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.

Because UK illness policy gives you very little choice with its draconian system. Because no one else will pay your bills. Because you can be disciplined/ sacked for daring to be ill......

Teacher friend was disciplined as a result of this after her appendix was removed. A few days off then back in again with pain then a few weeks off after the emergency op to remove it. She was very upset

I can't imagine making any of the people I've line managed feel guilty for taking time away from work to recover if unwell ‐I definitely couldn't do that, it would make me feel like such a rotten person.

I relate to the notion of it being worse to call in sick than actually slogging it out at work feeling ill. That's not a great indicator of workplace culture.

I've been sick since the week before Christmas and inadvertently given it to my whole family, including a clinically vulnerable and elderly relative, due to my pupils' parents feeling strong-armed into sending very unwell and contagious children into school.

Because my company has a rather stringent sickness policy, 3 instances in 12 months is a trigger, if I took time off every-time I’m under the weather I probably wouldn’t have a job to go back too!

In a lot of jobs there will be various reasons why. Obviously if you genuinely work in a job where you can take unlimited full pay sick leave without ANY repercussions then yes I cannot think why people would go to work ill.

But for a large amount of people this just isn’t the case. If I don’t work I don’t get paid. I cannot work from home. My work is a small place. If we lose 3 or 4 members of staff we would likely need to close. So then those who aren’t sick would also lose money as we still wouldn’t get paid.
I don’t really like my job that much that I want to be there when ill trust me on that. I promise that if you will pay me my full wages when I have a mild cold I will definitely call in sick for the entire time. Plus pay me my wages should we need to close if everyone else is sick. In those circumstances i absolutely promise to call in sick with every minor illness I get.

If you're an agency worker who only gets paid when you actually work and you're skint and have to live hand to mouth every month, budgeted down to the penny, even a day or two off can completely bugger everything up. Not everyone has a stable, well-paid job with great sickness benefits etc.

I'm with you. I once worked next to a team whose boss came in to work really sick. He spent three days telling everyone how ill he was. Coughing and sneezing all over the place. He barely did any work, he was really disruptive. Over the next week, one by one the people who worked near him were off sick and he complained about them being off, saying he had made it in and so should they. I did mention if he had stayed off, given he barely was able to work anyway, then the rest of his team wouldn't now be off sick. He said it was a point of pride for him he'd never had a day off sick in his life. A ridiculous response as, he was so unproductive that it made no difference that he came in to work.

Some people get colds or sniffles all the time in the winter, but can still do their jobs. I can't imagine just staying home because of that level of a cold. My workplace has a reasonable sick policy but it is a problem to have a few people out, there aren't enough people to provide services.

Things like colds are around everywhere at certain times of year, and often people are not yet symptomatic. So the fact is that if you work with other people you'll get exposed pretty regularly.

I think a better way to try and cope is being careful about exercise, diet, and especially sleep. So you will be better able to fight off the germs you will inevitably be exposed to.

I was off work mid December with a cold, which then turned into a chest infection requiring antibiotics. I was signed off for a week for the chest infection.

I always take time off with a virus. I have same sick policy as OP so very lucky. I tend to take to my bed for a few days, sleep and sleep and sleep, then recover really quickly. Friends who struggle in to work when clearly unwell seem to take weeks to recover. So it doesn't feel worth exposing everyone to their germs.

We seem to have forgotten that it’s good for the immune system to have regular exposure to the common cold. Before the pandemic we would not have thought anything of people being at work with sniffles.

I’ve working in places where three incidences of illness spark a warning. I had a really bad run of odd illnesses where I had a bad eye infection that meant I couldn’t see to drive, followed a few weeks later by an ear infection, followed a few months later a migraine that put me to bed. I then had a miscarriage that ment I had to take two days off, and they tried to discipline me - I had a big argument with HR over this and the fourth illness was pregnancy related.

anyway, I don’t now take time off for colds etc, because having migraines and knowing some things can really put you to bed with no option, I don’t want any more nasty meetings with HR!

I’m a teacher and if 4 of us stayed off with a cold it would be absolute chaos. Sometimes even though you can technically stay home the reality is that unless you’re on deaths door you have to struggle through

@Confused228 - totally agree with you. I had to go to a work meeting last day before my Christmas leave and came down ill the following day with a cold/flu. It has completely wiped out Christmas. I've been on antibiotics and oral steroids since last Wed and still not over it. My husband and son have now got it so looks like it will wipe out New Year's too.

The murderous thoughts I have about selfish people who go " oh it's only a cold FFS".... well it might be for them, but for other people it can be really really serious and have a massive impact on their health.

People should stay at home and be able to WFH that day so not spread it.

There should be sanctions against people who have so little care for others they don't care if they pass it on in my view - can't see any way you could enforce that though.

That's not true - gestation length for flu can be as short as one day. See NHS guidance on it.

I am in teaching so do get paid if off sick.

However, as others have mentioned, there are stringent absence management systems in place, so it's not a case or just being able to stay off. I have never had an absence management review but have colleagues who have (only stage 1).
All their absences were genuine but they still got called to a meeting with HR and a deputy head to discuss. They are also reminded that further absence will lead to a further review etc.

In addition, if I am off sick, someone has to cover my classes, I need to set cover work first thing which a non-specialist can manage. Kids generally don't cope well with change. When I get back in, there is undoubtedly things I need to catch up with (I'm a head of dept as well so not just my own stuff but management stuff as well). I then need to pick up with my classes.

Honestly, unless I can't get out of bed, it's easier to go to work.
Viruses have been rife the last half term so if I stayed off every time I had a cold, I'd hardly ever be there!

@SicknessMadness - that's appalling and I'd be so angry and upset too.

It baffles me you can still see your line manager as lovely. I would feel so let down and unsupported if my boss did this after cancer treatment when they could reset it as a reasonable adjustment. She should definitely reset it and read the bloody policy properly! That's her job. She sounds a bit lazy / not up to the job...

The fact you happen to work in high wealth industry explains it. The majority of workers do not have the same benefits. Pretty sure that ordinary retail workers, teachers, nurses and people on low pay do not get six months full sick pay. Your comment only shows your entitlement.

Probably because if they called in sick straight after Christmas, no one would believe them, and they'd be accused of lying.

people cant win
stay off sick, annoy people
go into work, annoy people

we are absolutely not allowed to go off sick between christmas and new year

Teachers and all NHS get 6 months sick pay and all civil servants. Your comment only shows your naivety.

So what happens if you e.g. break your leg?

Not all and not always. Re Burgundy book scheme for teachers and sliding scale entitlement according to aggregated service; similarly NHS employees get six months after four years so also dependent in length of service.

Love how you've had a quick Google to try and correct your post 😄 not sure we need to be so pedantic, I was just highlighting that I'm not privileged but it is in fact mostly the norm in public sectors and most large corporate organisations.