I used to be reluctant to call in sick, but not any more. I don’t take off if I’ve just got a small headache or I’ve got that “run down” feeling you get sometimes for no reason at all. But I’ve taken sick leave a couple of times just for having a bad night’s sleep. I pretty much cannot function without 5 hours (and even that’s pushing it). Even No-Doze is useless on me when I’m sleep deprived. So to save myself the embarrassment of dozing off at the computer and the guilt of snapping at random people, I’ll come in later or take the whole day off.
Also, I will sometimes leave work early for mild health problems, if the work load isn’t that serious and I can’t summon up enough motivation. For instance, I’ll bow out 30 minutes early as a concession to The Unexpected Menstrual Show.
When I was doing field work, nothing short of explosive diarrhea would keep me from working. I got verbal props from my boss, but they didn’t really make up for all the pain and suffering I quietly endured. While I still do the “Am I sick enough?” debate with myself before calling in, I don’t feel like I have to build a supreme court case to justify to myself why I should stay home.
I can go days with nothing but doorway/hallway contact with anyone. No one touches my phone or computer but me. I’m a one-person office, and the only projects that are going to come to a screeching halt if I’m not around are my own.
My measure is that if I feel crappy enough that I know I’m not going to be productive if I go to work, I stay home.
If I’m contagious then I’ll stay at home, otherwise I’m in the office no matter what. The problem I, and probably a lot of other people, face is that employers get themselves in a stew about the amount of time folks take off sick.
We have a threshold of about 12 days per rolling 12 month period so if you exceed that amount, you’ll be pulled up by the management and grilled about why you have taken time off. Bear in mind that this includes any time when you’re signed off by a doctor and therefore not allowed to be in work because you’re not covered by insurance to be on the premises…and that doesn’t leave you much to play with.
So during one 12-month period, I was signed off by a doc for 5 working days with a chest infection (I was so short of breath I could barely get from waiting room to surgery without stopping at least twice), had 3 days off when I broke some of the small bones in my foot and was told by the doc to keep off it until the swelling went down, had 3 days in hospital having IV anti-biotics for a severe infection (I’m allergic to penicillin which doesn’t help matters), which leaves me one day spare if I have a head cold or something.
None of the absences were “fake”, all of them were on medical advice, yet we get penalised for taking that time off and feel under pressure to come to work when we’re feeling a bit rough with a cold or something when really you’d just want to be at home under the duvet. Can’t win either way, can we?
Yes but other people touch the common door handles, elevator buttons, bathroom fixtures and break room counters/refrigerator/microwave that you touch when you’re sick with something contagious.
If you’ve got something that can be passed on, then keep it in your own house.
Personally, if I’m at the point where I don’t think hand-washing and frequent hand sanitizer will do the trick (not very likely), then I wear gloves, and change them frequently. I used to work with patients with compromised immune systems, so I know about proper sanitary practices. I do agree that not everyone is careful.
The one time I was really seriously worried was when I had what appeared to be pustules on my arm, and my husband had them too! :eek: I practically had to go to work, though, as my workplace is also my doctors’ office. I had a coworker take over my patients, I wore gloves and changed them whenever I had to touch my own skin or clothes, etc. Turns out it was just a reaction to the overpopulation we had of itch mites, caused by the cyclic cicadas that had emerged the previous year. People who were spending any time outside would get bitten by a food-searching, disappointed mite, and would react in response.