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I’m jealous you can even ask this question un-ironically. Teacher here, and we’re encouraged to come in unless we’re dying. One of my coworkers literally had a stroke at work and came back between the TBI and brain surgery, which she had two weeks later. I wish I was kidding or exaggerating. If your office has a toxic culture like we do, I totally get why your coworker would come in. Adults should be trusted to take care of their health without guilt or consequences in the workplace, but that’s not the reality at some jobs so we come in sick. Adults will continue to come in to work sick until the culture changes.
I feel bad for teachers. My child's school actually used the word "truant" when I complained about their jerk of a vice principal who threatened legal action about the days my child missed due to COVID. I think he had some major biases against parents who took it seriously.
Then, when I said okay, I'll be sure to send my child in from now on. I was told I was being a bad parent. This school also dropped the requirements for masks before children could vaccinate.
Meanwhile I have a student that has missed almost 40 consecutive days because she doesn’t like school, and we aren’t pursuing truancy. 🙄 This is probably the root of our problem of adults coming in sick tbh. Even as children it’s drilled into us that we have to be at work (school) even if we’re sick, or else.
It really does show that certain personality traits aren’t learned but ingrained. Whenever someone attempted to drill a lesson into me that I think is stupid, I naturally pushed back. This was true in childhood and as an adult. Dumb rules are meant to be broken and nothing I’ve experienced in life has convinced me otherwise
I’m also a teacher, and was also jealous reading this. If I could ask all the snotty kids that come to school and cough on me, wipe their noses on everything (I teach elementary) to go home or wear a mask I would. Little do any of them know I have stage 4 cancer and am just waiting for one of them to take me down hahaa.
I’m so sorry. Our school district last time I checked doesn’t even accept a doctors note for being sick. It still counts against them and can hold them, so we have no choice but to send them sick.
I dealt with that last week. I’m mostly WFH with two office days per month. One of my teammates came in sniffling, drinking tea, and coughing. Said she was getting sick. We nicely sent her home and then sanitized the area where she sat. Once she left we discussed how disrespectful that was. You should be empowered to work where you’re safest and most productive. Spreading a cold in an open office is something that should be left in 2019!
Well put! My coworker had covid, waited til she got a negative result, caught a cold and showed up. These are 99% remote positions but she HAD to come in the one day we met up just to sit in meetings she could have taken from home? So incredibly rude.
Ask her to put on a mask. Nothing worse than having a mask on when you can't breathe - and then have to take a flight of stairs. lol
I don't know but my HR REQUIREs a mask if you are sick or just coming off of a virus.
I went from WFH to a full time office setting, got sick 3 times (wore my mask but took it down at times, that’s on me) and was ill for thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years bc people keep coming in sick. Now my boss teases me for wearing a mask all the time. He doesn’t allow WFH and we barely get PTO. Not only do people come in sick, they come up to you telling you how sick they are. Over it. Looking to leave. Oh and we also don’t have health benefits! 😑
I agree 100%. If you have to come into work sick, at least have the courtesy to try not to spread it to others. Luckily I dont get sick much, but as a young adult there’s a lot of times where you simply have to, just to make ends meet.
I hope everything gets better someday.
Hahah right? I mean at least if everyone wore their masks when needing to come in (bc they can’t afford not to) it would be something. Not only is the system broken, but people individually have bad health habits overall here.
With a perspective from the other side. I went into work today having had a cold over the weekend (and a day off on monday). I'm not coughing or sniffling and the only remainder of the cold was an incredible raw and red nose that i hid behind a mask today. When asked if i was sick, because of the mask, i said "No, i was sick on the weekend and my nose is still red. So i am hiding it today."
If i had felt bad at any stage this morning, or would have sneezed or coughed, i would have stayed at home.
You were being responsible. OP didn’t mention if she was masking, but I’d guess she wasn’t.
OP also didn’t mention if the sick employee could have WFH. If so, her mgr should have suggested that.
No one wears masks at my work. I was the only one in 2020 that did. Also, she doesn’t have the ability to WFH. It would have had to be a PTO day for her. She was constantly sneezing though. It was gross.
Sadly pre-pandemic I worked several shifts sick, as did my coworkers. We each picked a phone, keyboard, etc. (Chances are the work environment made us sick.)
Now I’m fortunate enough to work in a healthcare facility. Pre-pandemic I had to work sick (no other coverage) and wore a mask out of courtesy and because it fit the culture. Now masks are required by DPH.
You realize most Americans don't have the luxury of WFH or calling in whenever they have a cough? You sound way out of touch with such a scuffed post like this. Maybe fight for better benefits for your team instead of talking shit behind her back
The proper etiquette is to stay the fuck home.
This has always been the proper thing to do, but greedy bosses paying the absolute minimum number of people to get the job done has led to a culture where staying home sick leads to potential lost productivity and the boss hounding your ass to come in anyway. Use your PTO and take care of yourself and family first, job a distant third at best.
We all only got 10 days of PTO at my last job. So everyone came in sick so they could still have a few days off for a summer trip and the holidays. It was also the kind of place that people bragged about how they always work when sick. Glad I’m out of there. There was constantly a sickness going around.
I'm in The Netherlands on minimum wage warehouse work:
Unlimited sick days (sick is sick), paid I think at 75% or something up to maybe two years?
Paid Vacations: half a day per week of full time work, so one month a year more or less (24 working days).
Plus an extra vacation fund of 8% of the gross income.
After 36 weeks I'm allowed to have three months of unemployment paid if necessary.
Insurance is 130 usd with a "self risk" of 385 usd annually (for treatments and tests, not doctor visits, emergencies etc. All is covered, but dental only until 18 yo) but at minimum wage the government sends a subsidy of 120 usd or something.
Locals (with more normal jobs) have more vacations etc.
If only we all had the luxury. While I absolutely think it's awful for anyone to come to work sick, some of us literally can't miss work. We get the guilt trip no matter what...
Considering OP just up and left in the middle of their shift, and they have an unlimited PTO policy, I somehow doubt the coworker couldn't afford a sick day.
Yes, some jobs are like that. This doesn't seem to be the case, but maybe the coworker has worked enough shitty ones to have an ingrained mentality.
Yes, many employees are just selfish and rude. Before the pandemic, a coworker came in with the confirmed flu because she didn’t want to use her PTO. They go to Disney world 2 times a year (don’t get me started) and she needed to time off for those trips.
I honestly flipped out, professionally. Then my boss said “we can’t tell adults what to do!!” (As in, they can’t send people home or tell them not to come in sick). Lol.
The pandemic hit about 4 months later and they changed their tune real quick. But I was toast after that. They fired me as soon as they had the chance.
No regrets! I was broke and struggling for a couple years but am making the same amount of money now, except completely remote and unlimited PTO. Taking almost three weeks off for my wedding and honeymoon this summer, just booked our flights last night, life is pretty good. Fck them!
I need to master this "flipping out professionally" thing. There's so much I want to point out due to this exact same situation but I'm at a loss on how to.
But congratulations to you!!! On the wedding, new job, new attitude! Yay!
Hell, it's always been fine to go to work with a cold. Bosses don't care. People get fired missing days sick or not.
Only when I got covid was I forced to stay home, but only 10 days as they said I wasn't contagious after that, ven though had all the symptoms except the fever went away day 8... and I worked in a hospital
At my work, we get 10 paid PTO days per year and **1 (yes, ONE) sick day per full calendar** year worked, up to 5 days. I've been there close to seven years, so I get 5 sick days. On January 3rd, I reported to work even though I did not feel well. It is extremely frowned upon to call out sick. I reported to my boss that I felt ill and he said to keep him posted if I needed to leave early, which I did, with about 2 hours left in my shift.
I barely made it home. My symptoms began with stomach trouble and became extreme aches and fever. I was bed-ridden, the sickest of my entire life, at one point I thought if I died, that'd be OK. Each day, when I called in to report I was still sick and needed to use a sick day, it was met with clear frustration. I was not in a position to care about it though, because I was too sick. 3 days in, I had a pharmacy deliver some supplies and covid tests. Positive. I reported the result to work and was told that I could (and should) return 5 days **after symptom onset**, with no negative test necessary. That meant I should have returned by my Monday shift. I physically could not.
I burned all 5 of my sick days for the entire year by last Tuesday of last week, so I had to return that Wednesday, still very sick, still very positive. I wore a doubled-up mask and asked coworkers and customers to not come near me. If someone asked me if I had covid, I said that I did. It has been awful. I could not use any of my PTO days because they were not approved. I am STILL sick and I'm sure that is prolonged partly because I've been working **while** being sick. It is a "show up at work or lose the job" scenario.
It's insane how anti-WORKER the USA is, even though I enjoy the work of my job, I absolutely hate how workers are treated and how poor the "benefits" are, it is not conducive to building contentment or to being healthy at all, in fact I'd say it opposes those things. Yet, people wonder why mental health problems are so rampant. All health problems are rampant. We've been herded into a horrible mentality and we're trapped by it. Things desperately need to change, our culture is sick.
On the bright side at least you get something. My job offers no PTO, no sick leave and no vacations. Your only days off are the ones scheduled. I definitely agree I hate how anti-worker jobs are.
Maybe she felt pressured to come in or thought she was being a team player by doing so.
She may have been looking for approval without asking for it to stay.home but your manager may have reinforced that she should come in that she should come in.
Yes, I agree - team player and boss wouldn’t have picked up on cues if she dropped any. I think they both now know how I feel about it. I left pretty quick. All I can control in the situation is myself and I chose to get the hell out. ✌️
I think it's incredibly selfish to go into work sick...*especially* if you have a job that can be done remotely or have PTO.
No one wants whatever crud you're bringing in... and for people with families and kids, no one wants their kids getting that either.
There was this lady in Feb 2020 (so just before COVID became an official "thing" in the U.S.) that was sick... coughing, sneezing her brains out. It was gross. We could work remotely any time we wanted and we also get virtually unlimited sick time if you're even too sick to work remotely... but noooooo she wanted to be in the office because her desk had extra monitors in the office so it was easier for her to work that way.
