PA and Secretary Community - Deskdemon.com

I recently read an article on going to work when sick.  I admit today I have a horrible flu so as I sit here with my sore throat, congestion, and just feeling 1/10th here I think this is the perfect question to ask!  Do you go to work sick?  If so, when do you call the line and know to stay home.

Unless I physically could not get out of bed and walk to work, then I would be off sick.  Haven't had a day's sick in prob 5 years.

G

Because I'm backup to our receptionist I find that a lot of times that I am sick I come in to work anyway.  Depending on the sickness - sometimes I take a 1/2 day / sometimes I stay all day.  When I wake up in the morning sick and find it extremely hard to get out of bed then I'll stay home.  

I think going to work when sick shows devotion & loyalty - but also you take the risk of getting other people sick.

Carol

I take very little sick leave, and my boss doesn't take much sick leave either.  We are lucky where I work - we have generous sick leave allowance if we need it, but I prefer not to take sick leave if I can avoid it.   The Authorities where I work will sit up and take notice if you have lots of odd days off (the flashpoint is 20 days in a year) and also if there is a suspicious number of Friday/Monday sick days.  

In the past four years I have had one day off.  I had a dreadful cold last week and felt, like you Susan, about a tenth here much of the time, but still managed to work through it.  I'm not a martyr, but there isn't anyone to take my place at the moment, and we have some really important projects going through that require my attention.  On the other hand, I'm not indispensable.  I guess I take leave if I am ill enough to warrant a trip to the doctor and he signs me off.

It rather depends on the place where you work.  I used to work in a hospice, and those of us who had patient contact were SENT home if we had so much as a cold.


Raindance

My determining factor is if I have a fever or not.  If I have a fever, I have no choice, I stay home regardless.  Fortunatley, that doesn't happen very often.  But, on the other hand if I have other problems that I can't be away from the house for very long, I'll stay put awell.

Most of the time, if I have a cold, I go to work.  Knock on wood, I haven't had my yearly Spring cold yet.  I've been taking claritin to help with that, and it seems to be working nicely.  It's just in the Spring and Fall when I get my seasonal colds.  So the doctor said to try taking Claritin for a while til things settle down.  Then I can stop.  I don't take it in the summertime.

Diamondlady
Peer Moderator

I agree  the fever is my determination as well.  I have noticed (not just this cold but many) they tend to get worse at night and if I just get to work I start feeling much better as the day go by.   I do admit I tend to put off calling people unless I need to though.  I return calls but will delay any I have to make.

I definitely go to work sick, more times than naught.  My sick leave is being used for when I have to be off for sick babies (we have a family leave act which allows us to use our SL for tending sick loved ones) and with 2 boys that are in daycare and catching EVERYTHING, I need all my hours I can get for their sicknesses.  Now, if I'm running a fever (noticeably) then I stay home, but stay the minimum amount of time before returning to work.

CountriGal
Peer Moderator

Well, I guess I'm going to be the odd person here!  We have a very generous sick policy (1 day a month - 12 a year - and they accumulate if you don't use them to up to 90 sick days!).  I have fortunately been fairly healthy, except for the odd cold or so, so if I am sick I stay home.  Actually this is one of my pet peeves.  Because we do have such a generous policy and because there is not really anyone here who is indispensable for a day or two, I get kind of ticked when people insist on coming in sick and spreading their germs to me.  I have elderly parents and really try not to take anything home to them.  It angers me that other people jeopardize my family just because they have this desire to prove the place cannot run without them (I assure you it can!).

Now, I'm not saying anything against anyone here or trying to start anything.  I am only stating the way it is here at my place. There is nothing that anyone on the admin staff does that is so special that someone else can't step in for a day or two.

Edited by spitfire78 on 10/04/06 09:38 PM.

