Going to Work Sick

[hobish]

Well, when my option is to either NOT be able to take off when my kids are sick and need someone home aking care of them, or risk losing my job... I will buckle away.

...and the system will never change, and employers will continue to treat people like dirt.

It is even more egregious, IMO, that people with children assume that they are exempt. If the question is whether or not it is rude to go to work when sick it would apply whether or not the worker in question has children.

oh, absolutely. however, if I have kids, then i have more to consider about when I will take my sick days. If I stay home for 3 days with a cold, and take those occurrences, then when my kid get sick next month I will be on disciplinary action if I take off work to stay home with him. If he is out for 3 days too, that's when I get fired. But someone has to stay home with him when he is sick, and I have to have a job. So, if I'm sick, I go to work.

And yes, you may say I could find a new job, but as I posted before, this is a pretty typical absence policy. My last 3 jobs have all had identical policies.

That's really rotten. As previous posters have alluded ... it's a shame that in a country (the US for those of us there & i think where most of this has been centered around) that has so much, people still have to be so frightened of losing their jobs to take care of themselves or their family. It really makes me mad. Our national health plan: don't get sick.

>sigh< Not trying to get political. It's just so frustrating.

[Venus193]

Unions.  They're not perfect either.  They are the reason that teamsters who drive trucks make more money than teachers who educate future workers and scholars.  This is fundamentally wrong.

Social Darwinism, as I said before.  It probably is a hidden agenda to weed out the weak all around. 

[Cyndi]

The pastor of my church is sick with a nasty "wet" cold* and he still says mass. I just cringe at his germy hands touching the communion wafers and then people eating it. Ewwww. Fortunately he hasn't said any masses I've been to. But I bet a lot of people are going to be sick this week.

I was in a confession booth with him, but fortunately he had the sense of mind to warn me not to give him a hug or shake his hand because he doesn't want to pass the bugs on. At least he's trying to avoid close contact as much as possible. I feel so bad for him though because he has such a busy week.


*I always call a cold with a lot of snot and a chunky cough a "wet" cold, vs a stuffed up nose and a dry cough which is a "dry" cold.

[Tabris]

In general, the priest during Mass should only touch the large Communion host. The little round ones are set in the plate ahead of time by the EMs and don't get touched.

Of course, then he does touch them while distributing Communion, but then you can go to one of the EMs instead.

When I served as an EM, I always handled the cup if I were sick or else found someone to replace me, since the cup minister didn't have to drink from the cup until the very end and didn't have to handle the hosts.

[Elfqueen13]

This is what unions are for. But unfortunately, most unions, at least in America, don't care of their employees very well and look out for themselves and lining their own pockets before anything else.

For starters, not every industry HAS a union.  Second, even if there is a union for your kind of work does not mean that there is an active union presence in your area, nor does it mean your employer would care if there was.  Companies that hire unionized employees care, but if you have a unionized job in a non-union shop, you're SOL. 

[fklwmn]

I was just thinking of this thread this morning. When I got to work we had an email detailing our revised time off policy. They have reduced the number of occurrences that we can have before facing disciplinary action by one per rotating year. Now the THIRD time I have to call into work in any 12 month period is a verbal warning, followed by written, and finally termination.

and people wonder why I go to work sick...

[freakyfemme]

I was just thinking of this thread this morning. When I got to work we had an email detailing our revised time off policy. They have reduced the number of occurrences that we can have before facing disciplinary action by one per rotating year. Now the THIRD time I have to call into work in any 12 month period is a verbal warning, followed by written, and finally termination.

and people wonder why I go to work sick...

But, don't they see how that's inherently problematic?  Suppose you went to work sick, and accidentally passed it on to Martha from Marketing, who accidentally passed it on to Murgatroid, who shares an office with her, who then passes it on to his buddy Al from Accounting.  Now, since none of these people can risk taking a day off without being disciplined for it (let's face it, it often takes more than three days to recover from even a minor cold or flu), then they'll all just sniffle and sneeze and cough their way to work, and before you know it, the whole office will be one big germ farm.  By the time you get better, Al will have just caught the "plague" from Murgatroid, and the whole cycle will start again.