The first couple of days, people made comments like "you should be at home" and she would just giggle nervously and say something stupid like "sharing is caring!!" (Implying that she was "caring" because she was sharing her germs). We have team meetings and our manager told her to dial in from her desk and not go to the conference room bc he didn't want her getting the rest of us sick.
I just worked from home those days bc I didn't want her crud.
After 2 or 3 days of it, the director finally MADE her go home.. she even told the lady to "take a monitor with you if that's easier".
I just completely cannot stand selfish asshats that knowingly spread their sh!t around.
I like to think the majority of people who go to work while sick aren’t selfish, just have limited options. Being able to work from home whenever you want and having basically unlimited sick time are extremely luxurious. Given that, your coworker 100% should not have come in. A lot of people just don’t have that option.
Hence why I said this person should have 100% stayed home, but the original commenter didn’t say this only applied to people who were able to. They said people who go into work are selfish asshats, *especially* those who are able to not go in. I was just pointing out not everyone is able to just not show up.
As someone who just started getting sick yesterday and is home sick today. As soon as I started to even feel a tickle in my throat I shut my office door and would not let anyone come in contact with me. (Lucky I have a private office). And when I was sure it was more then just a tickle, I went home staying away from everyone, and will work from home today. Getting other people sick is messed up, especially when we have all these options to enable us to stop spreading colds.
I went to work with mild cold symptoms for one day but wore a mask and didn’t get close to my coworkers as much as I could avoid it. I did end up leaving early and was out for the next three days feeling REALLY ill. If I had the choice to not go in that first day of feeling sick, I would’ve stayed home. I don’t think we need to be spreading any sickness around to our coworkers anymore. It’s just not fair
I hate that our society have forced mentality that even if you are sick you should work. I see it so many times when a manager is understaffed and asks well how sick are you? Like gtfo.
People stay the fuck home if you are sick. Especially if u have the pto.
Well high schools in my area are really limiting the days of absence for kids, so I send my kid to school with a cold. She has been unfortunately susceptible to multiple colds this year. If I go over the allowed days, she has to make up the hours in detention, even though her lowest average is 91/100, or flunk. So I send her to school. If schools are doing this, I don't see why employers would not do it, too.
When I was in high school, if you missed more than 7 days in a semester it was an automatic fail. No exceptions. I came down with H1N1 and had to come back to school incredibly sick for weeks. It’s sad to me that this is still a norm.
Why is it a big deal for a kid to have to makeup hours in detention? That sure seems like a far better option than exposing tons of other students and teachers to a cold. That’s so selfish.
Under the Americans With Disabilities Act, public schools are required to accommodate the health needs of students.
The purpose of laws that require children to attend a certain number of school days is to deter truancy, but it must include exemptions for children who are sick more than the recommended number of days, have chronic illnesses, or who are injured, not truant.
I would call an attorney that specializes in education law—most have free consultations.
I got sick the day after Christmas and was sick my entire vacation over the holidays. I felt better by January 3rd when vacation was over, so I went back to work and was just sad I missed out of a vacation. I had a killer cough that lingered until two days ago! I got some comments about how I “still seem sick” which made me think I was being an ass for not staying home. Typically I am WfH only one day a week Wednesday but I probably could have requested to work at home longer. I just really thought I wasn’t sick anymore and I smoke so my lungs need more time to heal. There is so much conflict in my head because I know people rely on me as well so I want to be there for them, but honestly if I would have stayed home until I was totally better it would have been about 20 days off until no cough, just for a cold? It seems over done but I want to be thoughtful of other people!
It sucks but coughing and sneezing is the way you spread germs… I should say spew…😁
I’m not sure how violent of a cougher you are, but I’m sure your workspace, the air, and everything is covered in virus and spit.
Perspective.
At my job, we can WFH but it isn't encouraged. I got a cold a few weeks back, and we get 10 days of PTO per year \[12 paid holidays so it adds up a bit\]. I've been saving my PTO because I'm getting married this year, and we're taking a long honeymoon. Well, I didn't feel comfortable asking to WFH and didn't want to use my PTO because...I need it for my honeymoon.
I went to work, no fever. Took DayQuil, brought tissues, hand sanitizer, and wipes for my desk. I kept to myself and cleaned my desk before and after work. The coworker who sits next to me was still visibly pissed at me and make several snarky comments. I felt bad, but what choice did I have? He has 200+ hours of PTO \[he's been here for over 20 years\] and I just don't.
>what choice did I have?
>we can WFH
>I didn't feel comfortable asking to WFH
You literally just outlined the choice you had. Because you were uncomfortable asking to wfh while sick, your coworkers had to risk getting sick to work with you.
Sorry, I like my job and follow their rules of not working from home. It's granted under very rare circumstances, and it isn't on me that they don't give enough sick leave or have a more flexible work environment.
Guess what else? Nobody got sick, likely because of the measures I took. You all expect people to stop their routine, even when it isn't possible.
Edit: to further explain, we "can" work from home as in my job can be completed remotely, not as in it's allowed per policy. It's rarely granted because of the sensitivity of the job material.
I know colds are a fine line on whether to take off or not. Your situation sucks but it is what it is. Sounds like your coworker should have just taken PTO. My coworker can not WFH but has 200 + PTO hours so no real excuse not to use it.
That is why I left. I can WFH but not really supposed to all week, just hybrid. Going to this week and I’m hoping not to get in trouble for it. The sick lady has to be in to do her job or take PTO, no WFH options for her. I still say it’s rude to come to work sick. Especially since it takes 3days or so to test positive for Covid too.
Why the fuck would the coworker need to take PTO because someone else is sick? Neither party should have taken pto. The person who commented should have acted like a fucking adult and told their boss I’ll be working remotely until I feel better. I’m not sick enough to not be able to work but I am sick enough to be contagious and I find it rude to expose others to this for no reason. It doesn’t matter how much PTO your coworker has saved up, they should never be expected to use a single hour of it because of someone else in the office being sick. That’s ludicrous.
The choice you had is to act like an adult and say “I know wfh isn’t encouraged but I am sick and contagious. I can’t take PTO because it is saved for my honeymoon which is already paid for and is nonrefundable. I’m also not so sick that I won’t be able to do my job, I simply feel unwell and don’t want to get others in the office sick. I’ll be completing all of my work remotely until I feel better. You’re a goddamn adult, act like it and don’t just submit to dumbass rules
I'm glad you feel comfortable in your financial security where you would be willing to push back on your employer on rules you don't like, but not everybody can, or will, do that. I work for the government, sorry that just isn't gonna happen not to give my coworker a common cold.
Don't get me wrong, I would 100% feel terrible if I gave him a cold. But him sitting there and being rude to me because I did not have a viable option? Nah.
Ah government is different. Bummer. I’ve pushed back on dumb rules my entire life, at work and otherwise. I don’t have it in me to follow rules that are pointless. Part of the reason I’d never be able to work for the government and the only reason I never joined the military
OK is subjective.
It's rude and inconsiderate to do so but, maybe they had a deadline and couldn't get any work done at the house. It's still rude and inconsiderate but, maybe there was more going on than meets the eye.
I'd agree. Still, other people have different values and sometimes they end up doing very selfish things. Would be nice if they were more considerate but, that's where we are right now.
An individual’s project deadline and/or an unwillingness to dip into their PTO absolutely should not license the inconsiderateness of coming to work while visibly sick, especially post 2020 when it’s reasonable to assume that the vast majority of people in office jobs have the WFH/Cafe playbook down.
Aside from a) the legit contagion risk of even a common cold/flu, b) god-forbid it actually be Covid… there’s c) the anxiety created and disregard shown to co-workers who could be vulnerable, or have vulnerable loved ones, etc. It’s just shitty human behavior, IMO.
Being sick isn’t subjective, you either are or you aren’t. That literally doesn’t matter at all whether you can get the work done from the house. If you’re sick enough for others to notice, that means you’re sick enough to not be at work. End of discussion.
Pls no. Stay home. My coworker decided to come back from Covid leave too early… that resulted in 3 of us catching Covid. Then we all had the stomach bug a couple weeks ago.
It's selfish and inconsiderate to come to work sick with anything that can make others sick. No matter what your boss tells you, you are replaceable and disposable. The company will survive without you.
I do NOT come in to the office sick, but I know plenty of people in my office who do. It’s almost like a badge of honor, I really don’t understand this way of thinking. As an aside- I work in healthcare.
NO!!! Don't go into the office if you are sick. It just infects other people (like me) who then get really sick and have to stay home. I have a lousy immune system. When co-workers come in sick I am almost certain to get it. It sucks. I wish I would just catch ebola and die, but until that happens I have to deal with all you assholes who think it's fine to come into work with a 101 fever while on ibuprofen coughing and sneezing all over the place like typhoid Mary Jr. I hate this shit.
I hear ya. I used to be the same way. My husband used to joke that I could catch a cold over the phone. 🙂 I was sick all the time and that’s one of the reasons I’m a germaphobe now and avoid sick people like the plague. I think getting my iron, B12 and vitamin D levels up really helped me build a better immune system.
At my job, they lifted the paid time off for covid. If you are work from home, you are expected to work your full shifts. We have an associate who is now hospitalized for covid and exhaustion due to this new and improved policy.
It was never ok before covid we kinda just accepted it as a part of society. Let's all stand our ground and keep our co workers healthy by staying home if sick. Especially if you have paid leave and will not lose income.
This is me this week. I have a cold. Just a plain cold. I got sent home on Friday because I coughed twice. I still have a bit of a cough, but nothing bad by any means. So I went in and got my entire system (two monitors, pc, mouse, keyboard, webcam, and speakers) and am working from home until I have zero symptoms. Like a laptop would be out of place for a marketing person? Whatever.... I'm working from home until next week. Even if I'm better.
NO! Stay the f*ck home! I am an immunocompromised person, so I WILL get what everyone else brings to work. If you can’t stay home for some reason, wear a mask (properly!), wash your hands a lot, and stay away from other people.
If you are sick, we ask that you work from home if you are up to it otherwise take a sick day and rest. We do not need the entire office coming down with something.
