STOP COMING IN SICK

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If my husband gets it at work, I’m sending him right back to share it with you all. It’s really crummy as just a cold lasts weeks for me with multiple steroids and antibiotics. He gets no pto. No work, no pay.

Your husband has no PTO and doesn’t get paid if he doesn’t work but you think his coworkers shouldn’t come to work sick and just not get paid?

Most of the co-workers have PTO, as they are feds and with other contractor companies. It varies depending on who you work for. He gets no PTO or sick leave but if he gets sick its from work, so I'm sending him into work sick to protect me. You give it to him, you can have it back.

If you’re so fragile wear a mask at home.

I am that fragile and when someone is sick in our home they isolate. But, unlike you we are considerate.

People have been sick since the dawn of time. If your body is that weak, then you need to wear a mask at all times. Just like immunocompromised people do.

People like you are such jackasses. Sickness has been around forever, but guess what? We know more about how it spreads. We know more about long term effects. We have more awareness that consequences can be more severe for some people in our community etc etc etc

Stop making excuses for being rude and lacking compassion for those around you. Your job ain't that important.

Yea but my paycheck is. So you can shut it and wear a mask instead of expecting the rest of the world to take care of you. You clearly have the luxury to be at home worrying about what is happening at your husband’s job instead of having to go out and work in person.

I am a DP.

We should change the insane work culture of the US instead of pretending that there is something wrong with not wanting to be around other sick people at work or school. Those of you pretending it's NBD are FOS.

Great, find a way to implement universal sick leave for all US workers. Until you do, you’ll just have to get over people being sick at work.

I understand some people have limited options, but if you have leave or telework options and you come in anyway, you are a jackass and should be shunned. People should feel free to make you miserable in other ways so you get the message to wise up and be courteous.

Lol. So pathetic. Now wear a mask if you’re afraid of germs.

When you act shamefully, you should be made to feel shame. When you are rude, you should be made to feel shame. It's part of growing up to learn these lessons and be courteous to others. Being a jerk is pathetic.

No one is going to feel shame for doing what they need to in order to get paid. If you weren’t so privileged you’d get that. So yea, it’s pathetic that you can’t see beyond yourself to how the majority of this country has to do what is has to do to survive.

Did you miss the part about how this applies to people who have leave and the ability to telework. Yes, yes you did. Too busy being a jerk to read.

We all understand there are horrible work environments where people don't get adequate leave and are worried about being paid. Not talking about those circumstances. Talking about cases where perfectly entitled people with options still act this way and then try to gaslight their coworkers who are annoyed.

You have no idea what anyone’s situation is like. No one has enough sick leave for their own illnesses or time to care for their children so your little disclaimer was pointless and of course ignored.

OP here.

We get like two weeks of sick leave a year, three personal days, two mental health days...this woman's leave bank was FINE. Again, this was not a post about "Hey, poor people: Skip work when you're sick! I don't care if missing a shift means you can't put dinner on the table that night!" On top of 2-3 weeks vacation depending on tenure.

We also have the option to telework when sick. We are on the same team. Our manager is totally flexible about us WFH when ill.

This was a post about upper middle class white women who just spent a week at Disneyworld with PLENTY of leave time showing up and coughing everywhere.

And also: I like this coworker! I think she's nice! But it's completely irresponsible behavior when she had multiple options to avoid coming in today. (Well, now yesterday)

How do you know what her leave balances were at or what the workload she was returning to looked like? You still seem to be making some big assumptions.

If you accept this is common behavior, and you agree this particular coworker is nice, then have you considered that you might be the one with the problem?

...she didn't need a leave balance. According to op, she could've worked from home. It doesn't matter if her leave balance was 0.

Does she have a home office set up with equipment? Did she bring her laptop home in advance? Did she have any meetings or tasks that benefited from being done in person?

OP doesn't seem to be objective here. She clearly has an axe to grind on this issue.

Who does regular telework and doesn't have an office setup?

