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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Working from home whilst ill

58 replies

JohnLuther · 09/02/2016 10:27

This is more of a rant than AIBU but why is it when employees are ill they can't work from home yet as soon as a manger starts getting the sniffles etc they email everyone saying that they are ill and that they will be working from home?

I agree in most cases that if you are too ill to come in then you can't work from home, however with the managers it reeks of double standards and it just ends up pissing other people off as they are the ones who have sickness absences not the managers.

OP posts:
sparechange · 09/02/2016 11:15

This is a crazy policy!
I frequently work from home because I don't want to contaminate the office with my illness
I've also had stints of not being able to do a commute because of an injury which means I can't walk up and down station steps etc, but am perfectly capable of sitting at the table with a laptop.
My SIL has been working from home for the last 2 months after a knee op. There is no way she can make it into the office, but doesn't need to be signed off sick when she can get 98% of her work done from home...

But equally, there shouldn't be pressure on anyone to work from home, when they are too ill to work

whois · 09/02/2016 11:18

Lots of times you are too ill to battle the commute and come into the office and sneeze all over everyone, but well enough to sit at home on your laptop.

WFH so you don't gross all over people is encouraged st my workplace!

3WiseWomen · 09/02/2016 11:20

Muskateersmummy you are certainly one of the few cases wherer WFH when you are ill makes sense, both for you and for your company.

A friend of mine was in a similar position than you and it worked really for her and for the company (they realised that even though they had agreed fewer hours, she actually did more work as she wasn't constantly interrupted).

StarlingMurmuration · 09/02/2016 11:21

One reason that I don't tend to ask to WFH if I am ill (despite knowing that it would probably be allowed if I didn't do it too often) is that I don't want to be fussed with emails etc when I'm really ill. If I'm ill enough that I have to be in bed, then I want to switch off from work. But if I am a bit under the weather on a day when I'm already WFH then it does make life a lot easier.

I'm also allowed to WFH for children's doctors appointments and tradesmen's visits - but I mostly try to arrange these for my usual WFH days. I am in a management role with several years at the same company though, so I have built up some trust.

Muskateersmummy · 09/02/2016 11:22

It would drive me nuts to be sitting here knowing my work was piling up and not being able to help. I am doing some projects we can be done remotely and it works for us all whilst I heal.

I appreciate that not all jobs lend themselves to this situation, but I appreciate that my company are happy to find a solution that works for us all.

3WiseWomen · 09/02/2016 11:23

I have to smile at 'not spreading the germs' in the office.

A friend of mine is a registrar in a busy hospital. She is at work even when she is feeling unwell (can you imagine the consequence of her not turning up, appointments being cancelled etc? If she is off, it's because she physically can't get out of bed.).
So here she is working with people who are ill but still spreading her 'germs' but somehow it's not ok to do that in an office....

HeadDreamer · 09/02/2016 11:23

redhat sorry to have misunderstood your statement. I thought you were saying it as a boast. I understand it's not legally required for employers to be nice to their employees. But on the other hand, I do feel it's BVU when there's one rule for the managers and another for the minions.

I don't slack at home because I understand it's a privilege I've earned.

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 09/02/2016 11:25

I have a back problem that sometimes means sitting at a desk for a long period is uncomfortable. When it flares up I might work from home as I can wander around with my phone on a conference call without disturbing anyone and without exacerbating my back problem. I am not too ill to work but I am not able to sit at a desk all day.

Backstabbath · 09/02/2016 11:25

The thing that pisses right off are the managers and employees that say they are working from home, when in reality they have parents evening, shopping delivery, school play, tradesman, kitchen delivery etc.... All of these things I would be required to take annual leave for.. But a simple WFH day solves all their issues and holiday leave. I can WFH as easily as my manager but the same rules do not apply, complete double standards.

OnlyLovers · 09/02/2016 11:25

The employer is in a difficult position and could be exposed if an employee is saying they are too sick to come to work but they are still working.

Exposed how? Genuine question; I'm interested.

I do think a common-sense approach is likely to get the best results for both staff and managers; it's not as cut and dried in real life as 'ill' or 'well' and 'not fit for work' or 'fit for work' (although I can see that grey areas could potentially make staff management/sticking to legislation more difficult.)

In some of the examples here, I think the common-sense approach is to let people WFH rather than lose a day of their work. People being very tired and not up to a long drive; having mobility problems but being perfectly well mentally; not to mention minor illnesses that mean you may be able to work perfectly well from bed but that a commute would quite likely make you feel worse and therefore delay your return to productivity.

StarlingMurmuration · 09/02/2016 11:26

Well obviously she doesn't have the option of WFH. But just because she has to go in to work when she has a cold, doesn't negate the fact that your colleagues would refer not to be exposed to your cold germs if it's avoidable.

Diamogs · 09/02/2016 11:26

Agree it should be equal. I am lucky that my boss allows me to wfh whenever I want if I am not physically needed in the office.

Why spread germs round the office if you are contagious but not so unwell you can't logon and do some stuff?

I am way more productive when I wfh as not distracted by the office chatter / posh coffee machine / wandering down to the canteen for a bacon roll etc

Pooseyfrumpture · 09/02/2016 11:27

If you work in an open-plan office, with twenty people around you on conference calls, and all the work you are doing is on a laptop or phone, and you have a nasty commute - and you also have a hacking cough and streaming nose, despite feeling ok: why should you need to go into the office and piss everyone else off when you could still work on the laptopat home with tissue bunged up your nose, vicks on your chest and the rest of you wrapped in a huge blanket?

StarlingMurmuration · 09/02/2016 11:27

That was to 3Wise, btw. The thread is moving faster than me!

OnlyLovers · 09/02/2016 11:28

3Wise, well, an office and a hospital ward are obviously different work environments with different staffing pressures and different requirements for people to be physically present.

It's not really a meaningful argument.

redhat · 09/02/2016 11:29

Onlylovers Pay claims (should they be paid ssp or normal pay), issues re adjustments in disability cases, issues re personal injuries and assessing loss, issues re consistency of treatment if some managers allow it and others don't or managers allow it for some types of "sickness" and not others. All sorts of issues could arise.

momb · 09/02/2016 11:31

I'm a salaried manager and if I'm sick or one of the DCs are I work from home whether or not I'm on a sick day or annual leave because the work still needs to be done.
OP are you concerned that you get a black mark somehow for being ill but the manager doesn't? I would send an email letting people know I can be contacted via email and mobile for information, but it would still go down as sick on HR records.

OnlyLovers · 09/02/2016 11:31

Thanks redhat. It seems to me, though, that perhaps issues like sick pay and assessments could do with being looked at and updated in view of the fact that remote working is much easier and much more common than in the past.

sparechange · 09/02/2016 11:34

3WiseWomen
I work in an office, and bugs spread like wildfire. I've lost count of the number of times a conversation goes like this:
"Oh, Alan is off today. He's got a stomach bug/cold/flu"
"Yeah, Janet had that last week, it is nasty/only lasts 48 hours"

I suspect your registrar friend has better hand hygiene than the average office worker, and there isn't an over-worked air con system recycling bug-y air from office to office after every cough and sneeze.

When I am at home with my laptop, my VPN gives me access to exactly the same files and programs as when I'm in the office. My phone is diverted to my mobile and takes all the same calls.
Anyone who drops in to see me is asked to call, and no one has to listen to my sneezing all day. It's really no hardship to either me or the company (and I get to work with Radio 4 in on the background when I'm at home)

HeadDreamer · 09/02/2016 11:35

3WiseWomen but it's not a comparison really is it? I use the same laptop in the office as I'm at home. I have a docking station and a monitor, mouse and office desk at home too. I'm connected to the VPN and all the work servers. I'm logged onto skype and lync. In fact, it's an unwritten rule that you don't go and physically disturb someone at their office desk. You always ping them on IM first.

A hospital doctor obviously can't be doing her work at home. And surely also, if she's off sick, some of her work would be not still be waiting for her when she returns?

Unless I'm off sick for many days, the work that's been assigned to me stays with me. I'm required to do it whether I'm in the office or at home.

Original poster
JohnLuther · 09/02/2016 11:49

Yes if we are off sick then obviously it gets recorded as an absence which will be used if we are ever required to make people redundant, the managers who WFH whilst ill are not recorded as absent and therefore the threat of redundancy is nowhere as big for them if the situation ever arises.

OP posts:
sephineee · 09/02/2016 11:51

Isn't working from home whilst a ill self certifying as 'you may be fit for work' part of a fit note (ie you may e fit for work if you can work from home/near a bathroom/don't have to commute)?

Movingonmymind · 09/02/2016 11:52

Depends entirely on nature of work. In theory with mobile/laptop etc should be fine to work from home, agree.

ghostyslovesheep · 09/02/2016 11:56

Hell NO if I am too sick to come in to work I am sick - off work being ill

I work from home one day a week but I won't do it when I'll - because I'm ill!

Roonerspism · 09/02/2016 12:01

redhat I have read a number of your posts. I haven't disagreed with the contents of any of them, technically.

But by jove, your tone is clipped and patronising.