Money Moral Dilemma: Should you risk spreading the lurgy to colleagues?

SandC

ih8stress wrote: »

Has anyone tried looking at it from a different perspective?

I have had agoraphobia for all of my adult life and it can be a struggle coping with normal day to day life. In the beginning I managed to carry on working but then my situation changed and it is only recently that I have been able to look for work again.
I am already limited by what I can and can't do but if I am unwell with 'just a cold' then it usually makes me completely housebound again as I then find myself fighting against the 2 'illnesses'.

I know it is difficult if your bosses aren't sympathetic and/or are concerned by skivers but struggling in to work DOES increase the chances of it being passed around and affecting people maybe less able to deal with it than yourselves.
Also think of the people you come into contact with on your way to and from work.

I understand completely, it's just that I have a mentality of if I'm not confined to my bed or the toilet then I can go to work, even if I am performing under par.

nettles

At my workplace you don't get paid unless you have a doctors certificate, which you can't get for the first week of an illness (although they do pay ssp after 3 days I think)
When I broke my leg they were ringing me every couple of days to see how long I thought it would be until I went back. I went back after 2 1/2 weeks, worked for 7 hours (of a 7 1/2 hour day) only to be told I had to stay off because the insurance company had told them that morning that I wasn't insured cos of my leg being in a cast and it taking me so long to get up and down the stairs!
Another time I had a bad cold but went in anyway, and passed out while walking across the office. They gave me a 10 minute break to recover. They didn't send me home!!! If they had, I wouldn't have been paid for that day, so I am glad they didn't.
Our office is always far too hot, so there are always bugs going around.

carolineb23

had this last week with my husband, his firm don't pay sick pay (they had an employee years ago who took the p so now won't pay anyone sick pay), and he had a bad cold. He went in only to be moaned at by the boss who said she was catching his cold. Sorry but if they were bothered about that they should pay sick pay in my opinion, as who can afford to lose a few days pay in the current climate? Its not his fault he was ill.

thanmuwa

Maybe the sick person in question should take a leaf from the Japanese book and wear a facemask and gloves to stop infection spreading? :rotfl:

One thing I am picking up from this conversation is a worrying trend on the part of employers to discriminate against the genuinely sick. I work in a hospital and we are really really not supposed to come to work sick (for example, we are required to be off work for at least 48 hours after symptoms stop if we get diarrhoea & vomiting as well as giving a sample jar (of the d not the v)..... nice!) as someone who is ill already has low defenses and the illness that a staff member brings in might be enough to finish them off.

On the other hand there are now government targets of a maximum of 4% sick time which means "back to work" interviews, councelling etc if you take any sick time - even if it was a genuine proven illness that could have killed a patient! That is all very well for the skivers, but what about the people who are properly sick, especially with a contagious illness? I know of someone who was told point blank that because she had 3 sick periods in the past year, she wouldn't even be considered for promotion as she couldn't even do her own job (she can). Didn't matter that the sick leave was genuine!

On the discrimination front, another friend of mine has IBS. She is a very good nurse, but has about 4 or 5 sick periods a year. She misses out on all the stuff that you get for 100% attendance and gets made feel worthless, but what is she supposed to do? Go on permanent disability benefits? She wants to work, when she can, she doesn't want to become a state scrounger on disability benefit etc but her employer is going out of it's way to make her feel sub-standard, worthless. Being a nurse is thankless enough as it is!

At a time when the government is trying to get people back into work, off disability benefits, promoting "flexible working practices" etc, the growing culture of making people feel worthless if they cannot manage 100% attendance seems counter-intuitive....

Oh, and in case anyone thinks that I am a sickie skiver, I have had 1 sick day in the 3 years I have been working here, and that was when I was sent home and told off for coming in in the first place.....

bennett2kuk

Without question, my money is more important than other people's health.

I had this very argument at work last week, came down with a stinker of a cold over the weekend and ended up passing it on to a couple of my workmates.

Unfortunately though my job doesn't pay any sick pay at all. I'm not in debt at all but I certainly wasn't losing any of my wage just because people didn't want to get ill. I even suggested that they buy me a day off. ie club together and give me what I would have earned that day and I would have gone home sick. They declined so I stayed right at work.

SandC

thanmuwa wrote: »

Maybe the sick person in question should take a leaf from the Japanese book and wear a facemask and gloves to stop infection spreading? :rotfl:

One thing I am picking up from this conversation is a worrying trend on the part of employers to discriminate against the genuinely sick. I work in a hospital and we are really really not supposed to come to work sick (for example, we are required to be off work for at least 48 hours after symptoms stop if we get diarrhoea & vomiting as well as giving a sample jar (of the d not the v)..... nice!) as someone who is ill already has low defenses and the illness that a staff member brings in might be enough to finish them off.