And come on, didn't bring her laptop home? Who doesn't bring their laptop home every night? I was doing this even pre-covid, when I was in office daily, rather than hybrid.

I don't think the OP ever said this coworker regularly teleworks. I think you're making an assumption there. The ability to telework doesn't mean that she does.

I always bring my laptop with me, too, but I certainly have plenty of coworkers who don't. Admin/support staff, in particular, rarely do unless they're planning to telework.

Even among professional staff, a surprising number don't have desks and external monitors at home. I guess we're arguably not allowed to attach personally owned equipment, and work won't pay for equipment at home, but no one bats an eye when you say you do it.

OP here. I think I did say somewhere in the beginning of the thread that we regularly telework. We are required to be in office two days a week and telework the other three. This coworker works from home three days a week, and I have had meetings with her from home, so I can validate she has a set-up for working from home.

Look, I know I'm the villain because I'm OP but the fact of the matter is, she can and does work from home several days a week and could've taken advantage of that today but did not.

That just suggests there's something about what she had to do that made her want to go to the office. I doubt you know every single task she had to do over the course of the day.

I'm not sure how joining calls with her would reveal the suitability of the workspace to you. The camera is usually pointed away from the desk, not towards it, so how would you know what she has in terms of monitors and a keyboard/mouse?

When Covid hit, the very night we were sent home for "two weeks" I went online and bought myself an motorized sit/stand desk, a refurbed Aeron chair, a 27" monitor, a webcam, a microphone, and headset. And I'm glad I did, because a couple weeks later those things were all out-of-stock. But I knew there was no real plan for returning, since covid was obviously still going to just as much of a threat. But most people didn't do that, and I've been surprised by the number of people who just seem to accept they're going to be less productive at home because of a lack of proper equipment. Some try to hold off on certain tasks until they're in the office (think: data-entry-like tasks that really benefit from two monitors).

Are you guys serious? You will literally come up with anything to defend the coworker here. She works from home three days a week, but she may not have a mouse and keyboard? Get a grip.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I'm curious what the divide is between "Please don't come to work actively ill" and "I CAN'T CALL OUT SICK FOR EVERY SNIFFLE EVEN THOUGH I WORK A WHITE COLLAR 9-5" crowds. I used to think it was political, with Republicans going into work sick (for no reason other than conservatives seemed to have no issue gathering during covid lol) and Democrats staying home. But this board is, I imagine very liberal, and you all seem adamant that it's totally fine to go to work with a cold.

Also, my conservative BIL gets pissed whenever someone comes into work sick and my very liberal coworkers frequently come to work sick. I'm a moderate who doesn't go to work sick. Go figure.

I don't think there's a strong political angle to it. I suspect the strongest predictor of acceptance would be anyone with kids- particularly young kid- and especially if they're a primary caregiver of those kids.

The nature of the job probably matters a lot, too. People that feel personal satisfaction from work- and who want to work- are going to be more accepting that someone who looks for excuses to take off.

Health anxiety is probably another big one. People terrified of catching minor illnesses like colds are obviously going to be less accepting.

Some of these things offset each other- e.g., higher rates of health anxiety among women, but also a greater likelihood of being the primary caregiver of children.

Well, one, genuinely being sick isn't an "excuse" to take time off. But two, this is the entire point of the thread. The coworker had the ability to work from home but for some reason came in. No time off needed!

And to your point about being "terrified" of catching a cold...it's not health anxiety to not want to be exposed to a cold. I accept that I'm exposed to the cold and flu every day on, say, the metro. I would prefer to not be sitting across from someone who knowingly came into work sick to expose the rest of us.

Obviously things happen. I believe the flu is most contagious the day before symptoms start, so someone could be forgiven for coming in, spreading the flu around, and then waking up the next day only to realize, oh, shit, I have the flu.

It's not normal to be this upset/concerned at the thought of potentially catching a cold during the winter.

