when do you pull a sick day?

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If I don't work, I don't get paid.
Besides, most of my colds are picked up from one of the kids I teach. Passing it on is just justice.

I'm one of those pansies who prefers to stay at home when all I have is the common cold. Last month, I actually did go to work with a cold that was stronger than usual, motivated by money. But quite a lot of people who were working at that office were sneezing and/or coughing, so the risk of catching the bug weren't lesser or greater than anywhere, honestly.

I usually prefer to take a sick day and take a good rest, than to let the disease linger and worsen. Usually takes me no longer than 2 days to be fresh like a fiddle again. I should mention that I'm RARELY actually sick. Stomach flu pops up maybe once every three years. Aside from that, I tend to maintain my health pretty well.

Okay, okay... let me be more direct then. If I'm sick, I stay home so I don't infect others. I really wish others would have the same courtesy instead of coming in and making so many others sick as well.
Of course, I also have terrible lungs (not sure why) and am especially prone to bronchitis and pneumonia. When someone plops down to work beside me and starts coughing, I know it's too late. What could be 1-2 days for someone else, could be 1-2 WEEKS of recovery for me.

That makes me justifiably angry. Their selfish motivations cause a lot more harm to everyone else around them. 1 sick person can affect dozens or even hundreds!
Unfortunately, it's smiled on by management as "good work ethic" and "dedication" even though it rarely is. It's usually more a selfish motivation of not losing a day's pay, etc. I can understand that, but if you're contagious you should know full well you'll be hurting others by going in.

If work would give us unlimited paid sick days, then people wouldn't be forced to come into work sick because they can't afford to miss a day of work or be forced to save their sick days for when their child is sick so they can use their sick day to stay home with them.

But I know the reason why work gives out limited sick days is because it's to keep people from abusing them but the downside to that is, people end up coming into work sick and spreading the virus.

Plus if you are sick three days in a row, you have to bring in a doctor's note so that means make an appointment and go in ASAP and get a sick note and then end up with a medical bill you can't even afford. Our health insurance sucks in the USA. I know the purpose of that is to also keep people from abusing sick days that are unpaid but the downside to that is people come into work sick because they don't want to go to the doctor and get a medical bill.

But I think a runny nose and a cough is barely anything and unless you are working with food, then you can call in sick or you can just wear one of those masks. I have seen nurses wear masks because they had a little cold or a little sore throat so they were coughing. Sometimes places really do need them so they come into work like that and wear a mask so they won't infect their patients.

I blame the work system, not the workers. I look at the big picture seeing what is causing all this to happen and blame the main cause of it. Yeah dishonest people who will abuse sick days so work days then make limited sick days and the requiring doctor notes if you are gone certain days in a row, then people are forced to come into work sick so they can keep paying their bills. Okay I blame dishonest people too who would call into work sick just because they don't feel like working and then it makes it hard for everyone else, even you Bluemax because then people end up coming into work sick thanks to dishonest employees. So the work place has finally made paid limited sick days you can get and then needing a doctor's note when you are gone for three days.

When do I pull a sick day?

Usually when I'm having problems with my vision.*








(*"Hello, boss? I just can't see ... any point in coming in to work today.")

I pretty much work through illnesses - if I'm worried about getting others sick, I work from home. If I'm loopy with a fever and want to shake it faster, I'll take a sick day, but usually end up working a half day from home anyway.

The only time I really call in sick is if I'm so stressed from life and work that I need to just zone out for a day... I probably do this once or twice a year.

In my profession, most companies combined sick days and vacation days into PTO (Paid Time Off) but the total days did not add up to the combined amount of the sick and vacation days. So now more people come in sick as taking a day off means 1 day less vacation time.

Sad. My husband has also had to use his vacation time for sick days because he hurt his back or because he was having seizures and was being sent home and then being told to stay home from work by his doctor's order. He did this so he wouldn't lose any money.

I think this is your issue and you need to look at alternate working arrangements if you suffer health problems....it isthe whole blaming others for your own problems.

I ask this question mostly as I have taken on the job of HR manager in a government agency and I haveseen people trying to abuse their sick days....most employers are flexible to a point. But some things I see are extreme. I was curious over what other people think is acceptable for sick days taken and why.

Eg you are in a desk job and you break a rib....you can still work. You work in IT and have a cold....you can still work....you are a doctor and you have a migraine.....you can't work....if that makes sense.

Interesting how deeply you appear to resent me already for even daring to say what I have... that if you're REALLY sick, one should stay home to protect the others.