On the other hand there are now government targets of a maximum of 4% sick time which means "back to work" interviews, councelling etc if you take any sick time - even if it was a genuine proven illness that could have killed a patient! That is all very well for the skivers, but what about the people who are properly sick, especially with a contagious illness? I know of someone who was told point blank that because she had 3 sick periods in the past year, she wouldn't even be considered for promotion as she couldn't even do her own job (she can). Didn't matter that the sick leave was genuine!

On the discrimination front, another friend of mine has IBS. She is a very good nurse, but has about 4 or 5 sick periods a year. She misses out on all the stuff that you get for 100% attendance and gets made feel worthless, but what is she supposed to do? Go on permanent disability benefits? She wants to work, when she can, she doesn't want to become a state scrounger on disability benefit etc but her employer is going out of it's way to make her feel sub-standard, worthless. Being a nurse is thankless enough as it is!

At a time when the government is trying to get people back into work, off disability benefits, promoting "flexible working practices" etc, the growing culture of making people feel worthless if they cannot manage 100% attendance seems counter-intuitive....

Oh, and in case anyone thinks that I am a sickie skiver, I have had 1 sick day in the 3 years I have been working here, and that was when I was sent home and told off for coming in in the first place.....

I think back to work interviews and counselling are a good thing. They do help in letting the skiver (and we all have them) know that they are being watched and monitored. I know that my brother's firm works in a similar way with 3x absences but I would expect that your trust, as with his firm, deal with cases on an individual basis and and use their discretion when it comes to instigating disciplinary procedure. Your friend for example, far from being discriminated against, is actually (imo) being given the utmost flexibility. Her bosses obviously know about her chronic condition and that it will lead to her having absences several times per year. If it were someone else with the same absences but with different ailments each time they would probably be on a warning or worse. I don't see it as discrimination that someone who has a known illness doesn't receive the 100% allowance. She shouldn't be made to feel worthless, of course not, but she must understand that the work must get done and it does cost to cover her - even if that is only cost to the stress of others who might have to do more work. You can't really expect payment just because it's real and not having a duvet day.

Benjamin_Joseph

If a company chooses to employ freelancers who are not paid when they are off sick or otherwise gives their employees disincentives against taking sick-leave then they are basically saying that they will punish you being off ill and therefore expect you to make every effort to come in even if that means infecting the whole office.
As such, I would go in and would happily tell anyone who complains to take their comlpaints about my coughs and sneezes to their boss and to their union.
I'm not rich but I do have a family to support so I can handle their moaning if it puts food on my kids table.

eurovision_fan

I like to think i'm a caring and considerate team-player, but I would rather turn up to work for the first day and be sent home as opposed to staying away at all costs, because I believe in employers seeing the problem with their eyes and so can't claim that I was faking it.

So yes I would spread the lurgy, to ensure people can see my problem and hence show I'm willing to work through an ailment.

lucybrazier

Because I am currently working 3 month's notice I don't get any sick leave. I am at home today because I am full of cold, feel rubbish and don't want my team to catch it, as I am a sales manager and if they are off I lose out on commission but luckily I am able to work from home and keep in touch via email and phone.

Having said that, my boss has emailed about 20 times today - nothing like being checked up on. I've managed to reply immediately pretty much to every query and phone call so he is ressured (I hope) that I really am working and not curled up in front of Jeremy Kyle. Not ideal but a good compromise.

LilMissEvil

I'm lucky enough to work for an employer that doesn't treat every instance of absence with suspicion, and I also get sick pay. The company I work for is a relatively small one, and as such has not been stung so much with people throwing sickies yet. Though I reckon as the company grows that will change. I have worked for a much bigger company previously, who did treat sick days with suspicion, so I understand the plight of those that cannot afford to take sick days - as I've been in that situation more than once! I once had to go back to work 2 days after an operation on my wrist despite doctors recommending 2 weeks off, purely because SSP wouldn't have covered half of my outgoings at that time.

Most employers that don't pay sick pay, do it because they can't afford to pay for people throwing "sickies" to sit on their !!!!!! at home while other people do their work. And unfortunately, due to the current "nanny state", companies cannot pay Jane Bloggs sick pay for having a few days off with a genuine illness, and not pay John Bloggs for having a couple of days off for "feeling off", as it's discrimination (and I use that term loosely!!).

However if I was suffering with a mere cold, I'd drag my bum into work anyway, regardless of the sick pay or not. As previous posters have said, if you'redebating whether you're well enough to go into work or not, then you generally are well enough to go into work. I'd feel like I was taking the mickey if I had time off for a cold. I'd have to be unable to get out of bed before I took a sick day nowadays. Probably even more so if I didn't get sick pay, because not a week goes by where I would be able to afford a week off.

Anyway, essay over! :rotfl: