To come into work so Ill

[creamcheeseandlox]

My boss has just come in and sat next to me. I said hi and in his own words "morning, I feel like death"! He is full of cold and had tissues, nose spray and lemsip all over his desk and is coughing and spluttering. I have so far this winter managed to avoid colds but am thinking I'll probably bloody catch his one now.

I'm not a shirker in any sense but if someone is that Ill i think it's disrespectful to come into a open plan office and proceed to spread germs all over the place. AIBU?

Ffs if you needed to stay off for a cold I would have got exactly no work done at all in 2018

I hate people getting cats-bum-mouthed about being off sick with a cold.

There are colds where you sneeze etc but feel pretty much OK, and then there are colds where you feel, as he does, in his own words 'like death'. For the latter there's nothing wrong with having time off, especially in cases like this when he could easily work from home instead.

There are some jobs where it would be impossible to work with a really bad cold but an office job would not be one of them.

There are some jobs in which it would be impossible to work from home but this guys is not one of them.

Tell him to sneeze into his elbow so he doesn't spread his germs around by touching stuff with his lurgy covered hands.

If you're that fussed about catching germs use alcohol gel and a mask. It's not his problem

id probably ask him to sit away from me, or ask if i could sit elsewhere. Tell him that you dont want to catch his lurgy

I don’t think YABU. But I’m neutropenic and when other people pass on their colds to me, I have ended up with pneumonia.

I think in general people can be very ignorant about how germs are spread and don’t do anything to be considerate to other people. People are constantly coughing out into the air, right in your face in public instead of into the crook of their arm. They wipe their noses with their hands then touch everything. Don’t see it as a big deal if they sneeze all over you etc. These are usually the “FFS it’s only a COLD
” people. Well, good for them. For many of us it’s never “just” a cold and a bit of basic hygiene from the infectious person could have made a world of difference.

He had an option to work from home. He’s extremely selfish not to have taken that option.

He's not playing the Martyr. He's going to work like every other human being on the planet does when they have a cold and a job.

Exactly!

Well, there are colds and colds... I wouldn't go in to work with a cold as bad as his. Everyone else will get it. He could perhaps have worked at home?

I went to see my GP once and she had a streaming, stinking cold. All the GPs in the practice had it and she joked about the doctors meeting they had where the table was covered in tissues and they were all streaming.

I went with a non urgent problem (booked weeks in advance) and could easily have rescheduled. But what do you do? For most people a cold can make you feel dreadful but you are likely to be able to go about your business with OTC medication.

With proper flu you really don't have to debate, you would be unable to do more than go to the toilet. So anything where you are walking around is probably a cold.

A serious bummer and I do feel angry if I can identify the perpetrator.

Colds can be serious for people with asthma or who are immunosuppressed or who are carers for those who are elderly or recovering from chemo, etc.

I hate bosses who do this. And spend all week telling you how terrible they’re feeling and later boast about how they are never off. They then berate the fact their staff are poorly and take time off because they had that cold and they were fine. The problem is, you might feel a little unwell with your cold, someone else might feel ten times worse. There is no such thing as “just a cold”. Each one can affect people differently. I’ve had colds that barely bother me and colds where I really struggle. My husband has had the same colds that knocked me out and he’s barely affected. On the other hand, I had tonsillitis and was pretty much ok to carry on and he was in bed for a week with it.

On the rare days I’m struggling, dragging myself in to work is really pointless as I’m very unproductive and it takes a long time for it to recover. Or, I can have a day in bed, shift the worst of it and come back to work on top form. Or work from home, still get something done and not risk my team’s health. This boss could have done that but chose to “set an example” (and a crap one at that). Boss could also probably find somewhere to sit that isn’t right next to the OP.

I know many people who can't take a day off because otherwise they can't pay their bills.
So they come in, spread their bugs around and then others have to take time off? Nice.

I'm not a shirker in any sense but if someone is that Ill i think it's disrespectful to come into a open plan office and proceed to spread germs all over the place. AIBU?

And then everyone else will say, why haven't they come in, it's only a cold.

Can't do right for doing wrong with a cold.

