How sick do you need to be to call in sick to work?

[Nomoreafterthisone]

Just that really.

Does it change your answer if you work from home?

What stops you calling in sick?

I hate letting my team down so I tend to go in if I can. However if you're ill then you're ill.
I wouldn't phone in sick for example with a cold.

But then you are coming into the office and spreading the cold, affecting all of those around you?. Some people deal in a worse way, with the average cold, than others. Surely, in that instance you would just work from home?

I was supposed to be at a conference on Friday but had stomach cramps and diarrhoea so couldn't go. Just the thought of being trapped in a hall with frequent loo dashes and being offered tea and coffee gave me the shudders.

It was a real shame as I wanted to go so much, to listen to one speaker in particular and ask questions.

I work from home so very very rarely call in sick. I did when I had Covid and literally couldn't lift my head off the pillow!

I think it does change your answer if you work from home in some instances, depending on the illness.

For example, my dh had a very bad back for about four days and count not drive with it. But he could wedge himself in to a bearable position to work from his home desk, even though he had to lie on the floor between calls. in other words, he was able to make it work from home by adapting his environment to suit him.

I imagine that’s the case for many physical injuries which stop you commuting (hip or knee issues for example or any leg breakages).

The only reason I am off work is if I have v or d or both or have a flu so bad that I can’t read or stay upright. Used to have migraines that stopped me looking at a screen but they’ve been treated successfully.

I have bowel disease so the only time I’ll call in sick is when I’m flaring with that. If I’ve a cold or cough I go in. Half the time everyone in work has the same thing anyway and I don’t get sick pay so I’m coming in

I have the option of working from home so if I'm contagious and/or not feeling up to the commute I can just do that. I'm maybe not on top form those days but I get enough done that it's an improvement on calling in. I can't remember the last time I actually called in sick.

Sick enough to not be able to do my job function. So that will differ depending on what jobs other people do - mine is desk based WFH but requires a level of concentration. A cold or cough wouldn't stop me from working, but flu or similar where I couldn't concentrate would.

I wfh. Phoned in sick for 4 days when I had COVID. If I had been in the office I’d probably have been off for a fortnight. For starters I was infectious, but I think the commute would have used up all my energy and brain power for the day.

I’m currently ill with some kind of virus and feel pretty rubbish. Not off sick because I’m vaguely functioning at about 50% normal capability and that’s better than nothing.

Ill with something minor which meant I couldn’t travel OR something contagious (but minor like conjunctivitis or a bad cold) - I’d WFH (but would need agreement from line manager)
If I was ill enough to be in bed, or unable to do my job, then I’d be off sick.

More inclined to take a day sick if I'm in office than when I'm wfh as big part of not being able is ability to handle the commute or not wanting to spread it around the office. Both of these things are absent when at wfh and I've very low physically duties so that doesn't come into it.

However, if it's something that would prevent me from being able to concentrate or sit through a meeting then it makes no odd ill take a day sick

WFH rarely

More frequently when in the office - stomach bugs, having a virus that leaves You exhausted so couldn't safely commute.

Working from home means not having to get dressed, stay in comfies, get up at 8am rather than 6am, get an hour sleep at lunch time.

And being back in bed at 4pm rather than 630pm

Our company sick leave had more or less disappeared since we started working from home full time

If you can get your head off the pillow and your bum off loo and have no sickness then you go to work.

Very- if I can drag myself out of the door, I go to work.

I WFH so have only had one sick day since 2020 when I was so sick I couldn’t sit up without the room spinning / vomiting.

I never call in sick for colds / general bugs these days . If I had to work in the office I would definitely have more sick days, mainly due to the long commute

I disagree that being physically able to get there makes you fit for work. If you really can't cope with the day ahead you're too ill (and deep down you know when that is the case). I also disagree with spreading germs to everyone else. I know minor illnesses are unavoidable but if you have a temperature, streaming nose, cough etc you shouldn't be masking it with day nurse and going in.

Most people sound similar to me in that you'd need your head to be hanging off and you go easier on others - why is that?

Physically being able to get to and sit at a desk shouldn't be the main criteria.

What is the merit of struggling to get on with it?

At death's door (unless working in a hospital or care home, where they might have certain guidelines). I haven't had a day off sick for nearly 13 years - I would feel too guilty.
Also, ask yourself whether you would call in sick if you were self-employed, because it does focus the mind when you're not entitled to sick pay!

What makes you automatically think she can work from home?

I wouldn't go in to work with a bad cold because I don't want to spread germs to anyone else. I'm a nurse so I'm particularly conscious of vulnerable patients but don't want to make my colleagues sick either. Luckily I'm rarely sick so I can go a couple years between sick days, if I was sick more often then it would be a tougher decision.

If it's something non-contiguous then I'll power on - for example I didn't need to take a sick day until 35 weeks while I was pregnant.

If you poo on your seat because you have to sit still for 5 minutes in a large room of people F2F, then yeah, you take a sick day

I think with me it’s because there’s always something going around and my DC brings things home from nursery a lot so if I stayed off work with every cold or illness then I’d hardly be in work over winter. I only call in sick if I’m genuinely too ill to work, which is rare. Usually I just go in and get on with it, or work from home if nothing important to go in for.

If I'm WFH I don't bother to ring in sick. I just don't work. If I have online meetings those days, I'll reschedule.

If I'm supposed to be at work then the threshold is fairly high. I commute 1.5 hours each way so in the morning I tend to think "I'm okay now but how will I feel on the train at 7pm?" And use that as a decision-making tool.

Having said that, I do also throw a sickie once a year-ish 😮

I think that would come under the category of taking a sick day even if self employed. No one wants to be that person!

I call in sick when I feel I couldn’t do my job on a half way decent level. I probably take more sick days than most, as I’ve had mental health issues in the past and I know I will crash and burn if I push myself too hard. Work doesn’t mind so far as I perform very well in general. I would rather take a sick day than go in and mess things up