Is this ok?

[User617283849]

I’ve been working at my current job for a year, mostly in the office (about 80% of the time) and only had one actual sick day due to genuine illness. I usually work long hours and try to be really reliable.
Recently, our company has made a bit of a push to not come into the office if you have covid symptoms or anything potentially contagious, which makes sense.
This morning I woke up feeling generally OK but had a painful sore throat, scratchy voice, and just really fatigued. I didn’t feel bad enough to call in sick, but also didn’t feel right going into the office and potentially spreading something. So I messaged the team early and said I’d be WFH today to be on the safe side.
Now I feel weirdly paranoid about how it’s come across – like I’m being flaky or using an excuse to WFH. No one’s said anything negative, but I still feel a bit judged? Especially because I’m usually very ‘present’.
AIBU to feel weird about this? Or am I massively overthinking?

In your position I would be speaking to my manager about my symptoms and agree with my manager that it is best that I work from home. I wouldn’t decide off my own back, I’d check it was ok first

You feel weird about it because you haven’t done it before. As long as you’re still productive I’m sure no one is thinking anything of it.

Did you touch base with a phone call to your boss? Maybe you would feel better if you spoke to them in person?

We have a strict phone call only sick policy.

They’ve specifically told you not to come in you’ve got cold or Covid type symptoms. Why would you feel judged? You’re still working. What you’ve done is totally normal. Stop worrying about it.

It’s not like you do this all the time. If you were phoning in with excuses every other week, they might think you were flaky, but not once in a blue moon! It’s totally fine.

I emailed but had a call later with the team. Explained I felt generally ok but a few bad symptoms and wanted to nip it in the bud. Several colleagues have been off recently (both wfh and fully off sick) and my boss had mentioned at least once that it someone was sick they should go home

As a manager of a team, I think you made the best decision, so long as you still do your job I wouldn’t think twice about it.

Your work sound sensible. If you can wfh, it makes good business sense to do so rather than make others ill. It’s a policy that helps all staff and allows a higher level of productivity. Please don’t feel bad for NOT making your colleagues ill and for listening to your manager!