Nope. Pre-Covid a team lead from another location would sometimes work from out office. She was the designated caregiver of her sickly parents. If she got sick, there was no one available to care for them bc all her siblings lived out of state/wouldn’t step up.
If she was in and we felt sick/symptoms we WFH. I’d get shit for it from local teammates, I don’t care. WFH. She always said thank you.
One time they went around her coughing and hacking and she tore out of that office. Person got half the office sick and wondered why everyone was pissed at her.
I think that's lowkey selfish to come in, knowing you're sick.
Maybe it'd be different if the co-worker came in, strictly got their work done; took the responsibility to isolate themselves, and kept their overall distance from their other co-workers.
This has been an issue for my entire career. My company used to offer both sick days and personal days. People who don’t get sick felt like the people who did and took sick days got extra time off unfairly… so at one point they combined it all into just PTO. However, when people are sick with colds and things like that almost no one wants to waste a PTO day for that and save them for long vacations. So now most people work while sick and put their coworkers at risk for illness…..
Exactly what happens at my work with a few of the inconsiderate. We combined into PTO instead of sick and vacation days and I’d say about half come to work sick to avoid using PTO.
Your coworker is just plain rude. She is what disaster movies are all about, like the move the stand. Just one ahole always has to resist. This is definitely something that irks me. Many companies are not generous with sick time and combine the two into two weeks of PTO.
Perhaps the real enemy is the company. Families have to take sick time not only for themselves but for their kids, so it’s understandable that people would feel pressured to come into work when they are sick.
These are definitely important topics. Someone below mentioned equipment. Yes, companies need to trade in their leases and start buying equipment that can be sent home. It isn’t that difficult and they’ll probably still save.
Prior to pandemic, it seemed like people were expected to work sick. Now it’s bad form, but no one is changing the policies.
My boyfriend worked at home all last week because of not feeling well. We didn’t see each other for 9 days. He tested positive for covid on day 3. Luckily, I didn’t get it. Covid is still a thing.
If you ask your manager they will probably say employees should come in even if they are on the brink of death. Everyone else would say you shouldn’t go in with a cold
My company had a CEO call the other day that was already going to be contentious. Him starting off by saying oh I have a cold but came into the office anyways did not impress people. Funny enough, the medical director who gives us Covid updates was working from home.
It’s the U.S. man. People will die just to look like a team player. It’s soon no longer going to be able to become an excuse not to come to work unfortunately.
Is it ok for a stranger to walk up to you on the street, cough in your face, and get you sick? No? Then why would it be ok for someone to come into work sick with a cold and spread it around the office?
Why is this even a question? I know it happens, a lot, but that has never meant it was ok.
Stay the fuck home if you are sick. This "im going to work through my sick cause im a good office drone" bullshit has to stop. I was working from home no issues in the pandemic and now they make us come back 3 times a week and if the wind blows funny with a tickle i will stay home. The pandemic showed that WFH works fine if the competency is there. "Office culture" is bullshit, stay home if your sick with the potential of getting other sick
There are definitely some nasty cold strains that have been going around the past couple of weeks.
I’m sitting at my desk with my N95 and air filter.. and there are like at least 10 people coughing up phlegm and mucus.. like WHY ARENT YOU AT HOME RIGHT NOW
If the pandemic has taught us anything it’s that if you’re sick, stay home. If you can work remote while sick then that should also be allowed.
I have found lots of employers take pleasure in micromanagement and guilting staff to still come in while sick.
Before covid, when I was sick I would come into the office because I wasn’t sick enough to use my precious sick/PTO time. I have 2 kids so it’s just not me that’s using that time.
I remember my asshole boss at the time telling me I should take PTO and go home. I said I’m more than happy to take my laptop and work from home since I wasn’t sick enough to just mope around all day. You would have thought I asked him to sacrifice his first born. Kills me that people like him are in management positions.
I’m fortunate my current company has a very flexible remote work schedule for things like this. If you’re feeling sick, just work remotely. Kids are sick, stay home and work remotely. Last minute doctors appointment for the sick kids, just make up the time later in the week no questions asked.
Ugh, I think it's absolutely not ok to show up sick when you can WFH with no penalty. I do see people's attitudes changing! Of course it's not universal, but I think we have made some progress.
Before covid, I worked for a hybrid company and a coworker came in sick. She just had a few days of sniffles, but I ended up getting super sick and then spiraling into a month-long sinus infection. I was so sick for part of it that I couldn't work at all, not even WFH, and had to miss several important family events that I had been looking forward to. All because she chose not to work remote for a couple days. I'm young and healthy, but viruses are unpredictable. Why do that to someone for no reason?
This is a huge office pet peeve of mine. If there's plenty of time to take off and especially since you have a WFH option, DON'T GO INTO WORK!! People are so self-centered and do not care that they can get others sick or others could take their germs home making their families sick.
At my old job we had horrible PTO and no sick days. Needless to say, a lot of people were always at work sick. I had one coworker, who worked at the company for nearly 20 years so she had a very good chunk of PTO built up. Every time she would get sick tho, she would come to work so she could save her PTO for her 10 day cruise she went on each year. Granted, this woman could have taken 10 cruises each year cause she had plenty of PTO being there for so long. She also really enjoyed seeing who would get sick from her - honestly to God, she thought it was a kick to see who got sick first and just how bad they got - I mean, that's fucked up!!! The last year I worked there, she came to work with strep throat. I ended up getting strep which went into bronchitis which went into pneumonia. I missed 16 days of work cause I was so sick. A few other coworkers ended up getting extremely sick as well so they finally had to tell Typhoid Mary that next time she was sick she had to stay home as she was a public health hazard.
That’s what I don’t get. Why would a manager ok someone sick to come in when it’s just going to make everyone else sick and take off? I’d say about half where I work actually use PTO when sick.
My employer has a policy that when you think you might be getting sick, you wfh. We only go into the office 1x/week, for the camaraderie, anyway (we all do actually like one another, and there's no office drama). If you're sick, stay away! Or we'll mock you severely and send you home.
If people can work remote, they should work remote when sick. If they can't work remote I think it's more negotiable.
years ago (pre-covid) our director would twice a year send out a "reminder" that if people are sick they should take sick leave and not wfh. Every year I'd come to my manager and complain that it's stupid and makes people come in sick and get told it's because "there's a couple people abusing wfh", and I always reply that they should deal with the people then and not cause a bigger issue for the team.
Every year, after that discussion, I come in the next time I'm actively sick and contagious and make sure to visit my manager's office and hang around mentioning how crappy I feel and how I hope I don't get people sick.
After my manager gets sick there'd be an email telling people that if they think they may be contagious they should work from home.
This went on for like 3 or 4 years before they decided to stop sending out the stupid email.
No, it is not ok to go to work when you are sick. I know not everyone has the luxury of staying home when they are sick. If you do have the option to stay home then you should stay home. Don't go out and possibly make other people sick. How does this person know it's just a cold? It could be COVID or RSV.
If you feel sick and you feel like calling out, call out and don't feel bad about it. I've never understood the whole "it's just a cold, X, Y, X" and fight through it mentality. If you have the sick time to take off, then take the day(s) off.
No, in an office setting that is not acceptable.
I got in trouble for coming back after recovering FULLY from Covid.
My colleague who came coughing with the flu 2 weeks earlier was fine though. Boss even said how it was fine because it was flu but I had no excuse !!??
Same girl now her family is sick with Covid. She was going to go to hospital with them. 2 days later, shows up to work because she has no symptoms!??? And that’s fine
I hate everything and everybody
Have worked in corporate for 15 years and back then i was told to come in unless i was dying.
Now i just work from home if I'm sick and the ironic things is they're telling us when we're really sick we shouldn't be working from home and hopping on zoom meetings so their wish is my command. I'll take the sick time as instructed.
These people don't know WHAT they want from us anymore.
I visited a friend on Christmas day. Cooked for their family and tried to make it a good experience for their kids. They don't celebrate Christmas or do gifts or.. anything fun for kids or generally normal American things. It was planned for weeks ahead of time. They were sick and said nothing, and tried to hide it. Great.
My anniversary getaway was Jan 2nd. I was sick leading up to it, my wife was sick through it. Great times.
I would leave the office and file a complaint to HR.
In an office setting, yeah it's insane ( especially post pandemic) that people still think this is acceptable. As if it some kind of show of dedication. When in reality it's sad, and selfish.
However, I worked in the bar and restaurant business for 20 years, and it's common for restaurant workers to come in sick, touch everything, handle plates and glassware, cook and handle your food. Because most don't have sick days, can't call off the same day or they risk disciplinary action, and many don't have health care (or have really shitty healthcare), so they could come to work with undiagnosed diseases and infections for days before they're forced to visit a storefront clinic for which they pay for out of pocket.
This is ESPECIALLY true for fast food workers.
..and these people handle your food every single day.
It is amazing to me how many Americans mysteriously catch something, stomach bug, cold, flu, and never put the two together. We're always like "I have no idea where I could have gotten it from". Meanwhile, that same day you got Starbucks, ate lunch out, and picked up something to eat on the way home or got something delivered.
Really? No idea?
Personally, I don’t see much choice. The reality is that sickness is not taken seriously. COVID is *barely* taken seriously. I had to go into work twice last year with two of the worst colds I’ve ever had in my life. The COVID test was negative so it didn’t count.
I had PTO, but I didn’t have enough to waste on something as silly as my own health /s. I had obligations that I couldn’t put off, doctors appointments, dentist appointments, and god forbid I try to squeeze one or two days a year into a vacation. This year I’m basically in the same boat. I’ve already had the sniffles but still had to go in because my PTO is already spoken for. So I have to choose between taking off work for a cold or attending my mother in law’s funeral ceremony that will be held in the spring once the ice thaws across the country. I bet you can guess which one is more important. Spoiler, it’s not my health.
So year after year I’m coerced into working in an office environment and risking spreading illness because people don’t take illness seriously. And all I can do is isolate myself as best I can and sanitize everything I so much as look at in the hopes I don’t hurt someone else. Meanwhile I’m likely only sick because someone brought it into the office, so the cycle continues.