Do you have kids? What did you do when they were sick? Avoid them or comfort them?

I don't think anyone is upset or concerned so much as annoyed. Like, I'm annoyed that the person in front of me at the grocery store clearly went way over the limit for self-checkout, but I'm not concerned. I'm annoyed and think they shouldn't do that and will probably vent to my DH when I get home about "People shouldn't have 50 items in self-checkout" (or whatever, this is an example) but that doesn't make me concerned or terrified as a PP said. It just means I think it's rude and people shouldn't do it, so I'm annoyed.

Similarly, I think people coming into work sick is rude and they shouldn't do it and it annoys me. Am I gonna die if I catch a cold? No, but it's a huge inconvenience. I recognize this so I would telework if I had one, but that's because I wouldn't want to inconvenience people. From the sounds of it, you don't seem to think about whether or not you're inconveniencing people.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If my husband gets it at work, I’m sending him right back to share it with you all. It’s really crummy as just a cold lasts weeks for me with multiple steroids and antibiotics. He gets no pto. No work, no pay.

Your husband has no PTO and doesn’t get paid if he doesn’t work but you think his coworkers shouldn’t come to work sick and just not get paid?

Most of the co-workers have PTO, as they are feds and with other contractor companies. It varies depending on who you work for. He gets no PTO or sick leave but if he gets sick its from work, so I'm sending him into work sick to protect me. You give it to him, you can have it back.

If you’re so fragile wear a mask at home.

I am that fragile and when someone is sick in our home they isolate. But, unlike you we are considerate.

People have been sick since the dawn of time. If your body is that weak, then you need to wear a mask at all times. Just like immunocompromised people do.

People like you are such jackasses. Sickness has been around forever, but guess what? We know more about how it spreads. We know more about long term effects. We have more awareness that consequences can be more severe for some people in our community etc etc etc

Stop making excuses for being rude and lacking compassion for those around you. Your job ain't that important.

Yea but my paycheck is. So you can shut it and wear a mask instead of expecting the rest of the world to take care of you. You clearly have the luxury to be at home worrying about what is happening at your husband’s job instead of having to go out and work in person.

I am a DP.

We should change the insane work culture of the US instead of pretending that there is something wrong with not wanting to be around other sick people at work or school. Those of you pretending it's NBD are FOS.

Great, find a way to implement universal sick leave for all US workers. Until you do, you’ll just have to get over people being sick at work.

I understand some people have limited options, but if you have leave or telework options and you come in anyway, you are a jackass and should be shunned. People should feel free to make you miserable in other ways so you get the message to wise up and be courteous.

Lol. So pathetic. Now wear a mask if you’re afraid of germs.

When you act shamefully, you should be made to feel shame. When you are rude, you should be made to feel shame. It's part of growing up to learn these lessons and be courteous to others. Being a jerk is pathetic.

No one is going to feel shame for doing what they need to in order to get paid. If you weren’t so privileged you’d get that. So yea, it’s pathetic that you can’t see beyond yourself to how the majority of this country has to do what is has to do to survive.

Did you miss the part about how this applies to people who have leave and the ability to telework. Yes, yes you did. Too busy being a jerk to read.

We all understand there are horrible work environments where people don't get adequate leave and are worried about being paid. Not talking about those circumstances. Talking about cases where perfectly entitled people with options still act this way and then try to gaslight their coworkers who are annoyed.

Anyone who can telework is obviously doing that when sick. Thats a strawman argument, its not happening.

“Having leave” is tricky. Most people have combined sick and vacation leave in limited quantities (we arent Europe!) so staying home for every cold means never taking leave for holiday. Ample sick leave that cant be used for vacation, probably people will take it. But telework is best option.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If my husband gets it at work, I’m sending him right back to share it with you all. It’s really crummy as just a cold lasts weeks for me with multiple steroids and antibiotics. He gets no pto. No work, no pay.

