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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to ask if you go to work when sick?

186 replies

CoolToned · 22/09/2016 21:02

I think I have the flu.

OP posts:
Optimist3 · 23/09/2016 08:03

Don't give your illness to others

Optimist3 · 23/09/2016 08:03

If it's a light sniffle go though

sausagefest · 23/09/2016 09:24

I think sometimes people who drag again themselves in ill have a somewhat inflated idea of their own importance.

I know my martyr colleagues do!

gunsandbanjos · 23/09/2016 11:56

Thankfully my work are really good, I'm actually off sick today. Feels virusy, vomiting, aching and absolutely exhausted. Definitely couldn't work unless they don't mind me napping at my desk! I've already had a nap this morning as I couldn't keep my eyes open.

Justalittlelemondrizzle · 23/09/2016 12:01

I have. It was Christmas eve and I had the flu. Well it was the back end of the flu but I still felt like death, felt sick, dizzy, had no energy and a raging fever. I don't get paid when I'm off so I dragged myself in. Also with it being christmas eve I knew they'd think I was pulling a sickie and it just wasnt worth the agro. Guilty until proven innocent at my place...

wasonthelist · 23/09/2016 12:06

Yes, but I work from home and there's only me here.

Cheby · 23/09/2016 12:15

Stay off with D&V, work from home if I'm up to it to avoid germ spreading.

Very shocked at the doctor up thread saying they go into work when ill. Obviously depends on which bit of the health service they work in but huge potential to put patients at significant risk. I've worked in hospitals for a decade and the doctors I work with do not come in and see patients if they are sick.

AmeliaJack · 23/09/2016 12:53

sausagefest I think that's a bit unfair.

Lots of people don't get paid if they don't go in.

Lots of companies have policies which state that more than 4 instances of sick leave = disciplinary action by HR.

Both those factors really concentrate your mind when deciding how ill you are.

I do know someone who lost her job due to overuse of sick leave. Her parents had brought her up to take time off school/work every time she had a cold. She was quite shocked to be sacked.

In my experience those that take lots of sick days (through minor things like colds) are top of the list when redundancies are being made.

Doggity · 23/09/2016 19:10

Every time people peddle their flu myth about the £50 note, I want to batter them over the head with my crutches and stab them with my needles. I had flu - confirmed by a doctor - not by a stupid twat online who thought I was fine because I could read while in bed. I got a secondary bacterial infection and ended up chronically ill; disabled and immunosuppressed. So, fuck off with your bollocks. You can have milder flu but it can be dangerous.

OP, if you're ill, stay off work. You need to look after yourself. Wish you better. Flowers

Heidi41 · 23/09/2016 19:15

If you had the flu you wouldn't even be on here tbh ....ppl underestimate the severity of flu .....it can kill the vulnerable in our society. Yes I do go to work if I have a cold sore, throat, etc I dose myself up and find I feel better when I am there

Haudyerwheesht · 23/09/2016 19:16

Heidi have you read the thread??? That's simply NOT true.

Heidi41 · 23/09/2016 19:19

it's true

Dontyoulovecalpol · 23/09/2016 19:19

I don't understand these threads. You can either go into work or you can't. If you have to ask you're probably OK.

I have heard the line about spreading illness loads of times. In sickness disiplinaries Grin you can go into work poorly, and indeed you should. If you are too ill to work you phone in sick.

pugsake · 23/09/2016 19:20

I had flu last year verified by a doctor as my DH thought I had meningitis. I had the fever and hallucinations. At one point I physically couldn't walk.

I still made it on mn classics kept me sane. I had my flu jab Wednesday never missing one again Grin

Haudyerwheesht · 23/09/2016 19:54

But its not . We had flu, Swab tested and confirmed. I was on MN for advice and get like I might die but I had 2 kids to look after one of whine developed pneumonia.

MrsDeVere · 23/09/2016 19:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Dontyoulovecalpol · 23/09/2016 20:22

Nope I don't. It's a question of perspective- not going into work when you have a "cold" in case you spread it is frequently used by skivers IME

Doggity · 23/09/2016 20:41

Heidi you're talking rubbish, utter tosh. Did you read my post just above yours? What happened to me was horrific and I adhor people like you who belittle the illness that caused this all. I'm not sure if you mean to be offensive to people like me, or if you're just ignorant. Viral infections like influenza are a common trigger for life-changing, disabling, progressive autoimmune diseases. That is medical fact.

I wonder how many of the "oh my flu was so severe and much worse than your petty cold" people actually had theirs confirmed in a lab. Hmm

NameChanger22 · 23/09/2016 20:48

Someone at work came in with flu this year, gave it me, I ended up in hospital and ill for a month.

ClopySow · 23/09/2016 21:04

not going into work when you have a "cold" in case you spread it is frequently used by skivers IME

I suspect i'm one of those skivers you mention then.

MaddyHatter · 23/09/2016 21:07

having asthma, any kind of respiratory infection can be deadly for me.

this time of year i have to start taking my steroid inhaler because of the amount of people who think 'its just a cold' or 'its just a cough' especially with children at school.

It might 'only' be a cold, but when you send your loves into school and my kids catch it and bring it home, i invariably end up catching it and then have to play russian roulette with my asthma., i also have to isolate us from my brother and his GF because he has ME and she is immuno suppressed and even 'just a cold' can put either of them in hospital.

Keep it to yourselves in your own homes.

Dontyoulovecalpol · 23/09/2016 21:13

What do you lot do at work, lick each other? Good thing you don't have to use the tube. Well, you wouldn't be able to if it would put you in hospital for a month I guess

MaddyHatter · 23/09/2016 21:16

Don't.. office Air Con is lethal for spreading germs.

i used to work in a company that had staff spread over 6 floors on 2 wings.. when someone came in with anything contagious via coughing/sneezing, usually within a couple of weeks it had winged its way around the majority of the office.

Noro once ended up in the whole place running on a skeleton staff.

OhTheRoses · 23/09/2016 21:27

Feeling ill is relative to people's pain/discomfort thresholds.

Influenza has knocked me for six three times. My MIL caught it from me and was able to tough it out on two cylinders when the same thing had me bedridden.

OTH when I broke my ankle I got it xrayed and plasters and went to work afterwards.

Rinceoir · 23/09/2016 21:41

Cheby I think the majority of doctors will have worked while sick at some point. I've worked theough kidney stones. Because they kicked off in the middle of a 36hour shift and there was nobody to cover. I wouldn't work with D+V or a fever, but if everyone in the health service took a day off when they had a cold I'm fairly sure a lot more patients would be harmed.