People being ill at work

[lonelyweather]

I work in a management (admin) role in a hospital. We have a large shared office with another team. last week one of the other team members came in with a fever and the shivers. I tried to avoid him but here I am now with a fever, a snotty nose, and achey limbs.

its not as bad as the flu (and I’ve had the vaccine anyway) but is definitely not pleasant and I’m going to have to miss some key in person events tomorrow as - unlike other team man - I am not going to come into work (in a hospital!!!) with a contagious viral disease.

(May also be swayed by the fact I have a close family member with a chronic respiratory condition so I don’t take viruses lightly)

im so angry with him - aibu?

Yabu - his job and his f2f meetings are more important than everyone else’s job and/ or the health of patients and visitors he will come into contact with in public spaces so of course he should come in and spread his germs around.
yanbu - if you have an admin role and can wfh when you’re ill then you should work from home and protect your colleagues. He works from home 4 days out of 5 ffs! Why did he have to come in?

I don’t know how you can be 100% sure where you picked up your virus.

And I haven’t picked either of your choices because the wording you provided didn’t work for me.

On the fence whether he was being reasonable or not, so cant really say whether you are or not.

People definitely shouldn't come into work with a contagious illness.

But some people have very little choice if they want to keep their job. Their managers make them - even if it's not directly said, there can be an absolute air of "sick time is not accepted" at various jobs.

But some people have very little choice if they want to keep their job.

Agree. It’s a sad reality for a lot of people. I have a health condition which means I can have more sickness than the average person. (I have already had 3 operations and weeks of sick leave this calendar year). I’m currently on sickness monitoring and categorically cannot afford anymore sick days. That means turning up to work with colds, shivers, fevers. It’s depressing as fuck.

Sorry OP, I appreciate this isn’t helpful.

You work in a hospital, people get sick! Maybe he didn't want to let his team down, maybe his manager pressured him to come in, maybe he was unwell but felt well enough in himself to work.

People catch colds this time of year, it's normal

YANBU given he already WFH. In 2024 it beggars belief that some come into work whilst sick when they have the ability to WFH. We have to get the approval from management to WFH (not because of piss takers but some of us were WFH whilst extremely ill) but no one comes in unless its a sniffle or have mostly recovered.

You don't know where it came from

I work in retail so there’s no such thing as WFH. In this circumstance we would be expected to come to work.

a) you don't know where you got the virus from and b) are you his manager? Do you know why he came in? are you privy to his contract details? I WFH half the week and can easily WFH fully but there is a lot of pressure to do the office days in the office regardless of having a virus or not. He may not have much of a choice?

The problem is you can lose your job for going off sick. And it goes on your record and new employers can get it. I have a terrible immune system and catch everything going. I get a cold every 2-3 weeks and have for almost 10 years. I can't afford to go sick at work. That's the way the laws work and I have bills to pay. I wish it worked differently, I really do!

I work in a factory. Unless you are physically too ill to work, you work.
We've all had the coughing/flu bug in the last month or so.

I don’t know why people are giving you a hard time, OP. It’s very inconsiderate to go into work with a virus when you have the option to work remotely. It’s just playing the martyr.

I used to work with someone like that, sitting all day at his desk sneezing and spreading his germs 🤢. I actually ended up with the worst cold I’ve ever experienced and had to call in sick during my probation period because of him. YANBU

You can’t be sure you picked up the virus from him.
He might find it difficult to WFH - not everyone has the facilities such as a quiet room, heating etc.
The Trust where I worked was very strict about sick leave and people were disciplined for taking odd days off , he may be at risk of a disciplinary if he went off sick.
Without knowing his reasoning for coming in, I can’t answer the question - and that is aside from your wording being unclear to me.

I would not feel upset if colleagues suffering from a cold, having had Covid/flu tests to verify that, came to work in my office if they felt well enough to function effectively.

I would want an open window and no shared coffee cups nor Sicky sitting within a metre of me though.
I would also consider wearing a mask and would wash my hands regularly.

Did the fellow worker wear a mask and stay more at his own desk?
Do you wear a mask in crowded public areas such as supermarkets, railway stations etc.?

The NHS has strict policy regarding sick leave. I have relative who works in a hospital and I can tell you from first hand experience that it takes very little time off sick to trigger disciplinary action. Very few people would voluntarily go to work visibly ill unless there was a good reason - the threat of losing your job for example.

It IS inconsiderate. But I don't know anyone who goes in ill by choice. I had a horrible flu earlier this year. Had two days off. It was easier to go into work & than get a medical certificate (standard if more than two days). I also felt pressure as I had deadlines. I felt bloody resentful that the bosses wife had just had it & stayed home scot free for a week 'to recover', without any sick leave issues or med certs required. I needed that amount of time, but if I did I'd be cutting into holiday leave.

So, we go to work ill......

The person in question does admin working 4 days from home already. All he had to do is ask his
manager to let him wfh the extra day on one occasion.

Does you employer have the sickness policy of three periods of sickness in a year and its disciplinary action?

I worked for places with this policy and colleagues on their 2nd period of sickness, if they are full of cold like in the OP's colleague. They turn up to work as don't want the stress and worry of disciplinary action.

Employers have this policy as stops employees taking random sickies. Though this is counter productive as this causes well colleagues to be sick.

I catch a cold literally at least once a fortnight, usually more. It will only last for 24-36 hours but I look and sound horrendous whilst I have it. It drives me bananas, I have a healthy lifestyle, take immune support vitamins and get loads of sleep but I just seem to have a rubbish immune system.

If I stayed off work every time I would be sacked. Not everyone has the option to not work when they have a cold.

But some people have very little choice if they want to keep their job. Their managers make them - even if it's not directly said, there can be an absolute air of "sick time is not accepted" at various jobs

It's this, isn't it? Very very few people WANT to be at work while ill. So if they are there, it's because they feel they really have to be. Not much point being grumpy at them - they are as much a victim of unhealthy attitudes to sickness as anyone they come into contact with.

On the face of it he does sound unreasonable but there could be a number of valid reasons he had no choice but to come in

It's annoying for you but I agree with those that say lots of people feel they have no choice - 3 episodes of sickness = a disciplinary where I am. You can't really win.

Do we know that he didn’t ask? Is it essential he’s in the office for that one day ? Knowing the rigidity within the NHS regarding sickness he may have been refused the WFH option if he couldn’t physically come into work on a day he was normally expected to, because he was sick.

If you CAN WFH from home when you're ill then of course you should. But we don't know that this man could.

Employees can be caught in a cleft stick.

Strict rules about having to be in the office X number of days per week and strict rules about how many incidences of sick leave.

Employers who have insisted workers return to the office may find this bites them over winter. Especially where office space has been reduced so workers are having to share workspace.

Most people I know have continued to WFH with various bugs which would have had them take days off sick when office based. IME it's the commute on public transport which is the deciding factor.

Unfortunately it's the culture we work in which is incredible after covid.
Also the habit of not ventilation rooms properly.