Your husband has no PTO and doesn’t get paid if he doesn’t work but you think his coworkers shouldn’t come to work sick and just not get paid?

Most of the co-workers have PTO, as they are feds and with other contractor companies. It varies depending on who you work for. He gets no PTO or sick leave but if he gets sick its from work, so I'm sending him into work sick to protect me. You give it to him, you can have it back.

If you’re so fragile wear a mask at home.

I am that fragile and when someone is sick in our home they isolate. But, unlike you we are considerate.

People have been sick since the dawn of time. If your body is that weak, then you need to wear a mask at all times. Just like immunocompromised people do.

People like you are such jackasses. Sickness has been around forever, but guess what? We know more about how it spreads. We know more about long term effects. We have more awareness that consequences can be more severe for some people in our community etc etc etc

Stop making excuses for being rude and lacking compassion for those around you. Your job ain't that important.

Yea but my paycheck is. So you can shut it and wear a mask instead of expecting the rest of the world to take care of you. You clearly have the luxury to be at home worrying about what is happening at your husband’s job instead of having to go out and work in person.

I am a DP.

We should change the insane work culture of the US instead of pretending that there is something wrong with not wanting to be around other sick people at work or school. Those of you pretending it's NBD are FOS.

Great, find a way to implement universal sick leave for all US workers. Until you do, you’ll just have to get over people being sick at work.

I understand some people have limited options, but if you have leave or telework options and you come in anyway, you are a jackass and should be shunned. People should feel free to make you miserable in other ways so you get the message to wise up and be courteous.

Lol. So pathetic. Now wear a mask if you’re afraid of germs.

When you act shamefully, you should be made to feel shame. When you are rude, you should be made to feel shame. It's part of growing up to learn these lessons and be courteous to others. Being a jerk is pathetic.

No one is going to feel shame for doing what they need to in order to get paid. If you weren’t so privileged you’d get that. So yea, it’s pathetic that you can’t see beyond yourself to how the majority of this country has to do what is has to do to survive.

Did you miss the part about how this applies to people who have leave and the ability to telework. Yes, yes you did. Too busy being a jerk to read.

We all understand there are horrible work environments where people don't get adequate leave and are worried about being paid. Not talking about those circumstances. Talking about cases where perfectly entitled people with options still act this way and then try to gaslight their coworkers who are annoyed.

You have no idea what anyone’s situation is like. No one has enough sick leave for their own illnesses or time to care for their children so your little disclaimer was pointless and of course ignored.

And yet these same people can take weeks off for vacations.

Ohh, two weeks of vacation a year, you should cancel all that because Susie in accounting lives in fear of the sniffles.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I'm curious what the divide is between "Please don't come to work actively ill" and "I CAN'T CALL OUT SICK FOR EVERY SNIFFLE EVEN THOUGH I WORK A WHITE COLLAR 9-5" crowds. I used to think it was political, with Republicans going into work sick (for no reason other than conservatives seemed to have no issue gathering during covid lol) and Democrats staying home. But this board is, I imagine very liberal, and you all seem adamant that it's totally fine to go to work with a cold.

Also, my conservative BIL gets pissed whenever someone comes into work sick and my very liberal coworkers frequently come to work sick. I'm a moderate who doesn't go to work sick. Go figure.

I don't think there's a strong political angle to it. I suspect the strongest predictor of acceptance would be anyone with kids- particularly young kid- and especially if they're a primary caregiver of those kids.

The nature of the job probably matters a lot, too. People that feel personal satisfaction from work- and who want to work- are going to be more accepting that someone who looks for excuses to take off.

Health anxiety is probably another big one. People terrified of catching minor illnesses like colds are obviously going to be less accepting.

Some of these things offset each other- e.g., higher rates of health anxiety among women, but also a greater likelihood of being the primary caregiver of children.

Well, one, genuinely being sick isn't an "excuse" to take time off. But two, this is the entire point of the thread. The coworker had the ability to work from home but for some reason came in. No time off needed!

