Why do people come to work when they are ill??!

[Confused228]

In work yesterday, about 3 or 4 people are harbouring horrible cold/flu type things. Surprise surprise tonight I am starting to feel ill. I honestly think it's so selfish, stay home if you're ill and don't come to work spreading your germs about!! We work in an industry with really good sick leave policies.

I do get 6 months full pay, but I can also work from home so in the event of a cold would do so - as I am not too ill to actually work. I believe that there is a protocol in the event that someone was off frequently.

My first employer also had a full 6.months sick pay but I know for sure that they also had policies in respect of number of sick leave occurrences and amount of time off over 12 months - which would trigger warnings leading to dismissal - I believe it was the Bradford scale - so 3 occurrences of total 6 days for example might trigger a verbal warning- to avoid people misusing the sick pay I guess. So you would only be off if you were too sick to work.

Because for me it’s an easier option if I can struggle through. this is due to deadlines, workload.
about 70% of my work will wait for me to return. That’s a thought and a real consideration before phoning in.
I get 6months full pay but agree with others that I would go in with a cold.
when I have called in sick it’s difficult knowing much of my work is waiting … and growing by the day..

allmylifelong

My boss would make me feel so shit if I called in to say I was ill. She’d encourage us to come in even if we weren’t 100%. It was easier just to come in sick than to call in sick.

Same as this, most jobs I’ve had (retail), you’d have to be on the floor not to go in, I once asked to leave because my throat was sore, I was coughing, sneezing and burning up and manager asked did I want to work in the stockroom instead so I didn’t have to deal with customers

I really doubt they have flu.

They can't afford to be sick.
They feel guilty taking time off.
There is no one to cover them if they are ill, so the department/shop can't open.

Because I get colds all the damn time, and if I can manage to go into work I will. Because we are only allowed 2 episodes of sickness (whether that is one day or 4 months) and the third time puts us on performance management plans and discipline plans.

As such, I'll save my two allowed sickness events for when I actually am far too unwell to drag my arse to work. Because I need my job to pay my bills, and not be dismissed because I took off with a cold 3 times in 12 months..

Agreed! My daughters work mate came into work with a horrible bug, now myself, my daughter and my baby are vomiting and 💩
It's unbelievably selfish

Some people cannot afford to take time off. There is a cost of living crisis. I can fortunately work from home but we don't get sick pay so if I couldn't work from home I'd have to go in ill, I am a single parent with bills to pay and that comes first for me.

I work in a company where sick pay is good. I have a colleague who comes down with one or other nasty flu/cold/covid virus each autumn, and insists on coming in and not allowing the windows to be opened because she's 'in a draft' - sod everyone else, some of whom have elderly parents to visit, others who have long-awaited holidays coming up and don't want them ruined by being ill throughout.

It makes my blood boil.

That's so not true - I've been working full time for 20+ years and every corporate and smaller company I've worked for offers 6 months full sick pay (sometimes/usually followed by 6 months half pay) but then I've mainly worked in retail banking and finance/wealth management so maybe that's why.

Most places I've worked in do not. The type of places I've worked are often manual type work - I worked for an upholstery company a few years back, upholsterers are paid a fixed salary but by how many pieces they complete. If you're not at work, there's no pay.

Well, quite. Those sorts of jobs of course won't attract good sick pay but in the corporate world or large companies it's normal to have 6 months sick pay.

@Beezknees if it's a cold or something minor like that it wouldn't bother me, but the woman has passed around a sick bug. You shouldn't come into work if you're vomiting. I'm also a single parent with bills to pay but I know when to go to work and when to stay at home

So would we for a major illness. But it didn't stop our boss moaning if we were off for a day.
A total of five days, or three days in a row, required a back to work interview with her and a stain on our record. And she totally favoured those staff members who were never off, so promotion and progress up the pay scale (I was a teacher) was definitely affected if we were off with viruses etc.

The average person gets three colds a year. Add in a bout of d and v and another incident such as a pulled back and you are up to five. That’s before I take any time off with sick kids. I would be on a disciplinary. That’s working in the NHS in a clinical setting. Doesn’t matter how good the sick pay is if the absence management policies are draconian.

Some people like me, have back to back colds from Autumn to Spring. If I didn't go to work whenever I have a cold, I'd only go in about three days every month! If I have a really nasty illness, I'll stay home but if it's a normal cold I have to go in.

I worked in one place where the policy for sickness is you still have to come and and the manager decides if you go home. It was always no.

Mine have a scheme where if you don't take a sick day all year you get a £500 Christmas bonus.
So, why do you think? They want you to go in when you are ill.

Pressure to go in? The feeling your lying and no one will believe you? Comments like : so and so must definitely be ill because x u z.

Bosses coming to work ill.

If I dont go to work I don't get paid. Christmas is expensive and I can't afford to lose money in January. I have no choice but to pop some paracetamol and just crack on. I had the most horrendous virus that lasted over 3 weeks and think the only reason I couldn't shift it was because I couldn't afford to have the time off. Shitty situation really.

Our bonus can also be taken away due to sickness. So many Bradford points and half your bonus has gone, then all. I started with a migraine at work one day and manager wanted to put me down for sick to go home with less than half a day left, that half day would have lost me half my bonus within weeks of us being paid it. I mean, I couldn't drive at that point anyway due to my sight but my team leader told me to just sit and he did my work for me

Another factor is some of them might not be on the same contract.

I work in a place where most of the staff have the 6 months and all the stuff already mentioned - but those of us hired through an agency (which keeps the official numbers of how many employees and benefits paid out down) are very much not.

It's a bit frustrating having a colleague who has been there many years going on about what benefits we all have & going over taking sick leave when a third of the department are agency who do not have those benefits. I know they mean well, but for those of us in the 'don't work, don't get paid' boat until the maybe/someday of being full staff which is far less likely to happen if we don't have a great attendance record it ends up a smile and nod exercise.

I also have disabilities that result in struggling to tell when pain is from my conditions or a cold, and am so used to pain that I will generally work until I hit a wall, having not realised how much I was deteriorated until I hit that wall. I keep a range of medicines at work for this scenario.

We get 6 months full pay but it doesn't mean you aim for that or that you won't be on an absence management plan if you have too many absences. Ours is 4 absences or a total of 28 days over a 12 month rolling period.

I have a cold now. Lots of coughing, sneezing, sniffing but I actually don't feel unwell. I'm not in work as I am on leave but if I wasn't I would be going in. Its everywhere this time of year.

Similar situation at my work place. Half the staff are on a contract and get sick pay and the other half aren't and so don't. Those on a contract are happy to take a sick day, with a couple of them having several sick days off a month. Those of us who don't get sick pay very rarely have days off.

Because I'll be seen as a lazy shirker