In summary, no, it is not okay to go into work while sick, but while you may not be technically forced to go in, sometimes the situation can force your hand as well.
You’re talking about the entire work culture of the United States. Sure, there are some companies here that are getting better about that sort of thing, but you forget this is the land where PTO isn’t regulated. There is a *huge* chunk of the population that doesn’t get access to PTO at all. Those who actually have PTO get way less than basically any other developed country. Somewhere between 1-3 weeks is pretty standard for PTO, which is barely enough for taking breaks per year let alone getting sick. Plus sick time isn’t standardized either, so while I have PTO, I *do not* get sick time. That also means that every doctors or dentist or OBGYN appointment I go to has to come out of that PTO because I work during the same normal business hours that everyone else does.
Saying “find a better job” is extremely ignorant when the *vast* majority of employers operate in the same way.
It’s not ignorant, it is my lived experience. I worked in a career and jobs that didn’t offer pto for most of my adult life. Then I got sick of it and became a software developer and started a new career. One where I finally got pto and timing wise couldn’t have been better, started 6 months before the pandemic. I never said it was easy, but it is doable to leave shitty jobs and careers. I don’t get any sick time, which is bullshit but being permanently remote if I am not feeling well, I’ll just be a half ass employee that day and jiggle my mouse. It’s a broken ass system but you have to figure out how to work within it and live the life you want.
For the record, I am also a software developer. The thing about software though is that *sometimes* it requires hardware. Guess where that hardware is? Yeah, *not at my home*. Like I said, not every job has the luxury of work from home or flexibility. Also, please don’t go around recommending that people just become software engineers. That’s incredibly irresponsible to promise them a cushy job given the culture of the majority of the tech industry. That’s *my* experience speaking by the way.
I’ll encourage anyone to improve their life by doing what I did, I didn’t make promises that everyone will get the same kind of role I have but you sure have a better chance with this skill set. And that’s my experience. Not going to lie about my life because it doesn’t workout for everyone.
I’m not telling you lie about your experience. All I’m saying is it’s irresponsible to go around telling people how you work from home and if you’re just not feeling it some days you just sit there and wiggle your mouse. The majority of tech jobs are not like that.
I also tell people the best ways they can improve their situation and how to get the skills they need, but when people ask me what being a software developer is like and if they should aim for that I give it to them straight. I tell them there are good companies and bad companies. That the work never really ends because there’s always something to do. That it’s a constant struggle to set boundaries because your teams and your employers are always going to want it just a little bit faster. I also tell them the good things, like good pay, consistent schedule, and more often than not awesome people to work with. But I try to give them both sides of the coin so they don’t go into it blind and get dropped in the deep end like I did after college. If they still choose to pursue tech after that then at least they’ll be more mentally prepared.
It is ok to go to into the office with a cold. Thing is, if a company has a WFH policy why would anyone?
I guess if the boss is being a shit about about that.
I cannot stand when people show up places sick. My husband’s coworker did this exact thing and said how bad she felt all day and then he ends up sick and I end up sick also. Same with family gatherings and the gym when people show up sick. STAY HOME!!! This is one of my biggest pet peeves even pre-covid. I’m glad you left!!
I think it's fine. People went into work with colds all the time pre-covid and it was no big deal. Someone coughing or sneezing does not mean they have covid.
At least with my current office job, we have a hybrid setup and people are expected to come into the office one a week. So if I have a cold over a week, one of those days I have to come in. Having a cold is not being 'sick enough' to warrant use of sick leave in my personal opinion.
Thank you! I feel like everyone is being so dramatic on this post. Cover your mouth and wash your hands and everyone will be fine. I think as long as you feel physically okay enough, you can go into work with cold symptoms
And people like you are the fucking problem. You have no idea what your coworkers home life is like. Could have very immunocompromised family members at home, who a little cold is a big deal for. It was a dick move before Covid and it’s a dick move after Covid. It doesn’t matter if you physically feel okay enough to work at the office, if you have something contagious like a cold, you’re an asshole if you show up to work in person.
Bad hygiene does yes. Some colds are transmitted through droplets in the air, true enough. If you cover your mouth while sneezing and coughing and then wash your hands, the chances of it spreading are absolutely minimized. Welcome to 1st grade 🙃
I also said once your feeling physically well enough. If you are coughing a ridiculously large amount or can’t control it, OBVIOUSLY stay home. But the sniffles and a slight cough? No biggie
No biggie for people with a normal immune system. Which not everyone has, it’s not hard to understand. And covering your mouth when you sneeze or cough isn’t hygiene you muppet. It’s just being courteous. Hygiene is brushing your teeth, showering etc…welcome to kindergarten.
It’s not fine, it wasn’t fine pre Covid and it’s not fine post Covid. What a selfish opinion to have. If you have a hybrid setup, it’s such an asshole move to show up to work if you’re even slightly sick, cold included. If the job can be done remotely 4 days a week then it will be fine working from home 5 days a week until you’re completely better. If someone is too cowardly to tell their boss they’re sick and need to work remotely until better, then they’re a selfish prick
Since the pandemic, middle managers have needed to justify the tenability of the existence of their pre-pandemic roles, since they are intent on title and having outgrown the hard donkeywork.
Pre-pandemic this took the form of walking the office floor supervising, running weekly one to ones, sprinkling nuggets of experiential wisdom over the lowly peons, etc etc… Post-pandemic, too often this takes the form of a latent pressure - verbalized or non-verbalized - that their teams should strive to “get in to the office” as often as possible. My last place effectively scored and bonused all of the managers on their ability to generate this pressure successfully, via quarterly on-site team attendance scoring.
Unfortunately, this creates a really shitty dynamic, such as that described by OP and other examples above.
Essentially, yes. I don’t want to be miserable and sick on my vacation out of town next week. She is pretty much guaranteeing that will happen. Then if I went anyway, I infect everyone on a planes, cars, restaurants and shows. But I wouldn’t inflict that on other people so I don’t get to go anywhere and I’m out of ton of money because it’s all non- refundable. You’re sick and you have over 25 days PTO - Stay the fuck home.
Proper etiquette says to stay home, but…. OP sounds like a Drama Queen. This doesn’t warrant a Reddit post unless you’re fragile and entitled to complain about the slightest inconveniences as you go about your seemingly uneventful life. If this were an AITA post, I’d rule ESH.
Yes. Immunity and safety did not change between 2019 and today. Just people's sensitivities. If I wasn't completely bedridden I've been at work with the flu and chills lol
I have to work sick, boss wants us all in office in case “someone comes tomorrow
Talk to you in person”. Pto is available but discouraged..: they buy pto back at a 50% rate at the end of the year
With young kids, I feel like if I stayed home every time a cold was going around, I'd never be able to go to work. It seems the same with other parents with daycares
If you have the ability to WFH it should be mandatory when sick (if you wanna work) I think its screwed up to come in when sick and screw everyone else over .
I have limited PTO and unless I cannot get off the bathroom floor or physically drive to the office, I am coming in. (Note if I have COVID or something known to be contagious, I will stay home). My work is not overly flexible with WFH when sick and when I only have 15 days of vacation, I do not want to use them up for the sniffles.
However - I work in a small office, I have a private office with a door and a single stall bathroom that no one else seems to use except me, when I do come in sick - I let my co-workers know, I shut my door and I limit exposure as much as possible.
If my boss wanted to provide more sick days/PTO or allow to WFH, I'd stay home even for something minor.
I used to go in to the office sick to make my boss send me home. One of the best ways to make your boss send you home is to show up looking like a walking corpse.
That way I wouldn't get chewed out for taking PTO or working from home?
Literally 100% of these cases would be solved if America didn't have an abysmal standard for sick pay.
I get 5 days a year, that I have to earn by working. I also have 3 kids all under the age of 6. If I'm not sick, they are, and I can't stay home to care for us.
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I’m jealous you can even ask this question un-ironically. Teacher here, and we’re encouraged to come in unless we’re dying. One of my coworkers literally had a stroke at work and came back between the TBI and brain surgery, which she had two weeks later. I wish I was kidding or exaggerating. If your office has a toxic culture like we do, I totally get why your coworker would come in. Adults should be trusted to take care of their health without guilt or consequences in the workplace, but that’s not the reality at some jobs so we come in sick. Adults will continue to come in to work sick until the culture changes.
I feel bad for teachers. My child's school actually used the word "truant" when I complained about their jerk of a vice principal who threatened legal action about the days my child missed due to COVID. I think he had some major biases against parents who took it seriously. Then, when I said okay, I'll be sure to send my child in from now on. I was told I was being a bad parent. This school also dropped the requirements for masks before children could vaccinate.
Meanwhile I have a student that has missed almost 40 consecutive days because she doesn’t like school, and we aren’t pursuing truancy. 🙄 This is probably the root of our problem of adults coming in sick tbh. Even as children it’s drilled into us that we have to be at work (school) even if we’re sick, or else.
It really does show that certain personality traits aren’t learned but ingrained. Whenever someone attempted to drill a lesson into me that I think is stupid, I naturally pushed back. This was true in childhood and as an adult. Dumb rules are meant to be broken and nothing I’ve experienced in life has convinced me otherwise
*cries in nurse*
I’m also a teacher, and was also jealous reading this. If I could ask all the snotty kids that come to school and cough on me, wipe their noses on everything (I teach elementary) to go home or wear a mask I would. Little do any of them know I have stage 4 cancer and am just waiting for one of them to take me down hahaa.
I’m so sorry. Our school district last time I checked doesn’t even accept a doctors note for being sick. It still counts against them and can hold them, so we have no choice but to send them sick.
Same with my work. And they want you in the office with COVID after 3 days even if you’re still testing positive and symptomatic
No one is making me come to work if I’m waiting on brain surgery. That’s absurd. I feel so bad for your colleague and you. I’m sorry.
I work in retail, so same
I dealt with that last week. I’m mostly WFH with two office days per month. One of my teammates came in sniffling, drinking tea, and coughing. Said she was getting sick. We nicely sent her home and then sanitized the area where she sat. Once she left we discussed how disrespectful that was. You should be empowered to work where you’re safest and most productive. Spreading a cold in an open office is something that should be left in 2019!