And to your point about being "terrified" of catching a cold...it's not health anxiety to not want to be exposed to a cold. I accept that I'm exposed to the cold and flu every day on, say, the metro. I would prefer to not be sitting across from someone who knowingly came into work sick to expose the rest of us.

Obviously things happen. I believe the flu is most contagious the day before symptoms start, so someone could be forgiven for coming in, spreading the flu around, and then waking up the next day only to realize, oh, shit, I have the flu.

It's not normal to be this upset/concerned at the thought of potentially catching a cold during the winter.

Do you have kids? What did you do when they were sick? Avoid them or comfort them?

I don't think anyone is upset or concerned so much as annoyed. Like, I'm annoyed that the person in front of me at the grocery store clearly went way over the limit for self-checkout, but I'm not concerned. I'm annoyed and think they shouldn't do that and will probably vent to my DH when I get home about "People shouldn't have 50 items in self-checkout" (or whatever, this is an example) but that doesn't make me concerned or terrified as a PP said. It just means I think it's rude and people shouldn't do it, so I'm annoyed.

Similarly, I think people coming into work sick is rude and they shouldn't do it and it annoys me. Am I gonna die if I catch a cold? No, but it's a huge inconvenience. I recognize this so I would telework if I had one, but that's because I wouldn't want to inconvenience people. From the sounds of it, you don't seem to think about whether or not you're inconveniencing people.

Did you miss the posts from the person who thinks she can catch a cold from touching the virus, which then, of course, would need to be treated with multiple rounds of *antibiotics*?

[Anonymous]

When I had young kids at home why should I stay home and get all three kids and wife sick cause Bruce in Accounting is afraid of a cold.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I had young kids at home why should I stay home and get all three kids and wife sick cause Bruce in Accounting is afraid of a cold.

Because Bruce’s wife is posting here and said so. She’s freaking out that she’ll need antibiotics for her cold and just knows you have plenty of leave to take for every cold.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If my husband gets it at work, I’m sending him right back to share it with you all. It’s really crummy as just a cold lasts weeks for me with multiple steroids and antibiotics. He gets no pto. No work, no pay.

Your husband has no PTO and doesn’t get paid if he doesn’t work but you think his coworkers shouldn’t come to work sick and just not get paid?

Most of the co-workers have PTO, as they are feds and with other contractor companies. It varies depending on who you work for. He gets no PTO or sick leave but if he gets sick its from work, so I'm sending him into work sick to protect me. You give it to him, you can have it back.

If you’re so fragile wear a mask at home.

I am that fragile and when someone is sick in our home they isolate. But, unlike you we are considerate.

People have been sick since the dawn of time. If your body is that weak, then you need to wear a mask at all times. Just like immunocompromised people do.

People like you are such jackasses. Sickness has been around forever, but guess what? We know more about how it spreads. We know more about long term effects. We have more awareness that consequences can be more severe for some people in our community etc etc etc

Stop making excuses for being rude and lacking compassion for those around you. Your job ain't that important.

Yea but my paycheck is. So you can shut it and wear a mask instead of expecting the rest of the world to take care of you. You clearly have the luxury to be at home worrying about what is happening at your husband’s job instead of having to go out and work in person.

I am a DP.

We should change the insane work culture of the US instead of pretending that there is something wrong with not wanting to be around other sick people at work or school. Those of you pretending it's NBD are FOS.

Great, find a way to implement universal sick leave for all US workers. Until you do, you’ll just have to get over people being sick at work.

I understand some people have limited options, but if you have leave or telework options and you come in anyway, you are a jackass and should be shunned. People should feel free to make you miserable in other ways so you get the message to wise up and be courteous.

Lol. So pathetic. Now wear a mask if you’re afraid of germs.

When you act shamefully, you should be made to feel shame. When you are rude, you should be made to feel shame. It's part of growing up to learn these lessons and be courteous to others. Being a jerk is pathetic.

