to think that if you are a coughing, sneezing mess you should stay off work

[Toffeeapple21]

AIBU to think that if you have a cold to the point where you are coughing, spluttering and sneezing EVERYWHERE you should stay off work and keep your germs to yourself (assuming you work in close proximity to other people, such as an open plan office).

Fair enough if you work in isolation / don't really come into contact with other people, or if you are literally so important that the world will stop turning if you have a day off work, or if you don't get paid if you stay off sick (I can understand some people cannot afford to take a day off sick). But otherwise, AIBU to think you should stay at home and not spread your germs?

BTW I am not talking about people with a slight snuffle here, I am talking about people who really are coughing / sneezing / spluttering everywhere.

Thats ridiculous. Of course you should work if you have a cold! Obviously you should use a tissue.

I don't think my bosses would share your opinion, unfortunately.

YABU especially in a climate where jobs are limited. Imagine being off every fine... You would end up with the sack.

Time

There are very few people who can miss work for a common cold. Even if you do get sick pay, if you are the member of staff with the worst sick record then you're on dodgy ground where promotions/redundancies are concerned.

YABU - people have to work and some may not get paid if they don't work, plus some may be more stressed by not being able to do their work and be penalised if they miss deadlines and so on; but YANBU to expect and insist on the correct use of tissues, hand washing and mouth covering to limit any contamination problems.

Viruses will have been contagious before the symptoms get this bad so you've probably got it already!

yabu - I can't afford to take sick right now - we are being cut in half staff wise and sick is one of the things they look at when making redundancy!

Of course most people should take the time off sick. The peak of a cold only lasts a day or two max. More difficult if you don't get paid or genuinely have an urgent deadline/something that can't be covered. It's poor management though in many cases if something can't be covered.

Yeah I agree with you op. Better to that than make everyone around you sick.

I personally "work from home" if I have a really bad cold. I'm guessing quite a few people can do that nowadays.

The economy would grind to a halt if everyone took time off with a cold. Sneezing, runny nose and coughing are symptoms of every cold - not some hybrid killer virus. If you have the flu (the real flu, not the colds people call the flu these day) then yes you should be at home.

OP here
Yes appreciate people might not want to take time off if fear redundancies as sickness record could be taken into account. So I can sympathise there.

Just that I am fed up with others coughing all over, and then I always end up getting sick couple of days later!

Wish managements could be more sensitive so people could stay at home if ill without having to worry about repercussions

I agree that people shouldn't come into work all germy, not in an ideal world anyway. But as has been said, most of us don't have any real choice.

I went into work last week with a heavy cold (and having had severe sore throat, headache and achy limbs) because not only do I not get sick pay, I have to have a "return to work" interview after just one absence and if I'm off sick three times within a year its actually a disciplinary issue.

It felt absolutely minging going into work with my nasty germs and I felt guilty and embarrassed about it but my colleagues understood and I wasn't the only one who'd come in ill either. You just can't afford to take time off sick for something like that in case you get something much more serious and have then used up your "allowance" as it were.

I think it's an awful way to treat staff, personally. It should be enough not to pay people when they're ill without putting them through disciplinary procedures as well. But plenty of employers do it.

I am a cold filled worker who has been in everyday this week. Not only do I not get paid for sick days, but my job is on a temporary shift that I return to yearly and if I take sick days I fall down the 'staff tracker' and may not get my job back next year. I use a tissue and the available hand gels and try not to cough on people though!

I think that management should make it easier for people to work from home if they are at that in-between stage of illness where they could get some work done but are too ill to travel (or an annoyance or infection risk to the rest of the office).

We are only allowed 3 instances of sickness in a given window then an investigation kicks off. I wouldnt want that for my record for a cold.

a cough/cold doesn't stop you from working.. or from doing many things actually!

gosh if everyone went off with a sniffle humans would have to learn to hibernate all winter as there'd be no vital services running!