Why oh why do people turn up to work when they’re poorly?! 😡😡😡

[slippedawaylikeabottleofwine]

I hate it. My colleague turned up, whinged about how sick she felt for two hours, then threw up in the middle of the carpet and went home. She admitted she’d been feeling poorly all weekend. There’s no excuse for it

NHS offer full pay but they still have absence management policies. Maybe colleague has had a few absences in a short space of time and felt she had to go in. Obviously the wrong decision in hindsight. Hope nobody catches it!

That’s very common, there is always people like that in the office

I tend to go in with a cold. Not with vomiting/diarrhoea. It's very disruptive as I'm the only person in on the day that can do the role. It's easier to just go in.

Can only speak for my job (NHS), but if you are off sick too many times, (2 times in 6 months or 3 times in 12 months) you are given warnings and put on an almost impossible to get off sickness review plan. In a job where we are exposed to more sickness than the general population and have vulnerable patients that can become very unwell from catching them the only way to not end up in front of HR for having too many sickness episodes is to still come to work with milder sickness and try your best not to spread it.

We are fully expected to get to work if we are ill.
No sympathy whatsoever.
The attitude is "Dose yourself up and get to work".
Staff sickness is always, always met with outright annoyance and anger by managers.
NHS staff providing patient healthcare.

Very true.

I had food poisoning years ago (campylobacter). I felt slightly nauseous at 11, and within 90 minutes I was sitting on the bog for hours, throwing up into a bowl.

It was a bit of a shock, as I hadn't had an upset stomach of any sort since childhood and I was 48!

Not here to be popular, it’s all good 😊

Yes but we also get stages of sickness and sometimes you have to go in to work ill to avoid being put on the next stage of monitoring.

What does she do though? My DH went to work (professional role) with quite a serious and infectious illness that he decided was ‘a bad cold.’ He has a stressful job that he can’t readily leave to someone else without a lot of advance planning so as a result, feels obliged to turn up no matter what. He collapsed and ended up in hospital. Fortunately no one else contracted it but anyone could convincingly argue he was a selfish rather than dedicated fellow. I have sympathy with both POVs, and the people who do this, which fluctuates depending on the nature and pressures of their employment. My mate is an NHS hospital pharmacist and will go in even when she shouldn’t. Because others will suffer if she doesn’t show. She’s almost killed herself driving in a blizzard. Vomiting on the carpet is a spectacular way to prove you’re not a lead-swinger innit?

This. I'm not sure she thought "I feel really ill today. Wouldn't it be funny if I went into work and vomited in front of everyone".

She's probably absolutely mortified.

You obviously don't believe in trusting your staff or treating them like human beings either. How's your turnover?

no but you are human and you should understand that as humans people get sick. if you want robots as employees employ them instead.

😆This. Who wouldn't rather be at work feeling like shit than be at home in bed?!

You can't win. People moan if you call in sick and moan if you come in sick. She probably thought she'd get better as the day went on

Unfortunately some people judge others for taking sick leave

When I worked in an office you were damned for coming in sick and damned for not showing up and considered a skiver. There is pressure not to phone in sick, depending on your upbringing you might feel this more acutely than others, people feel guilt and shame about having a sick day and think they are doing the right thing by gathering themselves up and getting on with it. They may have pressure/judgement at home if they don't go to work. As others say it's also down to policies, sick pay and feeling like they may be overlooked for opportunities or gossiped about if they don't come in. There are many many reasons and I don't think you really needed a thread to think of them

I hate this too, I work somewhere with a generous sickness policy and where all office roles can be done remotely and people still come in sick.

Ewww🤢 how rude and disgusting

Because in my experience, and that of almost everyone I know, you get warnings, arse kickings, and nasty, snide little letters from the manager threatening to issue a disciplinary if you DARE to be ill and have a day or two off.

DH had 2 days off sick in July 2024, and then 2 days off sick in June 2025. First days off sick since Summer 2021. (And then it was only 1 day that year!) Last sick day before that was 2018. When he got back, (in June 2025,) there was a spiteful, shitty, and threatening letter from his manager warning him that should he have any more time off sick he will be very likely to receive a disciplinary, which could of course, (if he has further time off) result in dismissal. Him having 4 days off (2 periods of sick time) in the same 12 month period, had 'triggered' a first written warning. 🙄

The last thing he needs in his late 50s. Who the fuck is going to employ him, with very few qualifications, and at nearly 60, and give him the same 30 hours a week guaranteed contract?! (He has been there for 17 years, and is one of the last to get a 'decent amount of hours guaranteed' employment contract.)

When my (bemused and puzzled) DH asked 'well I can't very well never have another day off sick, I don't know if I'm going to be ill, how long is this 'warning' for?' he got told 'a year.' So if he is off sick for a single fucking second before mid June 2026, he will be pulled up and receive a disciplinary. Fucking joke. You can't help being ill. So yeah, he said even if he has covid, or flu, a sickness bug, dysentery, ebola, or diptheria, he is going in! 'Be careful what you wish for' he said (about his employer.)

But yeah tr;dr @slippedawaylikeabottleofwine THIS is why some people go in when they're sick!!!!!

Oh, and yes, as many people have said, some people don't get paid when they're off, so they can't afford to be off!

Employer tracks absences, next employer asks a reporting absences, sick pay etc.

Even a ‘pain in the arse’ wouldn’t spite themselves by going into work when they feel unwell unless there was a good reason. Jeez this thread is bonkers.

Grow up 🙄

No? 🤣 Vomiting all over the carpet in front of people is disgusting and rude🤷🏻‍♀️

There is a bigger picture about it being in a healthcare setting albeit one removed and the risk to others, the post says she was ill across the weekend so she chose to spread it around

I work in professional services and the expectation is for you to work through any sickness unless hospitalised.