People coming into work sick

[TheGrinchIsComingToTown]

WHY? WHYYYY?!

Just a moan. Turn up this morning and the girl who's been on holiday for the last week is coughing and sneezing all over us all. It's 9 days until Christmas you utter idiot, why risk making us all sick?

(We all get paid sick pay, so she could have stayed off)

OK so you get a 'target', just say 'ok sure'. If I'm unwell then I'm staying home until I'm better. It's common bloody sense.

Then eventually you get fired

Whenever I've had a cold it comes with a headache and blocked nose and sore throat. To me that's what a cold is.

It's not fair on the patients to go spreading your cold to them.

I’d take a dim view if one of my team was on leave and then went off sick. I also hate this post Covid paranoia on here about people with colds. Lots of people in my office have colds. They’re just getting on with it.

Anyway, can she not wfh?

Well so be it. I wouldn't want to work for such a dumb company. It's the system that's wrong here isn't it.

But let's be honest there's a difference between 'just a cold' (runny nose, sneezing), a cold (runny nose, sore throat, sneezing,cough), flu (temp, sore throats, cough, sneezing, bad chest, cold sweats). Just a cold you can work, cold maybe difficult for some, flu wiped you out completely for days on end!

Agreed but it’s also not fair for them to have their clinic appts cancelled with no hope of rebooking for ages. And it’s not fair on colleagues to deal with furious patients who will not get the message and turn up anyway and not fair on my admin colleagues who will be desperately trying to cancel appts before 08.30!
And I’m a nurse and I work for the NHS. Very few other companies I could work for!

You'd take a 'dim view' of someone for having the misfortune of being unwell? Well, ain't you a peach.

Also just to remind, OP says her employer gives sick leave and is reasonable about people being unwell, in which case it really doesn't make sense to go in to work when ill.

Because some people work in an environment where they are only allowed one sickness leave during a 2 month period. So they have to come in and infect everyone else. Public sector. I have seen people dragging themselves out of bed to avoid a disciplinary. Ridiculous.

Carry a bottle of First Defence whenever you go to the office. At the first sign that someone near you is snuffing and coughing, start using it every hour. If you can, move away. This will work most of the time.

I know and to add insult to injury they don't seem capable of covering mouths when they cough or catching fucking sneezes.

We have learned nothing from covid.
No ventilation, no increase in hygiene at this time of year it's awful.

So selfish.

Totally agree. We have one today too. Same one who gave it to me in August and caused me not to see my cancer stricken friend for 2.5 weeks before she died. I am livid again.

OK well I think you are being a martyr here. Don't let the threat of furious patients prevent you from doing the right thing, stay away from the clinic so that you don't make loads of people unwell over christmas. You're right, if you don't go in, your admin colleagues will have to ring people to let them know clinic is cancelled - that's part of their job isn't it? They get paid to do that. If one of my colleagues is unwell, the rest of us have to suck it up and cover for them. We reciprocate for one another, being a team.

I’m so glad I don’t live in the UK if this is the case.

I hate when people come to work with a heavy cold. It's so inconsiderate. One guy I worked with bragged about the fact he had never taken a day off sick, no he didn't he just came into work sick all the time and spread his germs around

Where I work 2 days in a row triggers a meeting and you are ‘monitored’. People come in with d&v and all sorts. When people ring in sick I’ve heard line managers say on the phone ‘well you’ve really done us over today being off, enjoy your day off then!’ Dead sarcastic. You feel like utter shit calling in.

yeah this, I have chronic sinus issues, and sometimes I will have bad days of sneezing, then a run of good days where I don't do much at all. Doesn't mean I'm actually feeling unwell.

People don't drag themselves in to work sick for fun.

They do it if there are negatve consequences for not going in. Negative consequences like reduced money, no money, disciplinary, negative comments from workmates/managers/clients and ultimately being given no further work or being sacked.

It's great that you don't think your employer does that, but many many employers have draconian sickness absence policies that penalise people for being unwell and essentially force them into work whilst unwell.

Not everyone has the privelege of working from home.

Years ago I had a boss who threatened to put me on disciplinary if I didn’t get antibiotics for a cold. So, I talked to my GP, didn’t get antibiotics, then went into work with my cold.

When DDs were in school they got swine flu and GP signed them off. A teacher kicked off so the next time one had a cold I sent her in.

Why did you send her in though? Your poor DD, and her classmates didn't deserve that. I wouldn't roll over like that for a teacher kicking off.

Coughs and sneezes wouldn’t be seen as valid reason to call in sick at my workplace.

It's these draconian absence policies that need changing then. I simply wouldn't go along with it.

And anyway, in the OP's case her employer doesn't have these draconian measures in place so her colleague didn't have any reason not to stay at home.

Lol so at your place of work you can stay off for every cough, sneeze or headache and never get interviewed by management about it?

Nah.

Everyone in my office is sick at the moment. It's a busy time, if people are off then stuff doesn't get done. Bugs are everywhere from about September - February. The world can't stop can it? I'm sure they'd rather be at home in bed too but unless it's a violent vomiting bug or something I think people just have to suck it up.