Haha DarlingNikita, cats bum mouth folk, so true. I hate the 'oh god guys im so much tougher than you and feel fine when ive got a cold, grow up, get a grip' types. For YOU it might be 'just a cold' and you might feel ok. Why can't people consider that it isn't the case for everyone and it doesn't make those it affects much more some kind of pathetic weakling or failed 'normal' human being!

Yes, unfortunately some people don't get paid if they dont work (i don't ) and its notalways practical or possible to take time off, but like OPs chap, so many people can or have home working options.

But it is those expectations, that we have to be some kind of unstoppable, infallible robo-human and never be ill or need time off that perpetuates people coming in when they really do look like an extra out of the walking dead because they are worried about being tarred by the 'i know EXACTLY HOW EVERYONE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD IS FEELING IN THEIR HEALTH AND LEVEL OF SICKNESS/COLD' brigade.

Also it's impossible to tell if you are in the incubation period of a virus or how every single other person might respond to your germs. Should we all wear hazmat suits?

Maybe im unusual in that I know 2 or 3 people for whom a cold could kill them.
For me, I find it impossible to function when im ill. I have no idea how people do it. Maybe im a snowflake, but I just find colds totally disabling, unable to sleep or breathe or think. Wetting myself if I sneeze or cough. Miserable.
Thankfully I dont seem to get them that often and manage to see them off quite quickly, but I do avoid people who are ill, or get massively paranoid with hygeine around them, but I also get pissed off with people who are blasé about spreading their infections round. I can understand it and have sympathy in workplaces with no sick-pay or who are bastards to people that call in sick, but in places where you can work from home, or youre not obliged, then stay the fuck away from people.

and im sure that you dont need to go as far as Haz-mat suits

if youre sniffly, at the beginnings of a cold or end of one, you just warn people who get close.
If youre full on streaming with one, then you do everything you possibly can to stay away, just like you would if you had d&v

But life has to go on. Many have errands that need running, people they want to see and jobs that penalize for too much time off. Surely those with health conditions are advised on how to minimise the risks rather than relying on Joe Public to know or be able to?

The top line manager has just told him to go home and work from home as he "really doesn't look well". At least someone has some sense let's see if he does or if he 'soldiers on'!

I agree with you OP. I'm pregnant and hate it when people spread their germs around needlessly as obviously being pregnant you can't really take anything to make you feel better so it's awful if you do catch a cold as they can make you feel so rotten.

Even when not pregnant I can't bear people doing this, coughing and sneezing everywhere.

@SnuggyBuggy - we’re advised to avoid large gatherings of people or anyone we know who is ill. Our lives have to go on too. If people genuinely don’t gaf and go about full of something coughing in people’s faces and sneezing all over the place then there is nothing we can do. But people really shouldn’t be so bloody ignorant - does anyone, immunocompromised or not, want to have someone cough in their face or sneezing all over them all day?

In terms of incubation periods, that is insignificant. The germs are still spread through coughing and sneezing, sharing cups or utensils, kissing etc. Basic hygiene and education would prevent the spread. It’s inevitable that we’ll all get ill at some point but common sense and good hygiene lessens the frequency.

I struggle with this. I send everyone home if they look like they could be spreading their germs, but for colds I do go to work. Colds are the most annoying ailment. I can never tell how I'm going to feel because the symptoms go in such waves. Wave 1) sore throat such that can't sleep for at least 2 nights, 2) bunged up nose such that can't sleep for a few nights, 3) sneezing and coughing such that the germs are leaving the body in disgusting ways, and terrible lethargy partly from the cold but partly from the build up of sleeplessness, 4) the annoying hacking cough that comes to nothing but interrupts all my attempts at conversation. If I do take time off it isn't usually until I'm fed up somewhere in stage 3, but have already spread the germs.

This annoys me so much. A woman in my team was sent home Monday. She went to the Dr and was told she has viral bronchitis which is really contagious. Yet she's come in today as she's got "an important meeting" she can't miss. The woman opposite me has a streaming cold. We're all able to work from home as and when we want to. People are such martyrs. They think they win points by struggling in when they're unwell

interesting thread as i'm off sick with cold - and lack of sleep for a week is causing me issues. One reason i have gone sick is that i know my concentration skills are gone and so i would probably make errors. In which case the company wouldnt say....ah that is because you were ill and dragged yourself in. No they would give me a bollocking for making mistakes