Feeling ill, dragging myself to work as don't want disciplinary

BobbinAlong

My last boss had the attitude that if we were coming down with an illness we should take the time off rather than spread the germs and have the whole team ill. But we were on full, formal flexi-time, where you clock in and out and work core hours and your hours over a month have to be within the limits (-10 to +18) of the required hours and a flexi day off is possible once a month. This means "throwing a sickie" just isn't needed as you can come in later or go earlier or take a day for unpredicted events and make up the hours. Even for shift patterns it worked well.
If more companies operated proper flexi-time the world of work would be a better place.

no_control

My workplace pays an annual £100 sickness bonus if you have had no time off sick during the year and an annual up to 4% of pay performance related bonus which is reduced depending on the number of sickness absences during each quarter. Therefore employees often come to work when they are ill to avoid losing these bonuses.

Hope you are feeling better OP.

Kirri

Nicki wrote: »

Sufferer needs to catch it, bin it, kill it. Colleagues need to practise good hand hygiene.

It's unreasonable to expect workers who are well enough to attend work to stay off and risk disciplinary action or loss of pay for something as trivial as the common cold. People who whinge about this are the ones who really annoy me.

If your employer has a policy of encouraging staff to take time off or work from home with minor illnesses to avoid passing them on, that's a different matter but most don't.

I absolutely dread anyone around me coming in with a cold - as I invariably go down with it really bad and get absolutely wiped out due to various deficiencies and asthma. I always then get a chest infection after a cold and nothing but antibiotics will shift it or otherwise I have it for months on end so for me there's nothing 'trivial' about the common cold. I carry antibac spray and use it all the time but it's impossible to avoid catching colds in enclosed offices.

So people who come in and sit next to me with a cold really !!!! me off.

One-Eye

"This is Captain Jones speaking and I'm your pilot today."
<Sound of sneezing>
"I apologise if my voice sounds a bit funny, but I've got a stinking cold and I'm not feeling 100% at the moment."
<sound of coughing>
"We'll be departing shortly and I hope you have a safe and enjoyable flight today."
<sound of blowing nose>
"Please could a flight attendant bring me a some water and a couple of paracetamol when you have a spare minute, thanks."
<more sneezing>

Should Captain Jones have thrown a sickie?

FBaby

Employers should encourage their employees to reduce their chances of being sick

So from your account, as you can catch it from anyone who breathes next to you, or use the cash machine before you, how do you suggest they do that?

The bottom line is that when viruses fly about, the number of people catching them increases whether you are at work, or at home. Should the whole country shut down during these times? At the moment, I would say that about 1 in 3 person I know has caught the latest cold/chest infection virus, and again, that includes people who work and people who don't, so should everyone with a cold be quarantined so everyone can go to work safely? And how would you operate this considering people are most infectious before their symptoms start to appear?

You have a cold, you come to work and get through it, use all hygiene precaution and as a employer, you hope that not too many of your staff gets it. If you get the flu, you stay at home because if you really have the flu, you won't be able to get on with your duties at all, so there's no point. Thankfully, the flu is not something you normally get twice or three time a year.

SandC

You can have a cold which displays loads of symptoms and you can have a 'bit of a cold' which doesn't make you so physically ill. The same strain of virus affects people in different ways, but the same germs are still getting spread about through hand to mouth to nose to whatever contact regardless. It's my opinion that you stay off if you feel physically too ill to work. If you can muddle through and do a bit, then you should go in. The scenario of a pilot is totally different to that of someone who works in an office.

Just last night a friend was telling me she was just getting over a cold, working in retail she gets a lot because, well, people. :-) However, it was when she said about customers coming in with colds, telling her that they are off work with a bad cold...... yet they're out shopping!!! And this is not a supermarket either... it is non essential shopping.

I suspect some of these types of people would say they are not in work because of spreading germs, but are quite happy to do so in other public places.... not least that they feel well enough to go out and mooch about the retail parks.