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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to be a bit terse with colleague full of the cold?

93 replies

TiverMeShimbers · 26/05/2016 09:40

Monday he was coughing
Tuesday he was sneezing
Wednesday he was so full of the cold he stayed in bed & called in sick.

Today - he's back in the bloody office! Pale & clammy looking. With a scarf on! Sneezing and coughing away!

Why wouldn't he just stay at home? He can work from home any time he likes....he has full access from home and it's not the type of job that you need to be face to face with people.

I've been a bit short with him...I did ask straight away how he was feeling, but it's obvious he's not well. So I couldn't help myself and told him he was spreading germs and should have just stayed at home.

He then put on a martyr face & said - "Oh dear ok, I'll try not to spread my germs"

We have a bit of an atmosphere now.

OP posts:

IrianOfW · 26/05/2016 13:05

Well maybe your workplace is different to mine, but if you take time off for a 'cold' you get criticised for slacking. It's a cold, it isn't ebola. Most places expect you to take paracetamol and soldier on.

gandalf456 · 26/05/2016 13:10

Yanbu. From what you say, it's not the type of cold I would want to catch so I agree with what you said. I would not have had the guts to have said it myself, though, but I would most certainly be thinking it

GabsAlot · 26/05/2016 13:12

maybe u could wfh instead then op-

my dh is first in andlast to leave he doesnt do it for brownie point its just the way he is hes never been late for anything-he hates lateness

doesnt mean hes a martyr or suck up though

SirChenjin · 26/05/2016 13:15

YANBU

There are colds - and there are Colds which can absolutely floor you. He has a Cold by the sounds of it, he should not be in spreading his manky germs around the place and infecting everyone. You did the right thing - far too many martyrs out there who insist on coming to work when they could work from home. What do you want, a 'I'm So Brave for Coming to Work' sticker??

Vickyyyy · 26/05/2016 13:27

YANBU if he has the option of working from home. If he had to take a day off completely then it would be different as people can't afford days off really.

Marynary · 26/05/2016 13:32

I think it was probably worth being a bit rude because it may putting him off spreading his germs around in the future. You only have to read some of the ignorant posts on here to see that some people can't see beyond their own work/health situation and are never going to get it.

Gottagetmoving · 26/05/2016 13:34

I thought medical advice was to stay off work if you have a bad cold.
In an office environment you end up with everybody ill because of one person who comes in coughing and sneezing.
OK, its JUST a cold..and won't kill you, but that is not the point.
It is OK to stay off sick with a cold, despite what others are saying.

Your colleague sounds like his cold is really bad....He should be at home.

MilkTwoSugarsThanks · 26/05/2016 13:37

It's OK to stay off work with a cold if you are paid and it is not counted against you.

SirChenjin · 26/05/2016 13:51

He is paid and it doesn't count against him

tiggytape · 26/05/2016 14:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SirChenjin · 26/05/2016 15:26

Having a bad cold - a really bad one - is being ill. It's far more than a PITA - which is what a mild one is, certainly. Sore throat, aching joints, high temp, blocked nose, feverish, headached etc - all the mark of a bad cold and one that should be kept at home and away from other people (while your lemsip max strength makes you feel marginally better)

Fluffy40 · 26/05/2016 16:19

I work with vulnerable patients, if we get a bad cold we stay awAy, never been criticised for that.

VagueIdeas · 26/05/2016 16:24

Since when was a cold not an illness? I feel like dogshit when I have a cold.

gunsandbanjos · 26/05/2016 18:43

YANBU, I hate people that come in and spread their lurgy, especially when it's perfectly fine to work from home.
Thankfully our senior management team take the same attitude and actively send sick people home.

ZippyNeedsFeeding · 26/05/2016 19:16

I'm asthmatic and a bad cold can really floor me. I'd be really angry if I had to spend a week on a nebuliser because some twerp wouldn't keep his germs to himself and work from home.

blitheringbuzzards1234 · 26/05/2016 19:23

Ha, ha! cheeky, hmcAsWas! That office was very hectic - you didn't dare take time off sick because you felt that you weren't a good team member, thought to be not pulling your weight. After that terrible illness swept the place the atmosphere did change for the better, for a while. Then it went back to normal.

Janecc · 26/05/2016 20:20

I have a compromised immune system. A bad cold floors me - the ones, where my DD gets a temperature and feels awful. I can get rid of mild colds. I use either/or a combi of 0.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda (8x day one, 4x day two and taper off), Apple Cider Vinegar with the mother and Immiflex, which I buy online. These remedies are far more effective than echinacea.
The bad colds develop into sinusitis. I'm on week 6 of antibiotics right now. I'm running out of energy and collapsing all over the place. So no, it not just a trifling cold for me.

BuunyChops · 27/05/2016 10:16

Will people please read the OP!

Him WFH will not affect his sickness record.
Him WFH will not mean use of Bradford scale.

There's a hint there Working From Home.

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