bobquasit | How do you judge?

How do you judge when you're sick enough to stay home? That's always been hard for me. Because whenever I stay home, I feel guilty somehow, as if I were faking it. Even though I know that I'm not.

Hell, people at work get mad at me because I come in when I'm obviously sick, and (they say) infect them. And they're probably right. I'm not just talking about my current job, either; I've been told the same thing at any number of other jobs I've had.

So tomorrow morning I'll need to figure out what to do. I started taking the antibiotic last night. I feel like shit today; even with Robitussin DM, I had a hard time breathing and was coughing up green stuff (sorry if that's TMI). At times the general pain was severe, enough so that even though I took a maximum OTC dose of ibuprofen, the pain was hard to cope with.

My voice has been mostly gone all day. Because I've done very little talking, right now I can talk - I sound remarkable hoarse, but I can speak and be understood.

Tomorrow morning I'll have to decide if I should go into work or not. A lot of that will depend on how I feel in the morning, of course, but right now my brain is telling me "IDIOT! You're still really sick. What the hell are you thinking? Of course you should spend another day in bed!". But at the same time I feel guilty...this sucks.

How do YOU make the call? Do you have any hard and fast rules for yourself, or wing it, or what?

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If I think working will do more harm than good, I don't go. I'd say stay home, personally.

I'm a little sick-ish myself, but after being chided earlier this year for being out sick too much in too short a time (far less than has been my norm in previous years) I'm going into work unless I'm totally losing control over my bodily functions or have so totally lost my mental functioning that I don't remember what "work" is. But I'm both kinda paranoid and kinda bitter, so I'm not a fair example. :)

Don't go in until you're almost completly better. If you make the effort to go in before you're completly well, bosses will think the sun shines out of your ass because you're making the effort.

What's sick pay like in the U.S?

When I'm sick I stay away from people and rest as much as possible. My logic is that by resting I'll get over things faster and be more efficient than if I drag myself along and do stuff. It's only if I'm likely to miss something important that can't be made up for that I force myself to go forward and work.

When you're sick your more vulnerable to other diseases. You increase your chance of prolonged sickness if you go in now.

You just started antibiotics... give them at least 3 days to beat this thing before you go in... usually after those 3 days you won't be contageous.

i always feel guilty too

Differs from company to company. In my case, there is a sort of pool of days that can be used for sick days, vacation, holidays, and so on. I didn't take paid sick days (that is, I was off but without pay) back then 'cause I wanted to save this stuff for if I needed it, and then found out that, well, it counted against me to take off for being sick and I could lose those paid off days. So as far as I'm concerned, I don't really have sick days. Mind you, I'm probably wildly misinterpreting my company's policy as I'm not used to having paid days off of any kind.

Some companies (and some government agencies) let you roll over unused days into a following year or get some kind of bonus or whatever for not using sick days. Mine doesn't, and doesn't roll over unused vacation time either.

Somebody who knows more about this stuff should correct me, of course.

Pete,

Darn, you sound much too sick to go to work, no offense.

I was just checking in to get your response to the "legacy" stories (isn't it a bit early?) and to see if you had any comments on Mistworld.

But darn, you sound really sick. Get some more rest.

Here's how I think about the matter.

1. It's not really a benefit if you don't use your paid sick leave when you're actually sick. Use the benefits or you might as well not have them!
2. You are less likely to be productive when illness reduces your ability to think and concentrate, so in those cases you're not adding much value to the company by going in when you're sick.
3. If you get your co-workers sick (especially if it happens repeatedly), you actually cost the company money rather than make a positive contribution by going in. And, as you noted, it can irritate your colleagues, which generally detracts from a good work atmosphere even when everyone is healthy. Part of the decision is and should be a consideration of how your behavior affects your colleagues. Wait until you're not contagious!
4. If you simply must work while sick, maybe telecommuting will at least deal with #3. Obviously, this is not possible for some jobs, and may be difficult if you didn't already bring stuff home with you.
5. You risk compromising your own health if you're not at least mostly recovered before you go back. Is that worth it if, say driving to work while you feel horrible increases your chances of being in a car crash?

Steve

Well said.

Peter, get well.

I don't know your company's policy, but you should find out what it is, and keep your own records of what you think is owed to you. Politics aside, the information will give you a better idea of what your options are for time off when you need it.

Kiralee

I often have a behavior pattern that's quite the opposite of yours...

...I will call in sick for a mental health day, thinking I'm not actually physically sick, just a little out of it. Then it will turn out that I am so exhausted / run down that I spend the entire day in bed asleep anyway... at which point I generally decide I made the right choice; but I still feel a little guilty doing it.

I once had bronchitis, and the cough took forever to go away. I asked my doctor about whether or not I should go to work, and was assured that I wasn't contagious. I'm pretty sure that was true - the germs were gone, but my body hadn't finished dealing with the damage. Anyway, my co-workers were convinced I was very sick; I think they were wondering why I didn't go home...

Kiralee

How do you judge?

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My thoughts on when to stay home sick

Re: My thoughts on when to stay home sick

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