To think this is pretty insensitive and short-sighed in the current climate

[catchafallingwife]

Background: I work in an industry where technically most of the work can be done remotely but there's a big premium placed on networking.

Understandably - and I don't blame them for this given where the guidance has been -- my company has flip-flopped a lot on its policy with respect to whether or not people are expected to work from the office. They've gone from being totally fine for all staff to work remotely to everyone needs to be in to hybrid is fine and various permutations of the above.

Recently, about a month ago, there were a series of large industry events which we were all on a three line whip to attend in person. Four people from the company contracted COVID during that two week period (so likely at least one of them at one of these events). One of these people was hospitalised, though is now doing OK. But three of the four were sick enough to be off work for at least 10 days.

The company has been encouraging people to come in as far as they can but has also maintained that ultimately the policy is that people should feel free to work from home if they feel unsafe coming in, and that was reiterated after these people fell it, although we were never officially told that people had COVID.

In my recent review I was encouraged to come in more than the 2 days a week I'm currently doing. I said I was happy to do this but with the proviso that I would prefer to avoid large gatherings for the foreseeable, at least until we know where things stand on Omicron. I was told this was fine.

I'm now off sick and called in sick for a client meeting today (which was attended by several other staff so no one was left in the lurch). I'm genuinely sick -- almost certainly not COVID as I've had a series of negative LFTs but high temperature, feel too rubbish to do much and very likely highly infectious. This is the first sick day I've had in two years.

I've just had an email from my boss saying he is "disappointed" that I couldn't "make the effort", despite what was discussed at my review and would expect more "presence" from me.

Is it just me or this astonishingly tone deaf?

Contacting you to guilt trip you whilst you're off on sick is not ok before or after COVID.

I think @whyohwhyohwhyohwhywhy means you shouldn’t have done any work at all.

It looks like you were well enough to work as you worked from home. So you can’t have a day paid sick as you worked!

If you call/email in and say you can’t work as you’re ill then surely that means you don’t work from home.

@HighlandCowbag

This is the issue with wfh. You are either well enough to work, in which case you need to attend the office when told. Or you are too ill to work and should have taken a sick day.

It's not just bad for the employer it's bad for the employee and will create a culture of wfh even if ill.

A friends dh is having an operation (hopefully) next week. He's told work he will be off at least a week, he's been told to wfh if not well enough to come in, he should be resting and recovering if necessary not wfh.

I get what you're saying but that just isn't realistic. Many companies simply can't afford for people to be off sick. Of my colleagues who have had COVID, a lot of them have worked right through it.

There are so many people off sick at the moment at my work that if you make a point if not logging on at all you are just making life far harder for other people. In reality if I'd actually refused to work today I would have left multiple people even more thinly stretched than they already are.

By wfh I'm at least keeping everything ticking over but without bringing a contagious virus into a small, poorly ventilated room. I'm probably working suboptimally but I'm at home, in a warm environment with my home comforts around me and getting enough done to not create tons of additional work for my colleagues. It's shit but that's how modern life works and better that than needlessly making other people ill.

I imagine they assume you're skiving, you've wanted to avoid gatherings, you said you might not be able to make it, I'd assume the same and much have preferred you just called off the day before so I could get things organised.

@Messyplayallday

I think *@whyohwhyohwhyohwhywhy* means you shouldn’t have done any work at all.

It looks like you were well enough to work as you worked from home. So you can’t have a day paid sick as you worked!

If you call/email in and say you can’t work as you’re ill then surely that means you don’t work from home.

As I said to the poster above that's just not realistic. The work which I would have dodged by doing this would make my colleagues' jobs far harder.

And I haven't asked for a paid sick day: I'm at work and have been since 7am (and probably won't stop until 5pm).

There's a difference between asking for a paid sick day and avoiding needlessly bringing an infectious disease into a physical meeting.

@Kshhuxnxk

I imagine they assume you're skiving, you've wanted to avoid gatherings, you said you might not be able to make it, I'd assume the same and much have preferred you just called off the day before so I could get things organised.

I did literally do that: I emailed my boss last night to warn him that I was likely not to attend. And flagged to the three other colleagues that I was likely not to make it.

I'd be replying reiterating I was sick and copying and pasting your company's sickness policy. If its anything likeine it specifically says do not come in and infect people.

I'd also be saving a copy of it for a later date should you need it.

Your boss is a knob

I tested positive last week , I'm much better now but the first few days were awful .

My work seem to treating it like furlough and that I'm having a lovely time working from home . Just ignoring the fact I was ill and in no fit state to work .

I think a lot of places have lost tolerance for any sort of sickness or non office attending now . They want things back to pre pandemic and being ill is no longer considered a good enough excuse .

Being ill is a good enough reason , I'd respond to your boss with as much , not a lot they do

I think you should have called in sick properly. If this creates more work for your colleagues that's for your manager to sort out

But you’re not off sick are you? You’re working from home.

@Theluggage15

But you’re not off sick are you? You’re working from home.

Yes: which is why I've told the other poster I'm not taking sick pay. I'm working.

