So...what is it with management that they seem to PREFER people to come into work sick rather than stay at home??

[PussinJimmyChoos]

Have just had the chest infection from hell...I took a couple of days off work and then struggled back in as I don't want any more sick days as target is 95% attendence...I was sat at my desk hacking away and it was obvious I was unwell and yet management just seemed oblivious to it!

Furthermore, it seems that the people that struggling in with all manner of bugs, are the ones that management view with approval!

attendance rather

You should have stayed off work, got a doctors note to cover you just in case.

I've had tonsilitis for a few days and decided (very wrongly) on day two I was fine, my boss took one look at me and marched me off the premises, told me to turn up when I was well enough.....he doesn't want tonsilitis apparently(!)

It depends what type of illness the person has. People who take time off for normal winter viruses (bad colds etc) are usually not the most motivated members of the team or the hardest workers. That is not always true but usually is. Braving a bad cold and working hard is admirable IMO.

Also, if someone comes into work I assume they think they are well enough. I would rarely interfere and tell them to go home or question their judgement about coming in.

Salaam Fuzzy - your boss sounds nicer than mine!

You think braving a bad cold is admirable? That's interesting...

Walaikumusalaam, My boss is lovely (thank goodness), he also finds me rather useful I think. I've watched with amused horror at the amount of actual real life idiots who have come and gone trying to fill positions in various departments where I work.
The worst thing is I tend to catch the mistakes and rectify them, but really I reckon my boss knows when he has a good thing and would rather not risk ending up annoying/killing off a good employee incase the replacement is useless, and agency staff are expensive too!!!

I do. In winter so many people have bad colds and if we all took time off little would get done. We are public sector and soooo much public money is wasted paying for endless sick days of huge swathes of staff.

By bad cold I mean cough, snot, aches etc but no fever. People with a fever should stay at home. I think a fever is a litmus test of how ill a person really is.

Ahh, I see your point better now. Thing is, I was rough last week and went in and I could just see people looking annoyed at the sound of my cough - it was chesty and frequent and even DH was with it in the evening! You get moaned at for spreading bugs by workmates but management prefer you in!

It's often a case of the minority (leadswingers) spoiling it for the majority of hardworkers. Where I work, there are strict rules on sickness but that is due to historical reasons (and managerial ineptness) of people getting away with murder. Some staff have such appalling records of sickness (even after OH referals) they have to get a private note from the Drs each time they are off.

I think you can't win tbh. When i worked in an office people who came in coughing and sneezing where frowned upon by most others because they didn't want to catch it but when you do phone in sick you are given the 3rd degree on the phone by your manager as if they don't believe you or you can't decide for yourself if you are well enough or not. I wouldn't want to sit next to someone coughing and blowing their nose all day really but agree the world can't just stop when you get a cold.

I think it is quite simply because it creates a problem for them if you are off work, but you can sit there quietly dying for all they care if it doesn't inconvenience them.

Call me cynical, but in my experience any sympathy from managers is false anyway. They are thinking "Whatever, everyone has problems".

But ignore them, the approval/disapproval will wear off once the next thing happens. Unless you are off all the time, it tends to be forgotten.

Company I worked at brought in the "no pay for the first 3 days rule". They soon changed that, as people were coming in sick and infecting everybody else.