To think it's pure selfish to come into work full of cold barking every 2 minutes

[lilly423]

AIBU to think if your full of cold and coughing non-stop then you absolutely shouldn’t come in to work and infect everyone else? It’s pure selfishness. Colleague sits on desk attached to mine so very close to me and we share a phone. She gets paid to be off so I’m really pissed off if I’m being honest that she’s come in coughing and spluttering germs all round. I’ve got plans for over the Christmas and if I catch this because of her selfishness then it will ruin it for me. I told her she shouldn’t he here today and she just says she’s not as bad as she has been … certainly doesn’t sound that way and I’m saying it for the benefit of other staff.

But how is it selfish? She probably doesn't want to be in. She's getting paid either way.
She probably just tried to make the right choice.

It's not the fact that someone has a cough or cold, though, is it.

It's the fact that some people have no clue about basic hygiene and exposing risk to others.

I had to take my Dad shopping yesterday, and it was disgusting to see so many people out and about with streaming colds and hacking coughs touching everything in sight including food. Grim.

If everyone rang in sick for a cough/cold the workforce would grind to a halt. The flu is different.

I’d go in without a second thought with cough or cold despite paid sick leave, I would only ever call in sick if really unwell.

As long as she practices good hygiene it will be fine. Coughs and colds are everywhere at the moment, they can’t be avoided unless you never leave the house.

I agree @pfeffer. Irresponsible people who abuse reasonable sick leave policies screw it up for everyone. But it seems unfair that everyone suffers because of the behaviour of a minority.

You are being very unreasonable. You don't have time of sick with a cold!

I agree. Last week I was stuck in an all day meeting with someone coughing and sneezing away. I expressed concern (in a kindly way) and he said colds don't bother him. Nothing I could do, but I thought 'They may not bother you - you're young and will probably shake it off in a day or so. I'm old and menopausal - if I get it it will drag on for weeks.'

It is horrible, but at the same time there is a lot of pressure for people to attend. I know when I was at college for example, on the one hand they didn't like you coming in if you were unwell, but then on the other if you missed more than 3 days in a row they'd be bringing you in for a meeting with the head. Losing an entire college week for an infectious cold is perfectly understandable IMO, and surely it's better staying away and catching up at home (which I always did) than come in and pass it round.. but there are some serious double standards and pressures in many working environments.

Luckily I can work from home if full of cold but if that wasn't an option I wouldn't be phoning in sick! My sickness rate would be through the roof.

You're being a bit dramatic.
Your Christmas plans will be "ruined" if you get a cold? That's pretty OTT unless there's a massive dripfeed coming about how you're planning to visit an immuno-suppressed relative or run a marathon for charity. It's winter, lots of people have coughs and colds and still manage to enjoy Christmas. Besides, it's called the 'common cold' for a reason, it's everywhere! Surely you realise that even if this particular individual took time off work for their cold, you can't possibly avoid all contact with infectious people unless you resign yourself to becoming a hermit during the winter months.

It's not "pure selfishness" to work through a cold at all, it's just normal! If it wasn't then our whole infrastructure would grind to a halt every winter. I work in a school and have small children so if I took time off every time I caught a cold i'd be out of a job very quickly. I'll do what I can to prevent passing colds on to others by practicing good hygiene but if someone catches it anyway then, I'm sorry but that's just life. Workplace sickness policies are not very forgiving these days and in my sector it's becoming more common for people to be dismissed as a result of sickness absence. I'm not going to risk the loss of my job and my children's security to prevent someone else catching a sniffle. If that makes me "selfish" then so be it.

@MinisterforCheekyFuckery it absolutely would ruin my Christmas plans, as when I pick up a 'cold' it's a lot more than a sniffle. I struggle getting out of bed, I always get a chest infection with it as well as a seriously painful throat and I lose my voice and sense of smell and taste and have to blow my nose literally every few minutes, my body aches to the point where I struggle getting out of bed and I get coldsores. So it certainly would ruin the time I have booked off having saved up my holidays and not been off since June. People suffer differently with a cold, but this is always how mine are.

it absolutely would ruin my Christmas plans

So ultimately it is all about you and yet you call her selfish. If you are so desperate not to get ill before Xmas why don't you take some unpaid leave and isolate yourself from everyone to eradicate the risk?

Sounds ridiculous? So does expecting colleagues to incur sick days on their records for a simple cold.

and not been off since June.

you shouldn't put yourself in such a rundown state which makes you catch up any germ or virus that are around.

Your manager needs to send her home

I could not have a day of for that.

@brokenwing 😂 I'm seriously confused how I'm selfish for not wanting to be bed bound over the Christmas that I've taken annual leave and made plans for? Are you ok? Would I be not selfish to hope that I do catch this? Your obviously the person who goes into work coughing your germs all over everyone. Yuk

Your obviously the person who goes into work coughing your germs all over everyone.

again, a cold is not a valid reason for missing work .

Just stay locked in your own property away from anyone to ensure you stay healthy, as you could catch up anything in a supermarket, or even in the street...

Just seen your update/dripfeed.
If a normal cold that others are able to work through genuinely leads to you being "bed bound" and completely unable to function for days on end then you need to see your GP and ask to be referred for some investigations into what's causing this. You can't reasonably expect everyone in your workplace to take a week off every time they get a cough or a runny nose because you seem to have some abnormally severe reaction to what is, in the vast majority of people, a very minor ailment.

I'm sure she would far rather be home in bed.

I agree but where I work it's very much frowned upon to be off ill.

I agree sick people should stay home but most workplaces will take a dim view. Here in Germany it seems to be normal to take time off for the slightest sniffle and I think it goes too far in the other direction, but at the same time we don’t have sick colleagues dragging themselves in when they should be home.

You can't expect people to quarantine themselves for coughs and colds. Life has to go on

This ^^. Just Dettol wipe the fuck out of your phone/keyboard etc and get on with your life.

Cold and flu germs are everywhere, all over everything we touch including money.

You can't control other people's hygiene but you can control your own.

YABVU, it’s a fucking cough not the Spanish Flu, get a grip.

If everyone had days on end off work for coughing, the country would grind to a halt.

Sometimes others might feel scared to call in sick. I know some companies who would find it only acceptable to call in sick if you were practically in the hospital.

Wipe everything with anti bacterial sheets, use hand sanitizer/ wash your hands, eat lots of garlic, make yourself and her some nice tea with real ginger and order some cute mouth masks on Amazon (Hello Kitty, the Little Mermaid prints - yeah they exist) and wear them to the office.

I can't see my manager being impressed if I called in sick with a cold. My kids would never be in nursery if I kept them off with a cold.
If companies don't want people in then shouldn't be such dicks and put people on disciplinary for being ill.

Regardless of your sickness policy I imagine she, like many others, thinks that ringing in sick 2 days before Christmas looks suspect. Right or wrong it is what it is. I went to work last Christmas not being able to stand up straight having done my back in because I knew people would think (despite my spotless sickness record) I was putting it on.
Your manager should maybe send her home??

And agree with pp, unless theres a further drip feed about you being immunocompromised then you need to see a doctor because the common cold shouldn't be flooring you to that extent every single time.