I'm not talking about whether I'm entitled to sick pay - I'm working but I would be happy to sacrifice the day's pay if that was an issue. I'm simply saying I think its unfair and ridiculous to penalise someone to take steps to protect their colleagues from infection. Particularly in the middle of a pandemic.

But you said in your op you are off sick?
There is a lot of ambiguity in this

@whyohwhyohwhyohwhywhy This is why infectious diseases spread in workplaces. I’ve caught numerous miserable infections from people struggling into work when they’re sick and coughing all over everyone, to show how virtuous and hardworking they are. I thought we’d have learned a lesson from Covid but obviously not.

@catchafallingwife Pressuring someone to go to work when they’re sick is bullying. If he believes you’re sick but still thinks you should have “made the effort” he’s well out of order.

Yes it’s v disappointing that this culture of attending work even if you’re sick hasn’t ended. If anything covid has made it worse. It’s almost as though the whole thing is about control rather than health.

Oh, I’ve just rtft. You called in sick but you’re working and not taking sick pay? Are you “at work” (wfh) or not (sick day)? You feel too rubbish to do much, in your own words, but worked from 7am to 5pm? You’re working because they don’t have enough manpower to cover your work? (this is a management problem not yours to solve).

If this is normal for your company it’s a very dysfunctional workplace.

No, I said if she is sick she should be off sick.

From your OP, I was appalled on your behalf that your boss had effectively accused you of lying about being sick.

However, now it's apparent that you've not called in sick for the day, I think it's a bit of a greyer situation.

From his perspective, you've expressed the preference to not be in crowded environments. Fair enough and he responded positively to this.

The very next time when you were needed in a meeting which could be considered a crowded environment, you contacted him to say you wouldn't be attending in person. You felt unwell but not too ill to prevent you from working. You simply don't know if you're infectious or not. You don't know if it's covid.

It's a shame he doesn't trust you enough to make a good judgment, and that he seems to have assumed your reluctance to be in crowded rooms formed your decision to stay away. I get that this isn't the truth, but I can understand why he's thought this.

Honestly, if you can't attend a meeting because you are ill and infectious, then the most responsible decision is to stay in bed to speed up your recovery.

I think you need to clarify (if you haven't already, it's unclear) that you have a fever and are waiting for a PCR result thus making you going into work would be illegal...

The question in your thread title didn’t make sense. You were apparently told off for being off ill and were questioning whether that was “short sighted”. Well it is certainly something (rude, inappropriate, unprofessional, unsympathetic perhaps) but no, not short sighted.

Anyway with your updates, it looks like you haven’t called in sick at all and in fact have just done what your boss said, not turned up and unilaterally decided to work from home. I think you have created the misunderstanding.

Going back to my working days (which were prior to covid), occasional working from home was always allowed but it should be pre agreed between staff member and their line manager. If somebody called in sick only to announce they were working at home, I would tell them to take the day off sick properly to rest and get better.

You said in your op that you’re genuinely sick and that this is the first sick day you’ve had for ages but then you say you’re working from home which is what you do the majority of the time anyway. I can see why your boss is confused.

@Aprilx

The question in your thread title didn’t make sense. You were apparently told off for being off ill and were questioning whether that was “short sighted”. Well it is certainly something (rude, inappropriate, unprofessional, unsympathetic perhaps) but no, not short sighted.

Anyway with your updates, it looks like you haven’t called in sick at all and in fact have just done what your boss said, not turned up and unilaterally decided to work from home. I think you have created the misunderstanding.

Going back to my working days (which were prior to covid), occasional working from home was always allowed but it should be pre agreed between staff member and their line manager. If somebody called in sick only to announce they were working at home, I would tell them to take the day off sick properly to rest and get better.

The part I "called in sick" for was a client meeting. I said in emails to my boss last night and today that I was unwell and therefore probably infectious and didn't want to bring this infection to a meeting with several colleagues and a client.

It's a given that I would be expected to work from home even if I was sick. You'd have to be on your deathbed to be allowed to actually stop work and it wouldn't cross anyone's mind that you'd properly log off. Most of my colleagues worked throughout COVID (apart from the one who went to hospital). I have not logged off for a full 24 hour period for the past 7-8 years.

A lot of people seem to be fixating over whether I'm expecting to be paid for being off sick. I thought I'd clarified this already but for the record (and for the second or third time) I am not expecting sick pay as I am still working. I would be perfectly happy to have my pay docked or whatever if that were a sticking point. I really couldn't give a shit about the sick pay element of this.

That isn't the point of my OP. The point is whether I am unreasonable or not to think that in the middle of a pandemic and with several people having been infected with COVID as a result of networking events, to decide not to risk infecting a client and colleagues with a respiratory virus.

OP, people are just asking about pay because they’re trying to understand whether you’re off sick.

I get what you're saying OP and did similar last week - also with a similar reaction from unsympathetic boss.

I think ignore it for now but screenshot the email and keep it in a folder on your personal computer.

Ps I also worked through Covid which I caught on a work trip. I was told to "rest" while simultaneously being given work

YANBU but also, you have a temp so the guidance is isolate until you get a negative PCR even if you're getting negative LFTs