Ill people at work...

[Starbuck999]

My best friend work in a large open plan office. She works for a relatively small company but they are really hot on their employees taking time off sick.

My friend was ill over Xmas and had a week off work (flu). She returned to work Monday and they had a meeting and gave her a bit of a dressing down. She pointed out that due to the pressure of not taking sick days loads of people working in the office really are not well enough to be there. Not just every day colds (which most of us happily go into work with) but people looking absoluetly awful, constant coughing, spluttering, bright red streaming eyes, drowsy etc - basically like they should only be at home in bed! Also people at work vomitting and 2 girls were there the week before last with D&V. The management there will not "send" staff home, they have to choose to go. Her manager said it is down to the individual to decide if they want to work, and that however ill someone is the company have no right to make someone go home and take a sick day.

AIBU to say that this is terrible?!? Surely from an infection control point of view people with D&V (especially) shouldnt be in the work place. Surely the company have a duty of care to their staff and that should include making sure they aren't forced to work with people who are very ill and infectious- ie D&V? Ive told her to speak to her union rep and report it - perhaps there is something in employment law about infection control in these situations..

Or maybe not?

No they can't work from home (can't specify as dont want to "out" her, but it has to be done on site).

They don't care the reason why you are off. She had proper flu - in bed, feeling like death, cant move flu! As I said, even with doctors cert, hospitalisation, in a traffic accident etc - no circumstances are excluded from their stupid 7 day policy!

7 days sick in 12 months seems quite a bit to me. I would assume that hospital admittances and operations and known medical conditions requiring hospital attention wouldn't be part of this.

But I dunno. Yes, of course you should check it out with your union. This sort of thing is the very reason you're in a union, I'd've thought.

I don't know if this will help, but it's from the HSE and says that employers have a duty to protect their employees from sources of infection under COSHH.

My boss came into work with flu and passed it onto me.
I was 3 months pregnant and ended up not only with flu but with associated morning sickness type vomiting on the hour every hour.
I passed it onto my husband (albeit without the vomiting) and we both ended up signed off for 2 weeks plus my parents had to come and rescue us as neither of us was physically capable of caring for our 1 year old daughter.
My boss was very sheepish when I returned to work.

dog the OP said that hospitalisation was included in this sickness policy.

It doesn't surprise me that companies are like this. It is so wrong though that those who are e legitimately ill are punished because some people are chancers.