Do you 'suffer' with presenteeism too?

[Presenteeism]

We are having a really tough time at work. People are dropping like flies, there is a lot of long-term sick leave, people just struggling with the day-to-day.

I have anxiety and also a physical condition, but I don't ever take time off. Hear me out, I am NOT saying that's a good thing. But I see other people taking extended chunks off and not worrying. Or time off for what I'd consider a minor illness. And they probably should be, but for me the concern about being judged for it outweighs the potential benefit.

I just wondered how people felt in general.

Yes, I could take far more time off than I do (disabled so have a generous leave allowance before the trigger point).

I feel like 80% of workplaces are fraught with stress. Underpaid roles, higher caseloads, people off with stress left right and centre. It’s a shitshow.

In my experience nobody hands out medals or thinks better of the people who take less time off.

There is no fanfare or rewards for people who turn up sick or are struggling to do their job.

We are all just cogs in the wheel and replaceable in the blink of an eye, so it's pointless worrying about being judged.

Its pretty shitty to play the system if thats what colleagues are doing

For most of my life, I was never off. But then I got conditions, and despite trying my best, had to be off. I'd not appreciated how long it took to get appointments/operations etc, even though I'd have thought one of the conditions was mild. It's not when you're living it. I would wfh but that's not an option in my job (like nursing but not).
I have suffered from presentism in some jobs, when people who could have wfh came in sick, and infected me and everyone else!

I work in a compliance role that would cost triple my salary to deal with for the on demand service I provide.

I had a really busy 5m, but delivered for my company.

I'm not expecting another incident this year, but it's possible.

So I bumble about being present and working on passion projects/background compliance and answering small queries. They come out quids in and I deliver the goods, so I don't worry otherwise.

Used to think like this - don't anymore and prioritise myself. Strongly encourage others to do the same. Doesn't matter if people are off. You can only do the work of one person and if asked to do more: learn to assert yourself. And remind them they can't afford to lose more staff 😂

It's not happening in my department (though a lot of that is down to the fact we all get on really well and everyone is equally hard-working) but it's going off in other departments. I expect we'll be asked to pick up the slack soon enough, but you're right, you have to be assertive.