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Original poster

Where do you stand on going to work with a cold?

120 replies

LittleDisaster · 03/01/2023 12:40

I was brought up to go to school or work unless you were really physically unable to. I did the same with my DC. I'm sure until recently that was the normal expectation. It was certain yrhe case in the industry I worked in for the first 25 years of my working life.

DS has a low level management role in a service industry and is very frustrated by the ease with which colleagues are prepared to take a day off.

Has there been a real step change or is it my/his upbringing that was weird?

OP posts:
Original poster
LittleDisaster · 03/01/2023 12:41

FWIW I've seen the same change in the industry I work in now, so I don't think it's only that they don't like working for him!

OP posts:
IDontCareMatthew · 03/01/2023 12:42

In my house if any of us have got a cold it doesn't even get commented on!

TheLightSideOfTheMoon · 03/01/2023 12:43

No sick pay at my work so you go in

It sucks, but there’s bills to pay and they aren’t getting any cheaper.

grayhairdontcare · 03/01/2023 12:45

We go in with Covid.
Work in a nursery. No sick pay and expected in.

Mommabear20 · 03/01/2023 12:46

Me and DH were brought up the same, and have and do both go to work unless physically unable. But we have the same issue in our jobs too (1 office based, 1 hospitality) people will call in sick for absolutely anything.

Bobbybobbins · 03/01/2023 12:46

I think attitudes have changed a bit post covid.

I'm a teacher and would go in for eg sniffles, headache, sore throat but not if I was coughing everywhere or had a temperature.

TheMoth · 03/01/2023 12:54

Yep. No time off unless you physically can't, or are throwing up. It was a relief, during covid, to be told not to come in, as I tend to drag myself in thinking:"I'm not that bad. " I'm also a teacher, so my absence tends to fuck up someone else's day and mean my classes do fuck all.

julz87 · 03/01/2023 12:56

So I'm in the mindset of keep powering on through and go to work but at my workplace people give you a look if you're coughing and sneezing everywhere so you feel obliged not to go into the office.
That said if you're off with a cold people will say "oh just a cold!?" But that's probably just my miserable workplace!

xogossipgirlxo · 03/01/2023 12:56

I don't think you have much choice on SSP, unles you're really unwell like flu.

defi · 03/01/2023 12:57

I just couldn't call in sick with a cold myself

TabithaTittlemouse · 03/01/2023 13:01

Unless we have a limb hanging off or d and v we go in.

1001Daffodils · 03/01/2023 13:23

A cold would have to be at flu levels of incapacitation for me to not work, but then I'm fortunate that I've been able to work remotely since laptops became common place.

Pre-covid that would mean dropping my manager a text message to request permission to work from home instead of attempting to commute (personally I found that harder than working).

These days I just log on and power through in some shape.

I'm not sure how well I'd manage in a customer facing role with a horrible cold though. That's a different level of effort compared with my job (project web based).

Lkydfju · 03/01/2023 13:26

I was made to go in to school as a child unless I was really unwell and it’s meant that as an adult I did this too until I realised that by not taking sick leave I was prolonging how long I was ill for and making myself less productive so now I’m easier on myself when I have a bad cold however in my job it only really effects me if I take sick leave as I manage my own workload

Nothingbuttheglory · 03/01/2023 13:29

If I took time off every time I caught a cold I'd be fired in pretty short order. I work in a school, so the prevailing attitude is very much "if you possibly can come in, you must". I did start avoiding the staff room though, during the last few weeks when everyone was spluttering about whose cough was the worst.

percypal · 03/01/2023 13:30

For me it’s changed since Covid because WFH has become more normal and we have hybrid working now so it’s good in that on those days where you feel a bit rotten, you’re blowing your nose every twenty seconds but don’t need to be in bed you can still work without having to go in and be the germ monster.

Sober23 · 03/01/2023 13:33

I was due back at work today. Have been below par with a bit of a headache, chesty coldy feeling. I was going to go into work today, just planned an early night and to be dosed up on lemsip etc. I happened to have some covid tests and did one last night - positive. My line manager insisted I stay home.

Shinyandnew1 · 03/01/2023 13:38

I would go in with a cold-that would be expected. If i had a temperature, a horrible cough or a sore throat that really hurt to talk, I would consider a day off. As a teacher, you talk all day and I tend to lose my voice quickly altogether if I talk continuously through a sore throat. Once I’ve lost it, I’m not much good for anything for several days, whereas if I can not talk for a day whilst it’s at its sorest, I seem to do better.

baublesandbreakdowns · 03/01/2023 13:49

I hate that we think it's ok to spread germs around and that employers pressure staff into going in.

We shouldn't be passing on our germs to other people if we can avoid it.

If people can't work from home then they need to either stay home or avoid as much close contact as possible.

We know now that we can avoid passing on germs and that wearing masks and good hygiene can help minimise infecting other people but we don't seem to be able/willing to apply what we learned from covid to other illnesses.

I caught a 'cold' over a month ago from a colleague who was ill and am still not totally better and had to take time off sick as even too ill to work from home.

megletthesecond · 03/01/2023 14:24

As long as you aren't sneezing/ coughing everywhere or have a temperature it's OK. Otherwise stay at home.

Can't stand people who work when poorly
I don't want their virus thanks.

Daydreamer22 · 03/01/2023 14:29

When I worked shorter days I’d more than likely go in. But I now work 13 hour shifts on a busy ward. I can’t do it when I’m ill. It makes me feel worse and ill for longer. I only get properly ill once every 1 or 2 years or so . Even a ‘cold’ floors me when I do.

Dreamstate · 03/01/2023 14:37

Post pandemic where you can work from home, stay at home! no need to go and spread your germs.

Exception being if your in a job with no sick pay or you have to go into work or you'll likely to lose your job.

For the majority though, employers are more flexible now so no need to spread your germs.

Original poster
LittleDisaster · 03/01/2023 14:47

I'm going to say the vast majority of people still can't wfh. If you live in a nice MC bubble it might seem like the norm, but it's not for most people.

OP posts:
Hbh17 · 03/01/2023 14:49

Unless you have a v specialised job like nurse in a neonatal ITU, of course you should go to work with a cold. I haven't had a day off sick for 12 years, & that was for emergency surgery - but I've had plenty of colds in that time.
All of these people taking time off for colds will get a nasty shock when the disciplinary process for excessive sick leave kicks in!

Mentalpiece · 03/01/2023 14:53

I always used to go to work with a cold, I still would.
I think like many here, it's how you were brought up. Unless you presented yourself to my mum with a leg hanging off and my head was on the verge of detaching itself then i went to school.
Even in that scenario, she would probably have stuck it back on with a plaster and sent me on our merry way with her sympathy meter barely flickering.

picklemewalnuts · 03/01/2023 15:02

Everywhere is running on a skeleton crew, so there's no slack if people take time off.

That needs addressing, because we shouldn't be spreading our illnesses about.