You seem to have the corporate attitude in this matter and it shows. You might change your tune when half the office is unproductive or stuck at home because one person with a serious illness was bullied into coming to work anyway. The loss of one is far less than half the office groggy and unproductive.

Calling my being prone to bronchial diseases "blaming people for my problem" is a also a heartless corporate outlook. If you're sick and come to work anyway, at very least be hyper-vigilant in keeping your germs to yourself! Too many people, already weakened by their personal suffering, don't give a CRAP about anyone and cough/sneeze and generally spread their illness willy-nilly. I see it all the time... people trying to carry on "as per usual", even still shaking hands and coming up close to talk about your day, etc.

Lots of people in your office are probably allergic to strong perfumes, etc. Would you consider that "their problem" and allow people to bathe in cologne anyway?
Most offices would say no and try to prevent the stinky person from making everyone's nose bleed! Why is illness not the same? PROTECT YOUR EMPLOYEES and send a sickie home before they destroy the productivity of the whole office!

Notice, though, this only applies to diseases that are contagious. Those people with nausea or diarrhea can probably make it work somehow and still come in (unless it's so serious they're stuck in the bathroom all day!)

So - where do YOU draw the line? At what point do you show understanding and not dislike someone for calling sick? At what point do you call it an abuse of sick days and blackmark them from future promotion, etc?

If I was having diarrhea all day and got bad stomach cramps every time, I would call in sick because ever try working while having to run to the bathroom every few minutes because you don't know if you are going to mess yourself if you fart when you get very bad stomach cramps? Yeah, I won't be able to get my work done that way and I work four hour shifts and can't work more than that for personal reasons. But if the problem was mild, I would still go in because it wouldn't be as frequent and it only be few times a day or maybe once. I've done it before. But one time it was so bad, it was a good thing I didn't go into work that day and that was six years ago. I would have gotten behind with folding clean linen because I would have spent most of my time running to the restroom only to see I only had to fart and then also having diarrhea and being in the bathroom for about ten or fifteen minutes because I didn't know when I would be messing myself if I farted. This was when I got back from Mexico so I was sick for three weeks with tummy pain and diarrhea. But the first day coming back was so bad I was having messy accidents and then after that the problem was milder so I was able to go to work.

Unless you have a desk job working with the computer, you can just bring the lap top to the restroom with you and sit on the jon all day long still getting your work done. You can't do that as a janitor or as a house person or as a laundry person.


Be careful when you judge, you don't know what kind of job they have.

When I'm sick enough that either I can't focus on or do my work, or where travel would be difficult. Eg. diarrhea, vomiting, injured leg, arm etc.

If I have a cold I use hand sanitiser religiously to prevent germs being passed on.

I always kept those alcohol wipes in my workspace to wipe down my keyboard & mouse. Having your own cubicle is nice, but the last place was shared terminals. You wouldn't believe how much filth would come out of the keyboards when you turned it upside down and knocked it out.

People worked in much higher density than a cube farm... if a sick person came in, it would inevitably spread like wildfire.

I've only recently starting actually staying home when I'm contagious since I have such a generous sick allowance and I feel guilty about calling in sick because I'm so dedicated. Before, I would have to be unable to stand to miss work. What really pissed me off was in my retail job, the 1-2 times a year I called in sick were usually met with "you aren't that sick and we are too busy.... get in here!" While those who abused them and called in sick every second Saturday were never spoken to at all.

I went to work while I had diarrhea once. I could work just fine, but I had to ask for my co-workers to stay in my place while I went to the bathroom. Four times.

I also worked for eleven days with an ear inflammation. It was getting very painful (and the headaches that came with it were even worse), but I hate going to the hospital, therefore, I avoided it for as long as I could. When I finally saw a doctor, I did it at night, since I worked during the day.

However, when I was really tired of my old supermarket job (it was a terrible job), I called in sick once. Of course, I did not even bother going to a hospital. I was scolded by my boss, but he let it pass due to my previously clear recorded.

My brother phones in sick when he's woken up with a dry throat or something minor like that.

My dad's the opposite - he goes out to work even when he's got the flu or has been sick in the night, then comes home feeling even more rough.

I work at a care home so I think if I woke up with a bit of a cold but not enough to make me feel that unwell, I might still phone up and tell them that I've just got a bit of a runny nose and a sore throat and will ask if it would be OK if I still come in. If they say yes then I will. If they say that I'd better keep away from the risk of giving a virus to the elderly residents, then obviously I would not go in. I only work part time anyway, so I won't miss too many days off work.

Touch wood, I do not get many colds, coughs or tummy bugs at all.