No one is going to feel shame for doing what they need to in order to get paid. If you weren’t so privileged you’d get that. So yea, it’s pathetic that you can’t see beyond yourself to how the majority of this country has to do what is has to do to survive.

Did you miss the part about how this applies to people who have leave and the ability to telework. Yes, yes you did. Too busy being a jerk to read.

We all understand there are horrible work environments where people don't get adequate leave and are worried about being paid. Not talking about those circumstances. Talking about cases where perfectly entitled people with options still act this way and then try to gaslight their coworkers who are annoyed.

You have no idea what anyone’s situation is like. No one has enough sick leave for their own illnesses or time to care for their children so your little disclaimer was pointless and of course ignored.

And yet these same people can take weeks off for vacations.

Ohh, two weeks of vacation a year, you should cancel all that because Susie in accounting lives in fear of the sniffles.

Yeh, no meets expectations exployee will take longer than a few days off for pto

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If my husband gets it at work, I’m sending him right back to share it with you all. It’s really crummy as just a cold lasts weeks for me with multiple steroids and antibiotics. He gets no pto. No work, no pay.

Your husband has no PTO and doesn’t get paid if he doesn’t work but you think his coworkers shouldn’t come to work sick and just not get paid?

Most of the co-workers have PTO, as they are feds and with other contractor companies. It varies depending on who you work for. He gets no PTO or sick leave but if he gets sick its from work, so I'm sending him into work sick to protect me. You give it to him, you can have it back.

If you’re so fragile wear a mask at home.

I am that fragile and when someone is sick in our home they isolate. But, unlike you we are considerate.

People have been sick since the dawn of time. If your body is that weak, then you need to wear a mask at all times. Just like immunocompromised people do.

People like you are such jackasses. Sickness has been around forever, but guess what? We know more about how it spreads. We know more about long term effects. We have more awareness that consequences can be more severe for some people in our community etc etc etc

Stop making excuses for being rude and lacking compassion for those around you. Your job ain't that important.

Yea but my paycheck is. So you can shut it and wear a mask instead of expecting the rest of the world to take care of you. You clearly have the luxury to be at home worrying about what is happening at your husband’s job instead of having to go out and work in person.

I am a DP.

We should change the insane work culture of the US instead of pretending that there is something wrong with not wanting to be around other sick people at work or school. Those of you pretending it's NBD are FOS.

Great, find a way to implement universal sick leave for all US workers. Until you do, you’ll just have to get over people being sick at work.

I understand some people have limited options, but if you have leave or telework options and you come in anyway, you are a jackass and should be shunned. People should feel free to make you miserable in other ways so you get the message to wise up and be courteous.

Lol. So pathetic. Now wear a mask if you’re afraid of germs.

When you act shamefully, you should be made to feel shame. When you are rude, you should be made to feel shame. It's part of growing up to learn these lessons and be courteous to others. Being a jerk is pathetic.

No one is going to feel shame for doing what they need to in order to get paid. If you weren’t so privileged you’d get that. So yea, it’s pathetic that you can’t see beyond yourself to how the majority of this country has to do what is has to do to survive.

Did you miss the part about how this applies to people who have leave and the ability to telework. Yes, yes you did. Too busy being a jerk to read.

We all understand there are horrible work environments where people don't get adequate leave and are worried about being paid. Not talking about those circumstances. Talking about cases where perfectly entitled people with options still act this way and then try to gaslight their coworkers who are annoyed.

You have no idea what anyone’s situation is like. No one has enough sick leave for their own illnesses or time to care for their children so your little disclaimer was pointless and of course ignored.

OP here.

We get like two weeks of sick leave a year, three personal days, two mental health days...this woman's leave bank was FINE. Again, this was not a post about "Hey, poor people: Skip work when you're sick! I don't care if missing a shift means you can't put dinner on the table that night!" On top of 2-3 weeks vacation depending on tenure.