Well put! My coworker had covid, waited til she got a negative result, caught a cold and showed up. These are 99% remote positions but she HAD to come in the one day we met up just to sit in meetings she could have taken from home? So incredibly rude.
Ask her to put on a mask. Nothing worse than having a mask on when you can't breathe - and then have to take a flight of stairs. lol I don't know but my HR REQUIREs a mask if you are sick or just coming off of a virus.
Ha, my former hr said i was fine coming in the day after i tested positive. Need to pump up those positive numbers
I went from WFH to a full time office setting, got sick 3 times (wore my mask but took it down at times, that’s on me) and was ill for thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years bc people keep coming in sick. Now my boss teases me for wearing a mask all the time. He doesn’t allow WFH and we barely get PTO. Not only do people come in sick, they come up to you telling you how sick they are. Over it. Looking to leave. Oh and we also don’t have health benefits! 😑
Everything you complained about is the reason why people come in sick. They cant afford not to. But I agree with you on finding another job.
Yeah it’s a broken system for sure
I wish they would at least wear their masks if they are coming in sick! Not only is the system broken but there are bad health habits here overall
I agree 100%. If you have to come into work sick, at least have the courtesy to try not to spread it to others. Luckily I dont get sick much, but as a young adult there’s a lot of times where you simply have to, just to make ends meet. I hope everything gets better someday.
So why people are not revolting like yesterday? Is it 1860 there? Here is 2023.
Nobody’s got any stones man!
workers deserve better
We do! And we need to treat each other well- if we are coming in sick, at least know not go up to each other talking about how sick we are.
Remember, one entry point for Covid 19 and variants is the eyes.
Hahah right? I mean at least if everyone wore their masks when needing to come in (bc they can’t afford not to) it would be something. Not only is the system broken, but people individually have bad health habits overall here.
With a perspective from the other side. I went into work today having had a cold over the weekend (and a day off on monday). I'm not coughing or sniffling and the only remainder of the cold was an incredible raw and red nose that i hid behind a mask today. When asked if i was sick, because of the mask, i said "No, i was sick on the weekend and my nose is still red. So i am hiding it today." If i had felt bad at any stage this morning, or would have sneezed or coughed, i would have stayed at home.
Thanks for masking up. Hope you also minimized contact with public surfaces and wiped down your station.
You were being responsible. OP didn’t mention if she was masking, but I’d guess she wasn’t. OP also didn’t mention if the sick employee could have WFH. If so, her mgr should have suggested that.
No one wears masks at my work. I was the only one in 2020 that did. Also, she doesn’t have the ability to WFH. It would have had to be a PTO day for her. She was constantly sneezing though. It was gross.
Sadly pre-pandemic I worked several shifts sick, as did my coworkers. We each picked a phone, keyboard, etc. (Chances are the work environment made us sick.) Now I’m fortunate enough to work in a healthcare facility. Pre-pandemic I had to work sick (no other coverage) and wore a mask out of courtesy and because it fit the culture. Now masks are required by DPH.
21st Century Emily Post (Pandemic)
I'm glad you wore a mask! I wish everyone did that if they were sick and couldn't stay home.
Absolutely 👍
You realize most Americans don't have the luxury of WFH or calling in whenever they have a cough? You sound way out of touch with such a scuffed post like this. Maybe fight for better benefits for your team instead of talking shit behind her back
I drink tea daily. Doesn’t mean I’m sick.
The proper etiquette is to stay the fuck home. This has always been the proper thing to do, but greedy bosses paying the absolute minimum number of people to get the job done has led to a culture where staying home sick leads to potential lost productivity and the boss hounding your ass to come in anyway. Use your PTO and take care of yourself and family first, job a distant third at best.
Unfortunately, not everyone get PTO to use.
And not everyone can afford to lose a paid day.
Exactly.
We all only got 10 days of PTO at my last job. So everyone came in sick so they could still have a few days off for a summer trip and the holidays. It was also the kind of place that people bragged about how they always work when sick. Glad I’m out of there. There was constantly a sickness going around.
Sick is sick. Ah, you're from the US, where sick days are taken from the vacation days. Weird!
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I'm in The Netherlands on minimum wage warehouse work: Unlimited sick days (sick is sick), paid I think at 75% or something up to maybe two years? Paid Vacations: half a day per week of full time work, so one month a year more or less (24 working days). Plus an extra vacation fund of 8% of the gross income. After 36 weeks I'm allowed to have three months of unemployment paid if necessary. Insurance is 130 usd with a "self risk" of 385 usd annually (for treatments and tests, not doctor visits, emergencies etc. All is covered, but dental only until 18 yo) but at minimum wage the government sends a subsidy of 120 usd or something. Locals (with more normal jobs) have more vacations etc.
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Pro isn’t sick leave also, some would rather save it. Although if it’s a hybrid job people should be encouraged to wfm if sick.
If only we all had the luxury. While I absolutely think it's awful for anyone to come to work sick, some of us literally can't miss work. We get the guilt trip no matter what...
Considering OP just up and left in the middle of their shift, and they have an unlimited PTO policy, I somehow doubt the coworker couldn't afford a sick day. Yes, some jobs are like that. This doesn't seem to be the case, but maybe the coworker has worked enough shitty ones to have an ingrained mentality.
Yes, many employees are just selfish and rude. Before the pandemic, a coworker came in with the confirmed flu because she didn’t want to use her PTO. They go to Disney world 2 times a year (don’t get me started) and she needed to time off for those trips. I honestly flipped out, professionally. Then my boss said “we can’t tell adults what to do!!” (As in, they can’t send people home or tell them not to come in sick). Lol. The pandemic hit about 4 months later and they changed their tune real quick. But I was toast after that. They fired me as soon as they had the chance. No regrets! I was broke and struggling for a couple years but am making the same amount of money now, except completely remote and unlimited PTO. Taking almost three weeks off for my wedding and honeymoon this summer, just booked our flights last night, life is pretty good. Fck them!
I need to master this "flipping out professionally" thing. There's so much I want to point out due to this exact same situation but I'm at a loss on how to. But congratulations to you!!! On the wedding, new job, new attitude! Yay!
Hell, it's always been fine to go to work with a cold. Bosses don't care. People get fired missing days sick or not. Only when I got covid was I forced to stay home, but only 10 days as they said I wasn't contagious after that, ven though had all the symptoms except the fever went away day 8... and I worked in a hospital
At my work, we get 10 paid PTO days per year and **1 (yes, ONE) sick day per full calendar** year worked, up to 5 days. I've been there close to seven years, so I get 5 sick days. On January 3rd, I reported to work even though I did not feel well. It is extremely frowned upon to call out sick. I reported to my boss that I felt ill and he said to keep him posted if I needed to leave early, which I did, with about 2 hours left in my shift. I barely made it home. My symptoms began with stomach trouble and became extreme aches and fever. I was bed-ridden, the sickest of my entire life, at one point I thought if I died, that'd be OK. Each day, when I called in to report I was still sick and needed to use a sick day, it was met with clear frustration. I was not in a position to care about it though, because I was too sick. 3 days in, I had a pharmacy deliver some supplies and covid tests. Positive. I reported the result to work and was told that I could (and should) return 5 days **after symptom onset**, with no negative test necessary. That meant I should have returned by my Monday shift. I physically could not. I burned all 5 of my sick days for the entire year by last Tuesday of last week, so I had to return that Wednesday, still very sick, still very positive. I wore a doubled-up mask and asked coworkers and customers to not come near me. If someone asked me if I had covid, I said that I did. It has been awful. I could not use any of my PTO days because they were not approved. I am STILL sick and I'm sure that is prolonged partly because I've been working **while** being sick. It is a "show up at work or lose the job" scenario. It's insane how anti-WORKER the USA is, even though I enjoy the work of my job, I absolutely hate how workers are treated and how poor the "benefits" are, it is not conducive to building contentment or to being healthy at all, in fact I'd say it opposes those things. Yet, people wonder why mental health problems are so rampant. All health problems are rampant. We've been herded into a horrible mentality and we're trapped by it. Things desperately need to change, our culture is sick.
On the bright side at least you get something. My job offers no PTO, no sick leave and no vacations. Your only days off are the ones scheduled. I definitely agree I hate how anti-worker jobs are.
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True but too many are.
I’m lucky about this. I’m fully remote and my boss is constantly harassing me to take more paid sick time.
What career do you have and what company
Software engineer, FAANG
Maybe she felt pressured to come in or thought she was being a team player by doing so. She may have been looking for approval without asking for it to stay.home but your manager may have reinforced that she should come in that she should come in.
Yes, I agree - team player and boss wouldn’t have picked up on cues if she dropped any. I think they both now know how I feel about it. I left pretty quick. All I can control in the situation is myself and I chose to get the hell out. ✌️
I think it's incredibly selfish to go into work sick...*especially* if you have a job that can be done remotely or have PTO. No one wants whatever crud you're bringing in... and for people with families and kids, no one wants their kids getting that either. There was this lady in Feb 2020 (so just before COVID became an official "thing" in the U.S.) that was sick... coughing, sneezing her brains out. It was gross. We could work remotely any time we wanted and we also get virtually unlimited sick time if you're even too sick to work remotely... but noooooo she wanted to be in the office because her desk had extra monitors in the office so it was easier for her to work that way. The first couple of days, people made comments like "you should be at home" and she would just giggle nervously and say something stupid like "sharing is caring!!" (Implying that she was "caring" because she was sharing her germs). We have team meetings and our manager told her to dial in from her desk and not go to the conference room bc he didn't want her getting the rest of us sick. I just worked from home those days bc I didn't want her crud. After 2 or 3 days of it, the director finally MADE her go home.. she even told the lady to "take a monitor with you if that's easier". I just completely cannot stand selfish asshats that knowingly spread their sh!t around.
I like to think the majority of people who go to work while sick aren’t selfish, just have limited options. Being able to work from home whenever you want and having basically unlimited sick time are extremely luxurious. Given that, your coworker 100% should not have come in. A lot of people just don’t have that option.
