Office etiquette - going to work sick

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems like using leave to stay home is not in most peoples' self-interest (unless you're can't stand up). If you have separate sick leave, usually you can pile it up for future use or for cashing out. If you have combined leave (PTO), then using it to stay home means one less day of vacation.

Our company is eliminating our sick leave as it transitions to a PTO system. Most employees' accumulated sick leave will be zeroed out unless they use it before the end of the year. Of course, it you want to use it, you'll need a note from your doctor (because everything else in our office is like junior high already).

You need a note from your doctor to use sick leave?? Even for under three days?

[Anonymous]

I have a compromised immune system due to cancer treatment. When people come to work sick, it can kill me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a compromised immune system due to cancer treatment. When people come to work sick, it can kill me.

Yikes. Maybe you should let people know. Could you work from home?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone who is now home sick after being around people all week who were coughing and sneezing please stay home and don't spread your germs!

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If it is an option to work from home then on the days you might still be contagious and are sniffling, sneezing, coughing and generally sounding sick and spreading germs...stay home and work.

NP. This sounds awful but this actually never occurred to me. Thank you!
I tend to be more liberal with sick-leave-taking now that I have a kid... if one sick day NOW means I am better and good-to-go on the weekend, I'm taking it. I can no longer assume "I'll just rest this weekend."

[Anonymous]

I also have general PTO and get 15 days a year. With 2 kids who get sick, have school events, have random days off and the desire to take at least one week of vacation a year, I'm going to work as long as I can get out of bed. I feel bad about it, but if I stayed home ever time a caught a cold from my kids, I would not have any vacation! (And yes, I'm looking for a new job!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like using leave to stay home is not in most peoples' self-interest (unless you're can't stand up). If you have separate sick leave, usually you can pile it up for future use or for cashing out. If you have combined leave (PTO), then using it to stay home means one less day of vacation.

Our company is eliminating our sick leave as it transitions to a PTO system. Most employees' accumulated sick leave will be zeroed out unless they use it before the end of the year. Of course, it you want to use it, you'll need a note from your doctor (because everything else in our office is like junior high already).

You need a note from your doctor to use sick leave?? Even for under three days?

Yes, for one day. They want to be sure that people are really using it for illness. We're a federal contractor with 5000 employees but the company is clearly circling the drain since the sequester hit us.

[Anonymous]

I don't use sick leave for colds unless I'm absolutely miserable. Most people in my office don't either. One civilian in the office who has a kid with a compromised immune system has recently taken to going to peoples desks and demanding that they go home if she hears they have a cold. She's really starting to annoy people. Problem is, our building is being investigated to see if it's a sick building, so many people are sneezing and coughing because of allergens/pollutants, not illness. But she doesn't believe them and tries to insist they go home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My office has an official leave policy of 10 days per year. The reality is that my boss doesn't want to see you if you are sick. And he will remember if you came in sick and he gets sick as a result. Stay home!

Get a new job!! You have ten days of leave a year and your boss makes you use them if you have a cold? What an asshole!!

No. Great job. What I thought I had posted but didn't, was that he lets you take the time you need if you are sick. If it is 10 or 15, so be it.

I also get 5 weeks of vacation a year.

[Anonymous]

I don't stay home for a cold unless I feel really bad. But then again, I have my own office and my work is pretty solitary. I often have days when the only people I interact with face to face are those I seek out, or see in the bathroom/kitchen. I don't think my office would meet productivity targets if everyone stayed home when they had a cold. BTW, we cannot work from home. . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like using leave to stay home is not in most peoples' self-interest (unless you're can't stand up). If you have separate sick leave, usually you can pile it up for future use or for cashing out. If you have combined leave (PTO), then using it to stay home means one less day of vacation.

Our company is eliminating our sick leave as it transitions to a PTO system. Most employees' accumulated sick leave will be zeroed out unless they use it before the end of the year. Of course, it you want to use it, you'll need a note from your doctor (because everything else in our office is like junior high already).

You need a note from your doctor to use sick leave?? Even for under three days?

Yes, for one day. They want to be sure that people are really using it for illness. We're a federal contractor with 5000 employees but the company is clearly circling the drain since the sequester hit us.

That is absurd. Who goes to the doctor for a cold?? And some doctors charge for notes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My office has an official leave policy of 10 days per year. The reality is that my boss doesn't want to see you if you are sick. And he will remember if you came in sick and he gets sick as a result. Stay home!

Get a new job!! You have ten days of leave a year and your boss makes you use them if you have a cold? What an asshole!!

No. Great job. What I thought I had posted but didn't, was that he lets you take the time you need if you are sick. If it is 10 or 15, so be it.

I also get 5 weeks of vacation a year.

World bank?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't stay home for a cold unless I feel really bad. But then again, I have my own office and my work is pretty solitary. I often have days when the only people I interact with face to face are those I seek out, or see in the bathroom/kitchen. I don't think my office would meet productivity targets if everyone stayed home when they had a cold. BTW, we cannot work from home. . .

Yeah. I don't stay home unless I can't get out of bed. But I have my own office and if I am sick at work, I close the door and make sure I don't interact with people more than strictly necessary. I have litigating deadlines and no one to cover. If I don't do the work, it doesn't get done. I can't miss a deadline for a cold, especially because on the rare occasions I do get a cold, it lasts for a good two weeks.

And, like others, I need to bank my sick leave so I can use part of it for maternity leave. Ah, federal government.

I feel sorry for those with compromised immune systems -- not sure what the answer is there. I mean you can't have half the office just not doing their work because of a nasty cold. The work has to get done, at least at my agency. But then the sick people pose a real threat to the compromised PPs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a compromised immune system due to cancer treatment. When people come to work sick, it can kill me.

Yikes. Maybe you should let people know. Could you work from home?

I can't work from home, as I work exclusively with classified materials. And I work in cubicles. The people around me are considerate. But, about six months ago, someone came in with a cold. I ended up with pneumonia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My office has an official leave policy of 10 days per year. The reality is that my boss doesn't want to see you if you are sick. And he will remember if you came in sick and he gets sick as a result. Stay home!

Get a new job!! You have ten days of leave a year and your boss makes you use them if you have a cold? What an asshole!!

No. Great job. What I thought I had posted but didn't, was that he lets you take the time you need if you are sick. If it is 10 or 15, so be it.

I also get 5 weeks of vacation a year.

That is completely different than what you wrote, which is that you get ten days of leave total.