We also have the option to telework when sick. We are on the same team. Our manager is totally flexible about us WFH when ill.

This was a post about upper middle class white women who just spent a week at Disneyworld with PLENTY of leave time showing up and coughing everywhere.

And also: I like this coworker! I think she's nice! But it's completely irresponsible behavior when she had multiple options to avoid coming in today. (Well, now yesterday)

How do you know what her leave balances were at or what the workload she was returning to looked like? You still seem to be making some big assumptions.

If you accept this is common behavior, and you agree this particular coworker is nice, then have you considered that you might be the one with the problem?

...she didn't need a leave balance. According to op, she could've worked from home. It doesn't matter if her leave balance was 0.

Does she have a home office set up with equipment? Did she bring her laptop home in advance? Did she have any meetings or tasks that benefited from being done in person?

OP doesn't seem to be objective here. She clearly has an axe to grind on this issue.

Who does regular telework and doesn't have an office setup?

And come on, didn't bring her laptop home? Who doesn't bring their laptop home every night? I was doing this even pre-covid, when I was in office daily, rather than hybrid.

I don't think the OP ever said this coworker regularly teleworks. I think you're making an assumption there. The ability to telework doesn't mean that she does.

I always bring my laptop with me, too, but I certainly have plenty of coworkers who don't. Admin/support staff, in particular, rarely do unless they're planning to telework.

Even among professional staff, a surprising number don't have desks and external monitors at home. I guess we're arguably not allowed to attach personally owned equipment, and work won't pay for equipment at home, but no one bats an eye when you say you do it.

OP here. I think I did say somewhere in the beginning of the thread that we regularly telework. We are required to be in office two days a week and telework the other three. This coworker works from home three days a week, and I have had meetings with her from home, so I can validate she has a set-up for working from home.

Look, I know I'm the villain because I'm OP but the fact of the matter is, she can and does work from home several days a week and could've taken advantage of that today but did not.

That just suggests there's something about what she had to do that made her want to go to the office. I doubt you know every single task she had to do over the course of the day.

I'm not sure how joining calls with her would reveal the suitability of the workspace to you. The camera is usually pointed away from the desk, not towards it, so how would you know what she has in terms of monitors and a keyboard/mouse?

When Covid hit, the very night we were sent home for "two weeks" I went online and bought myself an motorized sit/stand desk, a refurbed Aeron chair, a 27" monitor, a webcam, a microphone, and headset. And I'm glad I did, because a couple weeks later those things were all out-of-stock. But I knew there was no real plan for returning, since covid was obviously still going to just as much of a threat. But most people didn't do that, and I've been surprised by the number of people who just seem to accept they're going to be less productive at home because of a lack of proper equipment. Some try to hold off on certain tasks until they're in the office (think: data-entry-like tasks that really benefit from two monitors).

Are you guys serious? You will literally come up with anything to defend the coworker here. She works from home three days a week, but she may not have a mouse and keyboard? Get a grip.

I remain unconvinced of your knowledge of the other person's work and workspace. You're making a lot of assumptions.

[Anonymous]

My coworker came to work with the flu New Years Eve Day. Doesn't vaccinate. I sent him home to spare the rest of the office his germs. Still went to church that night, sick. I'm like I don't think God wants you to make everyone sick?! I just don't understand the logic.

[Anonymous]

Ugh. This would drive me NUTS. Especially in a world where you get plenty of paid sick days AND you can telework. There is absolutely no reason at all to be coming in sick in that situation.

Honestly, when she said "I guess I'm breaking the rules, haha!" I would have straight up deadpanned. "Yeah, and it's really rude. I don't want your germs, you should go home."

Cold as ice, no laughing it off. At least make her squirm.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If my husband gets it at work, I’m sending him right back to share it with you all. It’s really crummy as just a cold lasts weeks for me with multiple steroids and antibiotics. He gets no pto. No work, no pay.

