The whole office had Covid....

[piscofrisco]

Starting last week whilst I was on holiday with one person, then it obviously spread. I've been back since Monday and now symptomatic. Every single one of us could easily work from home but there is a sting culture of presenteeism and people get disciplined for taking (genuine) time off. I'm sitting in as a supportive colleague today for example for a girl whose dad killed himself-for which she took a weeks unpaid leave. She has apparently had too much absence.
I'm beyond fed up. About to drag myself into work feeling like death warmed up. To sit with everyone else feeling like death warmed up.
I need to find another job really don't I? But is everywhere like this to some degree?

The back to work meeting for your poor colleague could just be a formality which they have to do to be fair and consistent and also to check the person is ok to work. Or have they worded it as a 'disciplinary' ? Was it authorised ? She can self certify for 7 days (no doctors note needed) and would be well within her rights to self certify with stress after such a trauma.

It's a disciplinary. She had a concerns raised meeting and a back to work meeting, now escalated as her week off unpaid in addition to some time she took off sick (tonsillitis) and some time she took when her kid was sick (single mum), plus a few occasions she has admittedly been late to work (because unsurprisingly her mental health as taken a dive), push her over the trigger for disciplinary. In my view they were all valid reasons for being off. Where's the compassion?

It sounds awful and incompatible with you as a person. I would start thinking about my leaving strategy. You can take your time but much better to leave than have to jump and you know that when your usefulness to them is over they will drop you. Hope the meeting was ok for your colleague.

Workplaces like this are awful.
Basically the message is 'we own you' - you are not allowed to be a human being, just a unit of production and work comes before your family or health.

Definitely make moves to a new job ( I know it takes time)

I don't understand why her unpaid week off has triggered a disciplinary if it was authorised tbh.
Although I can understand that coming in late more than once (even if it's due to illness, this needs to be communicated to line manager) has