To work from home if I'm sick?

[cofingalthetime]

So, i had covid about 2 weeks ago and recovered, so I thought, but this week I am so exhausted all the time, and breathless, and have a whole bunch of the symptoms of long covid. I asked could I work from home today as I just coulnd't face the commute. But manager said no, either you come in, or you're off sick. Just wondering what other employers are doing. When I was off for a week with covid she said to work from home if I felt up to it - which I did.

When we were in lockdown I was sick a couple of times - a cold, I hurt my back once, and I just kept working best as I could, I didn't "go sick", so have a spotless 'sick' record for the past 2 years. Just interested how other companies are working this out.

I had covid back in september and it didn't count towards my sick leave then as it would now since isolation rules have changed. After I was ok to go back to work in terms of isolation period being over I asked to finish the week from home as I was still really tired and didn't want to expend the energy on the commute.
Now i suspect my work would say the same as yours, 'If you're too ill to commute you're too ill to work'. To be fair for normal illnesses I have a similar measure for whether I need to call in sick.

My employer would say stay home and don’t work until you’re better. It wouldn’t affect my sick leave.

My company requires us to work from home if we are sick, but feel well enough to work. We aren’t allowed to knowingly bring germs to the office anymore.

My company have asked all of us that can wfh to do that if unwell , even if just a sniffle and would prefer you work than be off sick

@Ponderingwindow that seems sensible.

@Indicatrice I don't understand how it wouldnt affect your sick leave. Do you mean because of covid.

I don't think you should work from home if you're too ill to go to work.

It opens the door to abuse of the system and you'll inevitably have people doing less or going awol and blaming the fact they're unwell.

You're either well enough to work at full capacity or you're not.

It’s been quite sad seeing how quickly many places have reverted back to previous sickness policies.

I work from home anyway but DH work have gone back to taking a dim view of anyone who call in sick. You are asked repeatedly if you are sure you can’t come in, and then you are expected back asap.

Staff sickness because of Covid has caused them so many problems, they just have no further tolerance for any sickness.

I mostly agree with this (if you're normally office based) but for a different reason - if you're ill and exhausted or can't concentrate, don't try and power through by working from home - you should be resting and getting better!

But if you feel well enough to work and your concern is spreading cold/Covid germs to your colleagues then I think WFH is the sensible option.

My company requires us to work from home if we are sick, but feel well enough to work. We aren’t allowed to knowingly bring germs to the office anymore.

Same. And it is absolutely mind boggling that this wasn't the case before covid (to be fair to my lot, we were already moving towards a hybrid model of "work anywhere" and not bringing germs to the office has been a thing for a few years now).

To be clear OP, I think your current situation is the former example - you're genuinely not well & you need to put your health and recovery above your sickness record.

We would definitely say come in or take sick leave

when I had covid I "went" back to work - WFH
In retrospect it was a mistake, finance, so not physical, but I hadn't anticipated the impact of brain fog on my work, the going back and having to recheck stuff, duplicating or missing bits. In retrospect, I think I'd have been back at 100% capacity if I'd taken more time off.
As it was I worked for a week, took a further week off and then went back, but couldn't cope with a full day. I don;t think I did myself or my team any favours.

I have had an awful virus type thing and worked at home this week with my manager’s blessing. I was off sick last week. They encourage us not to come in if possibly infectious even if it’s not covid.

should have been "back at 100% capacity sooner"

From your description, it sounds like you'd be better taking the time off and getting some really good rest. If you use up the energy you have on trying to work from home, you won't be getting the rest you really need.

My work leave it to our discretion.

If we are poorly, they would rather we rested to recuperate faster.

If we just feel run down etc and its just nicer to work at home without the stress and exhaustion of commute etc, they are fine for us to work at home and do not mark it as sick.

The offical line where I work even pre covid is that if you are too ill to come to the office, then you are too ill to wfh and should be off sick. Managers would get into trouble if they were found to be telling employees who had said that they aren't feeling great to wfh.

But obviously being off sick too many times triggers sickess absence disciplinary etc, so in my experience most people would just ask to wfh for other reasons and not tell their line manager that they were feeling rubbish. Then save sickness for when you are too ill to even wfh.

Could you get a fit note from the doctor to say you are well enough to work but with amendments ie wfh? I think the forms have a section for amendments

It depends on the type of work you do to some extent, but if your business is like mine, YANBU.

In our work it is possible to do only small amounts of work and dip in and out of it when you feel well enough. We also pay sick leave, so for us, someone actually logging in and doing something is beneficial to us.

I can understand it might get complicated if there are sick pay calculations, etc.