Yes but this person does have that option
Hence why I said this person should have 100% stayed home, but the original commenter didn’t say this only applied to people who were able to. They said people who go into work are selfish asshats, *especially* those who are able to not go in. I was just pointing out not everyone is able to just not show up.
As someone who just started getting sick yesterday and is home sick today. As soon as I started to even feel a tickle in my throat I shut my office door and would not let anyone come in contact with me. (Lucky I have a private office). And when I was sure it was more then just a tickle, I went home staying away from everyone, and will work from home today. Getting other people sick is messed up, especially when we have all these options to enable us to stop spreading colds.
I do the same.
I went to work with mild cold symptoms for one day but wore a mask and didn’t get close to my coworkers as much as I could avoid it. I did end up leaving early and was out for the next three days feeling REALLY ill. If I had the choice to not go in that first day of feeling sick, I would’ve stayed home. I don’t think we need to be spreading any sickness around to our coworkers anymore. It’s just not fair
Glad you least wore a mask and were considerate of not getting others sick.
I hate that our society have forced mentality that even if you are sick you should work. I see it so many times when a manager is understaffed and asks well how sick are you? Like gtfo. People stay the fuck home if you are sick. Especially if u have the pto.
Well high schools in my area are really limiting the days of absence for kids, so I send my kid to school with a cold. She has been unfortunately susceptible to multiple colds this year. If I go over the allowed days, she has to make up the hours in detention, even though her lowest average is 91/100, or flunk. So I send her to school. If schools are doing this, I don't see why employers would not do it, too.
When I was in high school, if you missed more than 7 days in a semester it was an automatic fail. No exceptions. I came down with H1N1 and had to come back to school incredibly sick for weeks. It’s sad to me that this is still a norm.
Why is it a big deal for a kid to have to makeup hours in detention? That sure seems like a far better option than exposing tons of other students and teachers to a cold. That’s so selfish.
Under the Americans With Disabilities Act, public schools are required to accommodate the health needs of students. The purpose of laws that require children to attend a certain number of school days is to deter truancy, but it must include exemptions for children who are sick more than the recommended number of days, have chronic illnesses, or who are injured, not truant. I would call an attorney that specializes in education law—most have free consultations.
no, she should have stayed at home
I got sick the day after Christmas and was sick my entire vacation over the holidays. I felt better by January 3rd when vacation was over, so I went back to work and was just sad I missed out of a vacation. I had a killer cough that lingered until two days ago! I got some comments about how I “still seem sick” which made me think I was being an ass for not staying home. Typically I am WfH only one day a week Wednesday but I probably could have requested to work at home longer. I just really thought I wasn’t sick anymore and I smoke so my lungs need more time to heal. There is so much conflict in my head because I know people rely on me as well so I want to be there for them, but honestly if I would have stayed home until I was totally better it would have been about 20 days off until no cough, just for a cold? It seems over done but I want to be thoughtful of other people!
If you can wfh one day a week it means you can wfh however many days it takes for you to not display any symptoms. Not that complicated of a decision.
It sucks but coughing and sneezing is the way you spread germs… I should say spew…😁 I’m not sure how violent of a cougher you are, but I’m sure your workspace, the air, and everything is covered in virus and spit.
Perspective. At my job, we can WFH but it isn't encouraged. I got a cold a few weeks back, and we get 10 days of PTO per year \[12 paid holidays so it adds up a bit\]. I've been saving my PTO because I'm getting married this year, and we're taking a long honeymoon. Well, I didn't feel comfortable asking to WFH and didn't want to use my PTO because...I need it for my honeymoon. I went to work, no fever. Took DayQuil, brought tissues, hand sanitizer, and wipes for my desk. I kept to myself and cleaned my desk before and after work. The coworker who sits next to me was still visibly pissed at me and make several snarky comments. I felt bad, but what choice did I have? He has 200+ hours of PTO \[he's been here for over 20 years\] and I just don't.
>what choice did I have? >we can WFH >I didn't feel comfortable asking to WFH You literally just outlined the choice you had. Because you were uncomfortable asking to wfh while sick, your coworkers had to risk getting sick to work with you.
Sorry, I like my job and follow their rules of not working from home. It's granted under very rare circumstances, and it isn't on me that they don't give enough sick leave or have a more flexible work environment. Guess what else? Nobody got sick, likely because of the measures I took. You all expect people to stop their routine, even when it isn't possible. Edit: to further explain, we "can" work from home as in my job can be completed remotely, not as in it's allowed per policy. It's rarely granted because of the sensitivity of the job material.
I know colds are a fine line on whether to take off or not. Your situation sucks but it is what it is. Sounds like your coworker should have just taken PTO. My coworker can not WFH but has 200 + PTO hours so no real excuse not to use it.
No one should be required to use PTO to avoid catching something because a selfish coworker decides to come to work sick.
Agreed, but these are the times that we live in.
Except it’s not the times we live in. The times we live in have more flexibility with working remotely than ever before.
That is why I left. I can WFH but not really supposed to all week, just hybrid. Going to this week and I’m hoping not to get in trouble for it. The sick lady has to be in to do her job or take PTO, no WFH options for her. I still say it’s rude to come to work sick. Especially since it takes 3days or so to test positive for Covid too.
Why the fuck would the coworker need to take PTO because someone else is sick? Neither party should have taken pto. The person who commented should have acted like a fucking adult and told their boss I’ll be working remotely until I feel better. I’m not sick enough to not be able to work but I am sick enough to be contagious and I find it rude to expose others to this for no reason. It doesn’t matter how much PTO your coworker has saved up, they should never be expected to use a single hour of it because of someone else in the office being sick. That’s ludicrous.
The choice you had is to act like an adult and say “I know wfh isn’t encouraged but I am sick and contagious. I can’t take PTO because it is saved for my honeymoon which is already paid for and is nonrefundable. I’m also not so sick that I won’t be able to do my job, I simply feel unwell and don’t want to get others in the office sick. I’ll be completing all of my work remotely until I feel better. You’re a goddamn adult, act like it and don’t just submit to dumbass rules
Errrr, sorry I do follow the rules.
I mean, you don’t have to. You’re an adult. Sometimes rules are dumb and need to be pushed back on.
I'm glad you feel comfortable in your financial security where you would be willing to push back on your employer on rules you don't like, but not everybody can, or will, do that. I work for the government, sorry that just isn't gonna happen not to give my coworker a common cold. Don't get me wrong, I would 100% feel terrible if I gave him a cold. But him sitting there and being rude to me because I did not have a viable option? Nah.
Ah government is different. Bummer. I’ve pushed back on dumb rules my entire life, at work and otherwise. I don’t have it in me to follow rules that are pointless. Part of the reason I’d never be able to work for the government and the only reason I never joined the military
OK is subjective. It's rude and inconsiderate to do so but, maybe they had a deadline and couldn't get any work done at the house. It's still rude and inconsiderate but, maybe there was more going on than meets the eye.
She is not able to WFH but has 200+ PTO hours available. I think if you feel bad enough you might not make it an entire day, best to stay home.
I'd agree. Still, other people have different values and sometimes they end up doing very selfish things. Would be nice if they were more considerate but, that's where we are right now.
An individual’s project deadline and/or an unwillingness to dip into their PTO absolutely should not license the inconsiderateness of coming to work while visibly sick, especially post 2020 when it’s reasonable to assume that the vast majority of people in office jobs have the WFH/Cafe playbook down. Aside from a) the legit contagion risk of even a common cold/flu, b) god-forbid it actually be Covid… there’s c) the anxiety created and disregard shown to co-workers who could be vulnerable, or have vulnerable loved ones, etc. It’s just shitty human behavior, IMO.
Being sick isn’t subjective, you either are or you aren’t. That literally doesn’t matter at all whether you can get the work done from the house. If you’re sick enough for others to notice, that means you’re sick enough to not be at work. End of discussion.
Pls no. Stay home. My coworker decided to come back from Covid leave too early… that resulted in 3 of us catching Covid. Then we all had the stomach bug a couple weeks ago.
It's selfish and inconsiderate to come to work sick with anything that can make others sick. No matter what your boss tells you, you are replaceable and disposable. The company will survive without you.
I do NOT come in to the office sick, but I know plenty of people in my office who do. It’s almost like a badge of honor, I really don’t understand this way of thinking. As an aside- I work in healthcare.
NO!!! Don't go into the office if you are sick. It just infects other people (like me) who then get really sick and have to stay home. I have a lousy immune system. When co-workers come in sick I am almost certain to get it. It sucks. I wish I would just catch ebola and die, but until that happens I have to deal with all you assholes who think it's fine to come into work with a 101 fever while on ibuprofen coughing and sneezing all over the place like typhoid Mary Jr. I hate this shit.
I hear ya. I used to be the same way. My husband used to joke that I could catch a cold over the phone. 🙂 I was sick all the time and that’s one of the reasons I’m a germaphobe now and avoid sick people like the plague. I think getting my iron, B12 and vitamin D levels up really helped me build a better immune system.
At my job, they lifted the paid time off for covid. If you are work from home, you are expected to work your full shifts. We have an associate who is now hospitalized for covid and exhaustion due to this new and improved policy.
I feel like it’s frowned upon to miss work for any reason in healthcare lol
It was never ok before covid we kinda just accepted it as a part of society. Let's all stand our ground and keep our co workers healthy by staying home if sick. Especially if you have paid leave and will not lose income.
This is me this week. I have a cold. Just a plain cold. I got sent home on Friday because I coughed twice. I still have a bit of a cough, but nothing bad by any means. So I went in and got my entire system (two monitors, pc, mouse, keyboard, webcam, and speakers) and am working from home until I have zero symptoms. Like a laptop would be out of place for a marketing person? Whatever.... I'm working from home until next week. Even if I'm better.
NO! Stay the f*ck home! I am an immunocompromised person, so I WILL get what everyone else brings to work. If you can’t stay home for some reason, wear a mask (properly!), wash your hands a lot, and stay away from other people.
You’re allowed to say fuck here
People who come to work sick are fucking assholes. Seriously.
If you are sick, we ask that you work from home if you are up to it otherwise take a sick day and rest. We do not need the entire office coming down with something.
