Do you go into work with a cold?

[Cloud44]

I think I know what the majority will say but do you go into work with a cold?! Please give me some tough love to get me through the next couple of work days with the lurgy!

Pre-covid yes, even with a long commute.

These days I would try and wfh if I have a stinking cold, I don't want to spread my germs to others or annoy everyone with sniffing and coughing all day.

So daft! Why go in and spread the germs? This is one of the best parts of office life post covid is this flexibility - no one needs to cover absence for contagious but still able to work illnesses, snow days, awkward medical appointments, it confuses me massively when companies don’t embrace it.

I get encouraging in person collaboration and team building (sometimes) but just for the sake of it makes no sense.

I think there is a difference between a cold - with a snotty nose and high tempers / headaches/ shivers . I work with vulnerable people so yes I would consider if I am well enough .

I'd work from home my works a germ pit at the best of times. We have the option to work from home so it does grate on my slightly when people who can't usually be bothered coming in to work normally come in with germs lol xx

It depends. If it's a bit of a sniffle and a mild sore throat, then I'll probably soldier on. If I've a really bad sore throat, I'm sneezing my head off, I've a really bad cough and I'm feeling rotten, then I'll take sick leave. Working from home is only an option if I was already rostered to work from home that day. And I can only work from home a max. of two days per week.

I currently have a minging cold. Snotty af. But I have my own office and I only have to get through tomorrow as I wfh on Fridays.

Got off a plane on Friday and had a truly delightful weekend with burning sinuses and sore throat.

If I had to share an office I'd probably work from home all week though.

We WFH if we have a cold because everyone in our office can engage in remote working, however if we wish to WFH we have to get clearance from management because many of us were WFH (including myself) when we were severely unwell such as heavy colds, flu, bad cases of Covid etc and that raised concerns for our wellbeing. Boss generally doesnt mind if its a sniffle but anything more it is strongly encouraged we take sick leave.

I am lucky I work for an organisation that if we max out our sick leave, HR will permit extensions to leave if doctor's certificates are provided.

Self-employed, so yes if I possibly can. No play, no pay.

i tend to get one cold/illness every couple of years or 18 moths or so, usually making me feel terrible. Not just a sniffle. Sore throat, blocked ears, streaming nose and eyes, low energy etc. If it is mild then i’d be in but mine are so infrequent my immune system goes mad.

We aren’t encouraged to stay off (healthcare/busy unit) but i work long busy shifts on my feet and refuse to run myself further into the ground when you aren’t thought of any better for dragging yourself in ( apart from close team members) when you need rest

It’s not an issue as my 20 yr sick record is good. Only off if i really need to be and luckily don’t often get sick.

No. Our office asks anyone with a cold to work from home.

I agree! The younger members of my team are off sick fairly often but they're not taking the mick and it doesn't seem to be symptomatic of deeper issues. I actually admire that they prioritise their health when they need to as it's ingrained in me to feel guilty for taking time off for sickness. I don't want it to be that way for them. They work hard and I trust them!

It'll be interesting to see how sickness policies change with Gen Z prioritising their wellness and not putting up with what we did.

When my boyfriend gets a cold he just feels a bit shit and not himself. More tired than usual and a bit sniffly with a headache. After taking some paracetamol it usually takes the edge off and he’s fine and has never called in sick to work from a cold. However I get colds really bad. Banging headache, sinus pain, very very sore eyes, extremely snotty where I can’t sleep because I have to constantly blow my nose. Sometimes I really just can’t get out of bed because I feel so rough and everywhere hurts. I would never be able to go in like that

No, because my work expect those of us that can WFH when ill (but still well enough to work) to do just that. It saves spreading it to others in the office and means the ill person doesn't have to do a commute and can rest up more and is better for the company and makes no difference to me as I work in a dispersed team anyway. We work Flexi so if you want a mid day nap (and have no meetings) you can take a longer lunch.

I'm retired but in my last job too many days sickness meant you were out on a warning, eventually you could be sacked.

This means many people came in when they were very ill, including me so as to not get disciplined for it

I actually can't remember when I had a cold bad enough to not want to do anything, or lasted longer than a day or so, despite my children being ill every month or so and my 6 year old is just constantly snotty from September to April. I have a cold shower every day and I think that actually has done something to help.
But I did go to work last week with shingles, but left early when the pain got bad enough that I was worried about my ability to drive home safely.

I had covid a couple of weeks ago. It started as a mild sore throat so went into the office - including an all team meeting - by lunchtime was feeling shit so went home. It's presenting as a heavy cold with additional aches and pains. So this winter people really shouldn't be going in with 'just a cold' if they don't have to!

I'm self employed so I need to be seriously ill to be off work and lose pay.

No! It's selfish to go in and spread your germs around to everyone else.

For those of you who do go in with a cold, what remedies do you take to get through the day? If you are feeling achy, sniffly, headache, tired etc

Yes but it's frustrating as when anyone has a cold/virus in the office, which is quite compact, others end up catching it.

Also if you're away from your desk for a day, nothing gets done. You come back to piles of work and messages, forever playing catch-up. Punishment for being sick!

This. There are very different levels of cold. A bit of a sniffle, yes, constant sneezing, blowing nose, coughing, feeling pretty shit, then no.

Different levels of cold and also depending on underlying conditions etc different levels of vulnerability to a cold virus.

Our workplace policy is to WFH when you have obvious cold symptoms but last time a cold did the rounds I was the only one who actually WFH, everyone else came in and snotted all over the office.

Yes, if needed. I wfh most of the week, so could avoid the office if I needed to. I wouldn’t think a cold was a reason to avoid it unless I felt ill. Can’t remember the last time I had a cold tbh, it must be years ago.

What if it’s more virus like - achy, sore throat etc? Hard to know what’s a cold and what’s a virus