To ask what your company stance is on covid for office based workers?

TVaddict23 · 26/10/2023 11:16

No official stance although if you test positive but feel well enough to work they tend to just let you wfh.

If you're too ill to work then you stay off sick.

However I don't know many people still testing tbh.

Original poster

covidisback · 26/10/2023 11:19

@TVaddict23 you hit the nail on the head I think it's really odd people still are but many of them seem to still test in our workplace.

I really don't get it

OP posts:

CirreltheSquirrel · 26/10/2023 11:24

No official stance where I work (I think). I had it last week so have just been WFH (I feel mainly ok but want to make sure I'm not infectious). My OH still has rules and his employer still.provides them with tests (office based engineer with no real contact with vulnerable people as far as I know).

I didn't actually test this time - he did because work needed him to, and I didn't because when we had the same symptoms at the same time after a week on holiday where we did the same things I would have been very surprised if we picked up two different bugs!

SocksAndTheCity · 26/10/2023 11:26

Feel OK to work = work
Too ill to work = can't work

To be fair, that's been the MO for as long as I can remember and nothing to do with covid.

greenacrylicpaint · 26/10/2023 11:27

wfh if any cold symptoms.

Topofthemountain · 26/10/2023 11:28

COVID is the plague and if you know you have it then you are not allowed in the office and can WFH.

Any other illnesses, up to and including the actual plague you are expected to be in. The sickness policy is so draconian that you don't want to be off unless you are on ICU.

Basilton · 26/10/2023 11:28

No official stance as far as I know anyway. But we sort of self manage it, for example I had it a couple of weeks ago and it was just expected (by my colleagues) that I would be working at home and not risk passing it on.

dcsp · 26/10/2023 11:30

covidisback · 26/10/2023 11:19

@TVaddict23 you hit the nail on the head I think it's really odd people still are but many of them seem to still test in our workplace.

I really don't get it

If you were unwell and thought there was a chance it could be a disease which can make some people seriously unwell, and which there's an easy way to self-test for, why is it odd to do so?

WideLegPant · 26/10/2023 11:32

Stay off, work at home if you're well enough to work. We are well set up with home working though.

People are very aware that colleagues have elderly relatives or those undergoing medical treatment and catching covid might mean they can't see their relatives. (Some specific cases where parents are probably seeing their last few months, and more generally).

KingsleyBorder · 26/10/2023 11:33

No requirement to test but anyone with Covid like symptoms or who chooses to test and it’s positive must WFH for 5 days.

We otherwise have a requirement to be in office 3 days out of 5 so it’s a definite protective measure.

verdantverdure · 26/10/2023 11:33

covidisback · 26/10/2023 11:13

Just that really - as it's on the rise I'm interested to know companies are doing?

NC don't want it linked to other posts - I'm not a journalist!!

Don't come in with covid symptoms.

We also ask anyone coming in for an in person meeting not to come with covid symptoms either.

The MD escorted a coughing salesman out of the building the other day.

WideLegPant · 26/10/2023 11:36

dcsp · 26/10/2023 11:30

If you were unwell and thought there was a chance it could be a disease which can make some people seriously unwell, and which there's an easy way to self-test for, why is it odd to do so?

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Because then you might have to inconvenience yourself based on the knowledge. People think that deliberately not testing then pleading ignorance is in some way morally preferable

anyway no doubt this thread will descend into people swearing that covid is just a cold, no-one is really affected by it, and those with long covid are... basically lying or in some way deserve it for not inconveniencing themselves pre-emptively so as not to get it.

NailsHairNipsHeels · 26/10/2023 11:36

We're encouraged to test not many do though.
If we test positive we have to isolate for 5 days we're not allowed to go into work and we can't work from home.

dcsp · 26/10/2023 11:37

covidisback · 26/10/2023 11:13

Just that really - as it's on the rise I'm interested to know companies are doing?

NC don't want it linked to other posts - I'm not a journalist!!

We're not office-based (we are on paper still, but in reality we're not), but we go to the office sometimes - sometimes for ad-hoc things, sometimes it's something more organised.

Even for the organised ones, if anyone has anything that they'd be likely to pass on (not just covid - though this is definitely a new thing since covid).

If I'm honest, I don't understand why anyone who does a desk-based job is required to routinely travel to the office - everyone doing their job just fine during the covid era proved that it isn't necessary.

TheIsleOfTheLost · 26/10/2023 11:38

We are told to work from home if we test positive and are well enough to work. There are free tests available from the office, but I doubt anyone much is actually using them.

cocksstrideintheevening · 26/10/2023 11:41

If you're well enough go in

NotFastButFurious · 26/10/2023 11:41

I don't know and I can't find a policy on it! The Covid 19 intranet page hasn't been updated since 2022. I think it's probably to work from home if you've tested positive (or at least that's what people have been doing recently).

Sandsnake · 26/10/2023 11:42

Five days out from either positive test or onset of symptoms for us. I’ve got it at the moment. Started as heavy cold, then stomach ache / nausea with aching and fatigue. Definitely doing better today, am now out of my mandatory isolation and hoping to be better to go in tomorrow.

Hbh17 · 26/10/2023 11:43

Never been mentioned, because Covid testing is not required and so nobody does it any more. If I felt really, really unwell I would be off sick - as always - but fortunately I am pretty robust.

themothergoose · 26/10/2023 11:44

Off sick I guess if you're unwell, but I have definitely seen people come in all sniffy a few days after testing positive. I work in healthcare.

millymollymoomoo · 26/10/2023 11:44

Thankfully nothing

SerenChocolateMuncher · 26/10/2023 11:48

dcsp · 26/10/2023 11:37

We're not office-based (we are on paper still, but in reality we're not), but we go to the office sometimes - sometimes for ad-hoc things, sometimes it's something more organised.

Even for the organised ones, if anyone has anything that they'd be likely to pass on (not just covid - though this is definitely a new thing since covid).

If I'm honest, I don't understand why anyone who does a desk-based job is required to routinely travel to the office - everyone doing their job just fine during the covid era proved that it isn't necessary.

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That's not true though. Plenty of companies were excusing their poor customer service on staff working from home during covid lockdowns.

dcsp · 26/10/2023 12:02

SerenChocolateMuncher · 26/10/2023 11:48

That's not true though. Plenty of companies were excusing their poor customer service on staff working from home during covid lockdowns.

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I'd say this is more likely to be a case of either companies finding any excuse to blame for something that would've been poor anyway, or poor management of WfH, rather than WfH not working per se.

MintJulia · 26/10/2023 12:08

Clear instruction from our CEO, if you test positive, stay at home. He doesn't want the whole co. going down with it. We can all wfh anyway.

There are only 14 of us, in a small office so an outbreak could hit our revenues badly.

qwerty123454 · 26/10/2023 12:25

No idea