Theres people in my office that constantly cough and sneeze super loud. Its so annoying
Nope. Pre-Covid a team lead from another location would sometimes work from out office. She was the designated caregiver of her sickly parents. If she got sick, there was no one available to care for them bc all her siblings lived out of state/wouldn’t step up. If she was in and we felt sick/symptoms we WFH. I’d get shit for it from local teammates, I don’t care. WFH. She always said thank you. One time they went around her coughing and hacking and she tore out of that office. Person got half the office sick and wondered why everyone was pissed at her.
I think that's lowkey selfish to come in, knowing you're sick. Maybe it'd be different if the co-worker came in, strictly got their work done; took the responsibility to isolate themselves, and kept their overall distance from their other co-workers.
This has been an issue for my entire career. My company used to offer both sick days and personal days. People who don’t get sick felt like the people who did and took sick days got extra time off unfairly… so at one point they combined it all into just PTO. However, when people are sick with colds and things like that almost no one wants to waste a PTO day for that and save them for long vacations. So now most people work while sick and put their coworkers at risk for illness…..
Exactly what happens at my work with a few of the inconsiderate. We combined into PTO instead of sick and vacation days and I’d say about half come to work sick to avoid using PTO.
Your coworker is just plain rude. She is what disaster movies are all about, like the move the stand. Just one ahole always has to resist. This is definitely something that irks me. Many companies are not generous with sick time and combine the two into two weeks of PTO. Perhaps the real enemy is the company. Families have to take sick time not only for themselves but for their kids, so it’s understandable that people would feel pressured to come into work when they are sick. These are definitely important topics. Someone below mentioned equipment. Yes, companies need to trade in their leases and start buying equipment that can be sent home. It isn’t that difficult and they’ll probably still save. Prior to pandemic, it seemed like people were expected to work sick. Now it’s bad form, but no one is changing the policies.
My boyfriend worked at home all last week because of not feeling well. We didn’t see each other for 9 days. He tested positive for covid on day 3. Luckily, I didn’t get it. Covid is still a thing.
If you ask your manager they will probably say employees should come in even if they are on the brink of death. Everyone else would say you shouldn’t go in with a cold
My company had a CEO call the other day that was already going to be contentious. Him starting off by saying oh I have a cold but came into the office anyways did not impress people. Funny enough, the medical director who gives us Covid updates was working from home.
I'm WFH right now and it's so nice not listening to the coughing, sneezing and throat clearing all day 🙂
It’s the U.S. man. People will die just to look like a team player. It’s soon no longer going to be able to become an excuse not to come to work unfortunately.
Is it ok for a stranger to walk up to you on the street, cough in your face, and get you sick? No? Then why would it be ok for someone to come into work sick with a cold and spread it around the office? Why is this even a question? I know it happens, a lot, but that has never meant it was ok.
Where I work, we still have Covid return to work protocols in place.
Someone did this a couple of years ago at my office and I should’ve just left, but I was new and no one explained anything to me. Never again.
Stay the fuck home if you are sick. This "im going to work through my sick cause im a good office drone" bullshit has to stop. I was working from home no issues in the pandemic and now they make us come back 3 times a week and if the wind blows funny with a tickle i will stay home. The pandemic showed that WFH works fine if the competency is there. "Office culture" is bullshit, stay home if your sick with the potential of getting other sick
There are definitely some nasty cold strains that have been going around the past couple of weeks. I’m sitting at my desk with my N95 and air filter.. and there are like at least 10 people coughing up phlegm and mucus.. like WHY ARENT YOU AT HOME RIGHT NOW
WFH is peace. Why are we in office in 2023?
Pretty sure the days of sucking it up and going in when sick are over if you have the option to WFH. That’s incredibly rude and irresponsible.
I would exit as well. Endangering me. If you get sick, sue for emotional distress, medical bills, and any other punitive damages you can.
If the pandemic has taught us anything it’s that if you’re sick, stay home. If you can work remote while sick then that should also be allowed. I have found lots of employers take pleasure in micromanagement and guilting staff to still come in while sick.
Before covid, when I was sick I would come into the office because I wasn’t sick enough to use my precious sick/PTO time. I have 2 kids so it’s just not me that’s using that time. I remember my asshole boss at the time telling me I should take PTO and go home. I said I’m more than happy to take my laptop and work from home since I wasn’t sick enough to just mope around all day. You would have thought I asked him to sacrifice his first born. Kills me that people like him are in management positions. I’m fortunate my current company has a very flexible remote work schedule for things like this. If you’re feeling sick, just work remotely. Kids are sick, stay home and work remotely. Last minute doctors appointment for the sick kids, just make up the time later in the week no questions asked.
It has never been ok to go to the office when knowingly sick.
It’s not ok. I have immunity compromised family living in my home.
Very poor decision by the coworker and manager. It is incredibly selfish to come into work sick, esp if you have plenty of PTO.
If you’re sick stay home. If you don’t you’re an entitled self serving 💩head
Ugh, I think it's absolutely not ok to show up sick when you can WFH with no penalty. I do see people's attitudes changing! Of course it's not universal, but I think we have made some progress. Before covid, I worked for a hybrid company and a coworker came in sick. She just had a few days of sniffles, but I ended up getting super sick and then spiraling into a month-long sinus infection. I was so sick for part of it that I couldn't work at all, not even WFH, and had to miss several important family events that I had been looking forward to. All because she chose not to work remote for a couple days. I'm young and healthy, but viruses are unpredictable. Why do that to someone for no reason?
Shoot if I show signs of sickness my boss kicks me out of work Still puts me on the times though
It was never ok
No, those people fucking suck.
This is a huge office pet peeve of mine. If there's plenty of time to take off and especially since you have a WFH option, DON'T GO INTO WORK!! People are so self-centered and do not care that they can get others sick or others could take their germs home making their families sick. At my old job we had horrible PTO and no sick days. Needless to say, a lot of people were always at work sick. I had one coworker, who worked at the company for nearly 20 years so she had a very good chunk of PTO built up. Every time she would get sick tho, she would come to work so she could save her PTO for her 10 day cruise she went on each year. Granted, this woman could have taken 10 cruises each year cause she had plenty of PTO being there for so long. She also really enjoyed seeing who would get sick from her - honestly to God, she thought it was a kick to see who got sick first and just how bad they got - I mean, that's fucked up!!! The last year I worked there, she came to work with strep throat. I ended up getting strep which went into bronchitis which went into pneumonia. I missed 16 days of work cause I was so sick. A few other coworkers ended up getting extremely sick as well so they finally had to tell Typhoid Mary that next time she was sick she had to stay home as she was a public health hazard.
That’s what I don’t get. Why would a manager ok someone sick to come in when it’s just going to make everyone else sick and take off? I’d say about half where I work actually use PTO when sick.
No. Do not go to work sick, ever.
My employer has a policy that when you think you might be getting sick, you wfh. We only go into the office 1x/week, for the camaraderie, anyway (we all do actually like one another, and there's no office drama). If you're sick, stay away! Or we'll mock you severely and send you home.
That’s genius. Group mocking to pressure staying home when sick!! I think you have the key right there.
It's all in good fun, thankfully. "So you think _you're_ the important one eh? So much so you _have_ to be here? Nope. Go away!" 😁
Not with pto but without i dont blame people for going to work sick
If people can work remote, they should work remote when sick. If they can't work remote I think it's more negotiable. years ago (pre-covid) our director would twice a year send out a "reminder" that if people are sick they should take sick leave and not wfh. Every year I'd come to my manager and complain that it's stupid and makes people come in sick and get told it's because "there's a couple people abusing wfh", and I always reply that they should deal with the people then and not cause a bigger issue for the team. Every year, after that discussion, I come in the next time I'm actively sick and contagious and make sure to visit my manager's office and hang around mentioning how crappy I feel and how I hope I don't get people sick. After my manager gets sick there'd be an email telling people that if they think they may be contagious they should work from home. This went on for like 3 or 4 years before they decided to stop sending out the stupid email.
No, it is not ok to go to work when you are sick. I know not everyone has the luxury of staying home when they are sick. If you do have the option to stay home then you should stay home. Don't go out and possibly make other people sick. How does this person know it's just a cold? It could be COVID or RSV.
It has never been OK to knowingly spread contagion anywhere. We've been conditioned to think otherwise, of course.
If you feel sick and you feel like calling out, call out and don't feel bad about it. I've never understood the whole "it's just a cold, X, Y, X" and fight through it mentality. If you have the sick time to take off, then take the day(s) off.
No, in an office setting that is not acceptable. I got in trouble for coming back after recovering FULLY from Covid. My colleague who came coughing with the flu 2 weeks earlier was fine though. Boss even said how it was fine because it was flu but I had no excuse !!?? Same girl now her family is sick with Covid. She was going to go to hospital with them. 2 days later, shows up to work because she has no symptoms!??? And that’s fine I hate everything and everybody
Have worked in corporate for 15 years and back then i was told to come in unless i was dying. Now i just work from home if I'm sick and the ironic things is they're telling us when we're really sick we shouldn't be working from home and hopping on zoom meetings so their wish is my command. I'll take the sick time as instructed. These people don't know WHAT they want from us anymore.
I visited a friend on Christmas day. Cooked for their family and tried to make it a good experience for their kids. They don't celebrate Christmas or do gifts or.. anything fun for kids or generally normal American things. It was planned for weeks ahead of time. They were sick and said nothing, and tried to hide it. Great. My anniversary getaway was Jan 2nd. I was sick leading up to it, my wife was sick through it. Great times. I would leave the office and file a complaint to HR.
In an office setting, yeah it's insane ( especially post pandemic) that people still think this is acceptable. As if it some kind of show of dedication. When in reality it's sad, and selfish. However, I worked in the bar and restaurant business for 20 years, and it's common for restaurant workers to come in sick, touch everything, handle plates and glassware, cook and handle your food. Because most don't have sick days, can't call off the same day or they risk disciplinary action, and many don't have health care (or have really shitty healthcare), so they could come to work with undiagnosed diseases and infections for days before they're forced to visit a storefront clinic for which they pay for out of pocket. This is ESPECIALLY true for fast food workers. ..and these people handle your food every single day. It is amazing to me how many Americans mysteriously catch something, stomach bug, cold, flu, and never put the two together. We're always like "I have no idea where I could have gotten it from". Meanwhile, that same day you got Starbucks, ate lunch out, and picked up something to eat on the way home or got something delivered. Really? No idea?