Your husband has no PTO and doesn’t get paid if he doesn’t work but you think his coworkers shouldn’t come to work sick and just not get paid?

Most of the co-workers have PTO, as they are feds and with other contractor companies. It varies depending on who you work for. He gets no PTO or sick leave but if he gets sick its from work, so I'm sending him into work sick to protect me. You give it to him, you can have it back.

If you’re so fragile wear a mask at home.

I am that fragile and when someone is sick in our home they isolate. But, unlike you we are considerate.

People have been sick since the dawn of time. If your body is that weak, then you need to wear a mask at all times. Just like immunocompromised people do.

People like you are such jackasses. Sickness has been around forever, but guess what? We know more about how it spreads. We know more about long term effects. We have more awareness that consequences can be more severe for some people in our community etc etc etc

Stop making excuses for being rude and lacking compassion for those around you. Your job ain't that important.

Yea but my paycheck is. So you can shut it and wear a mask instead of expecting the rest of the world to take care of you. You clearly have the luxury to be at home worrying about what is happening at your husband’s job instead of having to go out and work in person.

I am a DP.

We should change the insane work culture of the US instead of pretending that there is something wrong with not wanting to be around other sick people at work or school. Those of you pretending it's NBD are FOS.

Great, find a way to implement universal sick leave for all US workers. Until you do, you’ll just have to get over people being sick at work.

I understand some people have limited options, but if you have leave or telework options and you come in anyway, you are a jackass and should be shunned. People should feel free to make you miserable in other ways so you get the message to wise up and be courteous.

Lol. So pathetic. Now wear a mask if you’re afraid of germs.

When you act shamefully, you should be made to feel shame. When you are rude, you should be made to feel shame. It's part of growing up to learn these lessons and be courteous to others. Being a jerk is pathetic.

No one is going to feel shame for doing what they need to in order to get paid. If you weren’t so privileged you’d get that. So yea, it’s pathetic that you can’t see beyond yourself to how the majority of this country has to do what is has to do to survive.

Did you miss the part about how this applies to people who have leave and the ability to telework. Yes, yes you did. Too busy being a jerk to read.

We all understand there are horrible work environments where people don't get adequate leave and are worried about being paid. Not talking about those circumstances. Talking about cases where perfectly entitled people with options still act this way and then try to gaslight their coworkers who are annoyed.

Anyone who can telework is obviously doing that when sick. Thats a strawman argument, its not happening.

“Having leave” is tricky. Most people have combined sick and vacation leave in limited quantities (we arent Europe!) so staying home for every cold means never taking leave for holiday. Ample sick leave that cant be used for vacation, probably people will take it. But telework is best option.

I mean the entire thread is about that, quite literally, happening. An employee with the ability to telework did not take it. But some of you want to insist it's because she, a regular teleworker, did not have a keyboard at home.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If they are not properly able to juggle their time off and sick time they should be let go

Most employers have switched to PTO, and basically any sick time is burning vacation time.

Part of doing your job and performing is balancing that with sick leave.

Eh. I get 12 days of PTO and 9 holidays with two kids and no work from home. You get what you get from me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My coworker came to work with the flu New Years Eve Day. Doesn't vaccinate. I sent him home to spare the rest of the office his germs. Still went to church that night, sick. I'm like I don't think God wants you to make everyone sick?! I just don't understand the logic.

If it were the flu, he wouldn't have been able to do any of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. This would drive me NUTS. Especially in a world where you get plenty of paid sick days AND you can telework. There is absolutely no reason at all to be coming in sick in that situation.

Honestly, when she said "I guess I'm breaking the rules, haha!" I would have straight up deadpanned. "Yeah, and it's really rude. I don't want your germs, you should go home."

Cold as ice, no laughing it off. At least make her squirm.

Professional worker's tasks just pile up if they don't work. Sure, they might have lots of leave, but they'll never finish all their work if they take it.

Shift workers often don't have that issue, but they're less likely to have plenty of leave or the ability to telework.