[auntmeegs]

If going to work (or school) while sick is rude, then I've got a long trailing list of etiquette violations. Since I was five, I have only ever stayed home due to sickness once, and that was because my mother forced me after I got pink eye. I've gone to school with numerous colds, coughs, fevers, and bronchitis once. I've gone to class with the flu a couple times in high school (each bout lasting at least two weeks because I refused to see a doctor), and I recently got over strep throat, which I also went to class with. My feelings are that I do not want to miss class and make things up - I will sit and suffer through class while not being able to breathe or swallow just to keep up rather than take a day off. I am even more adamant about not missing class now that I'm in college - I'm not going to miss a class that I'll have to pay for anyway.

Of course, since we share the world with other people, this is extremely rude and inconsiderate. 

[freakyfemme]

If going to work (or school) while sick is rude, then I've got a long trailing list of etiquette violations. Since I was five, I have only ever stayed home due to sickness once, and that was because my mother forced me after I got pink eye. I've gone to school with numerous colds, coughs, fevers, and bronchitis once. I've gone to class with the flu a couple times in high school (each bout lasting at least two weeks because I refused to see a doctor), and I recently got over strep throat, which I also went to class with. My feelings are that I do not want to miss class and make things up - I will sit and suffer through class while not being able to breathe or swallow just to keep up rather than take a day off. I am even more adamant about not missing class now that I'm in college - I'm not going to miss a class that I'll have to pay for anyway.

Of course, since we share the world with other people, this is extremely rude and inconsiderate. 

But then, bosses and profs who don't accomodate people who have to miss work or school because of illness are even MORE rude and inconsiderate, because they back people into a corner so that they don't have a choice but to come sick, do what they have to do, or else face the wrath of the powers that be.  My parents, and my dad's partner (although he doesn't really deal with the "underlings" that much) have a *very* simple policy for sick leave for their assistants.  It's called the honour system, and it's worked pretty well.  If you treat people like responsible adults, *most* of them will live up to that expectation, and the ones who don't, well, they've fired people before, and they don't like to do it, but they will if necessary.

[Niphil]

Most professors I've had would excuse absences with a doctor's note. The trouble is that the health services on campus refused to give notes, and instead gave students pre-printed sheets stating that they wanted to "empower" students by not giving them notes.

Very useful when I got the flu during the school year. 

[ccnumber4]

I have the same problem in a different setting.  You would not believe the number of parents who send their kid to a private music lesson with a cold, flu, pink eye, LICE.  I got sick about every other week my first year teaching, but now I hardly get anything.  I think parents don't take into consideration that every kid touches the same keyboard.  I clean the keys with disinfectant wipes at the end of each night and between lessons when someone is obviously ill, but I am sure that doesn't catch everything. 

[artk2002]

But, don't they see how that's inherently problematic?  Suppose you went to work sick, and accidentally passed it on to Martha from Marketing, who accidentally passed it on to Murgatroid, who shares an office with her, who then passes it on to his buddy Al from Accounting.  Now, since none of these people can risk taking a day off without being disciplined for it (let's face it, it often takes more than three days to recover from even a minor cold or flu), then they'll all just sniffle and sneeze and cough their way to work, and before you know it, the whole office will be one big germ farm.  By the time you get better, Al will have just caught the "plague" from Murgatroid, and the whole cycle will start again.

Hmmm... sounds like a Tom Lehrer lyric...

I got it from Agnes/She got it from Jim/We all agree it must have been/Louise who gave it to him.

[Peyton Fan]

I totally agree with most of the previous posters. Being a teacher of young children (pre-k/kindergaren), the amount of illness I see and am in contact with is amazing. Fortunately, I rarely get sick (knock on wood). Making sure my family takes the flu shot and daily vitamins and extra C probably doesn't hurt. I went to work as a daycare director when both of my kids were babies and although they were sick a lot those first couple of years, they have pretty strong immunities built up now as well. I do think the sick leave policy at most places is criminal, but unfortuanely very common. I wonder what it will actually take to make it change? It really does seem that many companies are absolutely clueless or really really stupid. I'm not sure which.

[Venus193]

I just heard today that our Asian associates on the same floor only get 3 sick days a year.  This was told to me by a woman who came in every day during her last bout with laryngitis.

What are we all, machines?   

[StaciNadia]

I'm really horrified with all these responses!  My FMiL has a really kind boss who lets her take time off when she's sick, or needs to have repairmen come to the house.  And I just thankfully took two days off from my retail job because I had an awful cold/flu.  I'm still coughing a bit, but those days off really helped.  Last time I was sick, I hadn't taken time off, and it was much better spending my worse days at home tucked in my bed than trying to take care of customers in the fitting room and answer the phone.