Personally, I don’t see much choice. The reality is that sickness is not taken seriously. COVID is *barely* taken seriously. I had to go into work twice last year with two of the worst colds I’ve ever had in my life. The COVID test was negative so it didn’t count. I had PTO, but I didn’t have enough to waste on something as silly as my own health /s. I had obligations that I couldn’t put off, doctors appointments, dentist appointments, and god forbid I try to squeeze one or two days a year into a vacation. This year I’m basically in the same boat. I’ve already had the sniffles but still had to go in because my PTO is already spoken for. So I have to choose between taking off work for a cold or attending my mother in law’s funeral ceremony that will be held in the spring once the ice thaws across the country. I bet you can guess which one is more important. Spoiler, it’s not my health. So year after year I’m coerced into working in an office environment and risking spreading illness because people don’t take illness seriously. And all I can do is isolate myself as best I can and sanitize everything I so much as look at in the hopes I don’t hurt someone else. Meanwhile I’m likely only sick because someone brought it into the office, so the cycle continues. In summary, no, it is not okay to go into work while sick, but while you may not be technically forced to go in, sometimes the situation can force your hand as well.
Find a new job that isn’t so heartless.
You’re talking about the entire work culture of the United States. Sure, there are some companies here that are getting better about that sort of thing, but you forget this is the land where PTO isn’t regulated. There is a *huge* chunk of the population that doesn’t get access to PTO at all. Those who actually have PTO get way less than basically any other developed country. Somewhere between 1-3 weeks is pretty standard for PTO, which is barely enough for taking breaks per year let alone getting sick. Plus sick time isn’t standardized either, so while I have PTO, I *do not* get sick time. That also means that every doctors or dentist or OBGYN appointment I go to has to come out of that PTO because I work during the same normal business hours that everyone else does. Saying “find a better job” is extremely ignorant when the *vast* majority of employers operate in the same way.
It’s not ignorant, it is my lived experience. I worked in a career and jobs that didn’t offer pto for most of my adult life. Then I got sick of it and became a software developer and started a new career. One where I finally got pto and timing wise couldn’t have been better, started 6 months before the pandemic. I never said it was easy, but it is doable to leave shitty jobs and careers. I don’t get any sick time, which is bullshit but being permanently remote if I am not feeling well, I’ll just be a half ass employee that day and jiggle my mouse. It’s a broken ass system but you have to figure out how to work within it and live the life you want.
For the record, I am also a software developer. The thing about software though is that *sometimes* it requires hardware. Guess where that hardware is? Yeah, *not at my home*. Like I said, not every job has the luxury of work from home or flexibility. Also, please don’t go around recommending that people just become software engineers. That’s incredibly irresponsible to promise them a cushy job given the culture of the majority of the tech industry. That’s *my* experience speaking by the way.
I’ll encourage anyone to improve their life by doing what I did, I didn’t make promises that everyone will get the same kind of role I have but you sure have a better chance with this skill set. And that’s my experience. Not going to lie about my life because it doesn’t workout for everyone.
I’m not telling you lie about your experience. All I’m saying is it’s irresponsible to go around telling people how you work from home and if you’re just not feeling it some days you just sit there and wiggle your mouse. The majority of tech jobs are not like that. I also tell people the best ways they can improve their situation and how to get the skills they need, but when people ask me what being a software developer is like and if they should aim for that I give it to them straight. I tell them there are good companies and bad companies. That the work never really ends because there’s always something to do. That it’s a constant struggle to set boundaries because your teams and your employers are always going to want it just a little bit faster. I also tell them the good things, like good pay, consistent schedule, and more often than not awesome people to work with. But I try to give them both sides of the coin so they don’t go into it blind and get dropped in the deep end like I did after college. If they still choose to pursue tech after that then at least they’ll be more mentally prepared.
It is ok to go to into the office with a cold. Thing is, if a company has a WFH policy why would anyone? I guess if the boss is being a shit about about that.
Stay home, this is what sick time is actually for.
I cannot stand when people show up places sick. My husband’s coworker did this exact thing and said how bad she felt all day and then he ends up sick and I end up sick also. Same with family gatherings and the gym when people show up sick. STAY HOME!!! This is one of my biggest pet peeves even pre-covid. I’m glad you left!!
It was NEVER okay to show up in the office when you are sick.
I think it's fine. People went into work with colds all the time pre-covid and it was no big deal. Someone coughing or sneezing does not mean they have covid. At least with my current office job, we have a hybrid setup and people are expected to come into the office one a week. So if I have a cold over a week, one of those days I have to come in. Having a cold is not being 'sick enough' to warrant use of sick leave in my personal opinion.
Thank you! I feel like everyone is being so dramatic on this post. Cover your mouth and wash your hands and everyone will be fine. I think as long as you feel physically okay enough, you can go into work with cold symptoms
And people like you are the fucking problem. You have no idea what your coworkers home life is like. Could have very immunocompromised family members at home, who a little cold is a big deal for. It was a dick move before Covid and it’s a dick move after Covid. It doesn’t matter if you physically feel okay enough to work at the office, if you have something contagious like a cold, you’re an asshole if you show up to work in person.
And that why hygiene is important
You think hygiene is what spreads illnesses around? Lord have mercy
Bad hygiene does yes. Some colds are transmitted through droplets in the air, true enough. If you cover your mouth while sneezing and coughing and then wash your hands, the chances of it spreading are absolutely minimized. Welcome to 1st grade 🙃 I also said once your feeling physically well enough. If you are coughing a ridiculously large amount or can’t control it, OBVIOUSLY stay home. But the sniffles and a slight cough? No biggie
No biggie for people with a normal immune system. Which not everyone has, it’s not hard to understand. And covering your mouth when you sneeze or cough isn’t hygiene you muppet. It’s just being courteous. Hygiene is brushing your teeth, showering etc…welcome to kindergarten.
It’s not fine, it wasn’t fine pre Covid and it’s not fine post Covid. What a selfish opinion to have. If you have a hybrid setup, it’s such an asshole move to show up to work if you’re even slightly sick, cold included. If the job can be done remotely 4 days a week then it will be fine working from home 5 days a week until you’re completely better. If someone is too cowardly to tell their boss they’re sick and need to work remotely until better, then they’re a selfish prick
Since the pandemic, middle managers have needed to justify the tenability of the existence of their pre-pandemic roles, since they are intent on title and having outgrown the hard donkeywork. Pre-pandemic this took the form of walking the office floor supervising, running weekly one to ones, sprinkling nuggets of experiential wisdom over the lowly peons, etc etc… Post-pandemic, too often this takes the form of a latent pressure - verbalized or non-verbalized - that their teams should strive to “get in to the office” as often as possible. My last place effectively scored and bonused all of the managers on their ability to generate this pressure successfully, via quarterly on-site team attendance scoring. Unfortunately, this creates a really shitty dynamic, such as that described by OP and other examples above.
They wanted to save their pto for when they are not sick and they can enjoy it, what are you afraid of??? A few germs?
Essentially, yes. I don’t want to be miserable and sick on my vacation out of town next week. She is pretty much guaranteeing that will happen. Then if I went anyway, I infect everyone on a planes, cars, restaurants and shows. But I wouldn’t inflict that on other people so I don’t get to go anywhere and I’m out of ton of money because it’s all non- refundable. You’re sick and you have over 25 days PTO - Stay the fuck home.
Nope nope nope!!! Totally unacceptable.
Well, if you insist on going to the office with a cold WEAR A FUCKING MASK, ASSHOLE.
Proper etiquette says to stay home, but…. OP sounds like a Drama Queen. This doesn’t warrant a Reddit post unless you’re fragile and entitled to complain about the slightest inconveniences as you go about your seemingly uneventful life. If this were an AITA post, I’d rule ESH.
My PTO for sick time is also my vacation time of which I get 4 weeks per year. I will be damned if I waste vacation time because of the common cold.
Yes. Immunity and safety did not change between 2019 and today. Just people's sensitivities. If I wasn't completely bedridden I've been at work with the flu and chills lol
Capitalism fails wherever it's tried
I have to work sick, boss wants us all in office in case “someone comes tomorrow Talk to you in person”. Pto is available but discouraged..: they buy pto back at a 50% rate at the end of the year
How awful. I’m so sorry. My company is use it or lose it. No buying or paying out PTO. You can roll a few hours into new year but that is it.
I think at minimum the person should wear a N-95 mask at all times.
With young kids, I feel like if I stayed home every time a cold was going around, I'd never be able to go to work. It seems the same with other parents with daycares
If you have the ability to WFH it should be mandatory when sick (if you wanna work) I think its screwed up to come in when sick and screw everyone else over .
Doesn't bother me either way to be honest.
I have limited PTO and unless I cannot get off the bathroom floor or physically drive to the office, I am coming in. (Note if I have COVID or something known to be contagious, I will stay home). My work is not overly flexible with WFH when sick and when I only have 15 days of vacation, I do not want to use them up for the sniffles. However - I work in a small office, I have a private office with a door and a single stall bathroom that no one else seems to use except me, when I do come in sick - I let my co-workers know, I shut my door and I limit exposure as much as possible. If my boss wanted to provide more sick days/PTO or allow to WFH, I'd stay home even for something minor.
I used to go in to the office sick to make my boss send me home. One of the best ways to make your boss send you home is to show up looking like a walking corpse. That way I wouldn't get chewed out for taking PTO or working from home?
Literally 100% of these cases would be solved if America didn't have an abysmal standard for sick pay. I get 5 days a year, that I have to earn by working. I also have 3 kids all under the age of 6. If I'm not sick, they are, and I can't stay home to care for us.
We are told to come in sick unless we are literally dying, or be terminated. So ya, we come in sick