christmas if there are sufficient staff working. Taking time off ill would mean we are short staffed. Without question if someone called in sick it would mean we don’t get annual leave next Christmas. I’d rather go to work sick than know it will be the end of annual leave from here onwards.

Perhaps they have deadlines for clients and know other people won't pick up their work in their absence. Perhaps they know it makes their life more difficult when they get back and have double the work.

Perhaps when colleagues have time off at the drop of a hat people are more vocal about people who have time off work for just a cold so they don't.

My office job we can take up to a week paid sick leave with no sick note so there's really no excuse to stay home for a few days, many of us do but there's one who never does and his excuse is "it's not that bad, I'm fine" but really it's because he gets fomo. I'm with you op

Because we get moaned at by everyone if we are off ( nhs).

I have gone into work when really poorly with cold-type viruses. I am a teacher and it is easier to go in and feel like utter crap than it is to set cover to the standard demanded by my school. It takes hours, and includes filling in proformas, creating PowerPoints of lessons that have to be simple enough to be delivered by the equivalent of a trained prairie dog but challenging enough to be a ‘worthwhile learning experience’ for the students. There must be no photocopying requirements or links to videos (in case of technical issues). The individual learning requirements of each student should be taken into account. Even if I do all this, my horrible colleagues will criticise what I have set and say it isn’t good enough. Try doing that for a six period day when you can hardly sit upright.

It’s easier to go in and sit in front of my classes with my head on the desk.

I've name changed because I've spoken about this in real life.

Those who say Bradford factor and trigger points are spot on.

I'm Civil Service, we get 6 months paid, in theory....

My sick record is really good. In part because I rarely get ill and in part because I'd feel guilty letting colleagues down as we are so short staffed.

I had 3 weeks off for a cancer op, passed a trigger point and now have to attend a formal attendance meeting. I'm livid on so many levels, it just feels so discriminatory and plain wrong.

My manager, who is genuinely lovely just doesn't get it, from her point of view she's just doing it because she has to, system told her to, there will be no disciplinary action, just a no further action result. Doesn't understand why I'm making a fuss. Policy and Union confirms that she doesn't have to do it and could just reset the trigger as a reasonable adjustment, but I don't think she's had time to read it properly and is stuck on system told her to do it so she has to.

If I don't do to work, my colleagues will struggle, be short staffed and it would be a huge inconvenience. Much more of an inconvenience than coming in with a mild cold.

Some people don’t get paid.
Some people get put on a disciplinary.
Some are worried that they might need their sick pay/time for if they are seriously ill for example end up in hospital, so don’t want to waste it as it were.
Some people get nasty comments or feel it will adversely affect them if they take time off.

You may well get 6 months full pay if you are off sick . In the NHS you get 6 months full then 6 months half pay however if you repeatedly have 1/2/3 days off every few months you still trigger the sickness policy and could face action .

Good for you. Not everyone gets full pay

Because I have tight deadlines to meet - if not it affects money coming into the organisation which then impacts on other people and could end up with redundancies
If there is more than one person off at a time especially during busy periods we risk not meeting targets which again would have longer term consequences
However, if I’m ill I try and stay away from others by WFH or if not possible booking a quiet space where no one else is and not going for same lunch or break times
Be very grateful of your privileged position and 6 months sick pay

It might be a cold but it can still leave you feeling rather rough. One of the benefits of wfh is that you can still work even though you don’t feel well enough to commute.

For sure you'd get judged for calling in sick this time of year in the company I work for. So people struggle in, cough over everyone until they get sent home!