Unfortuntately I do take sick days more often than the average folk. I wish I could just trudge on when I am sick, but any virus hits me harder - because of my irregular heart beat, virtually any illness makes me really weak - exhausted - I get to where I need a nap just from taking a shower! I also take sick time for my family's needs - daughter's doctor's appointments (looks like she needs back surgery - again), mother-in-law's appointments with specialists (like GI and Alzheimer's doc - DH takes her to regular doctor on his days off - averages every 3 weeks or so), and it's looking more and more like I'll need to be taking my mother to her appointments (she's getting really bad with Rheumatoid arthritis and I don't want Dad to drive if I can prevent it - his Alzheimer's is progressing quickly).

Sorry this turned into a bit of a whine, but maybe it's an exercise to one of you reading this who might have someone like me in your office and give you some insight... it's overwhelming at times, and I can't change the circumstances to allow me to NOT attend to my family. So I continue to appreciate my supervisor's understanding, and without whining I give out enough information to co-workers so they realize I have no choice and am not trying to abuse the system.


DonnaP99

It depends on how sick I am.  If I'm contagious and it's an office day (Monday) or I know there will be a lot of people in the office, I'll probably just work a little from home (do reports, read a couple e-mails, etc.).  Because my desk is in the very back of the building, when it's not an office day, the next closest person to me is about 50 feet away so I'm not worried about spreading germs and therefore will probably go to work.

Of course, if bossie finds out that I'm sick, he'll send me home in a heartbeat.

I try and work through it.  If I'm infectious, though ie with a cold, I'll try and stay away from people so I don't infect them (I *hate* catching a cold or flu through work colleagues!).  Even if I'm feeling like death, I'd probably come into work first, check email, do urgent things (if I have any) and then go home and die!

I have worked for people that, even if you are dead on your feet, they will not notice and act very surprised if you have to go home early.  I've aso worked for people that, if you so much as clear your throat in the cold and flu season, they will ask after your health and try and send you home.

I must admit, I much prefer to be sent home rather than phone in sick!  Guilt is a powerful motivator that can drag you out of bed when you're at death's door!

Luckily I don't get sick that often!  I work very much on my own, so catching other people's coughs and colds isn't often an issue.  My other cause of sick leave (in my last job) was back pain, but as I walk a lot in this job to avoid a horrible bit of driving, I don't tend to get that either.  I can do quite a lot of work from home via e-mail so, if push came to shove, would do that.  At least I can keep an eye on my inbox.

I will typically drag myself in... unless I wake up with a migraine - then I'm done for and at no point able to get myself TO work!  I try to save my days for when kidlets need attending to...be it they get sick or just have appts that I can't schedule on weekends/evenings.  

Came in to work today feeling great... within 15 mins of being here I got what apparently seems to be a migraine.  Doing my best to work through it.. taking my round of meds to try and offset it - but it's looking like I"m going to have to go home because the nausea is getting worse and I refuse to spend the better part of a work day in the office bathroom!!

But if I go home...then I feel guilty for leaving work early and then not getting to any of the housework that deserpately needs done!

Spitfire,
I agree totally with you. There's a reason we're given sick days-to USE them. Sorry if that sounds mean, but I'm tired of people coming in here coughing and wheezing and worse. Our building is fairly new and airtight, so those germs just get circulated to everyone through the AC.
Tif

I was just at an IAAP meeting last night, we had someone come in from HR and talk about what we can do to get the promotion we want.  One of the things she said was to never call in sick, you should go into work even if you're incredibly sick because you don't want a poor attendance record.  I leaned over to the girl next to me and said, "It's even worse if you get the boss sick."

What an interesting and strange statement to make.  What happens if you have a broken leg and can't move?!!!

In the States and elsewhere (not UK) do you all actually have 'sick days' in your entitlement package... because the way all your posts are worded, it sounds like you do.

In the UK there is no such thing as 'sick days' but if you phone in sick you still get paid - we have statutory sick pay or SSP.  However, if an employee was to, say, regularly phone in sick in a Monday morning or a Friday, an employer could get mighty suspicious about hangover (Monday) or long weekend (Friday) and could be entitled to give employee a grilling about the reasons and then possibly a verbal warning on the first steps to dismissal, if it goes that far.

Jackie, Peer Moderator
www.iqps.org

Yes, most employers in the US have "sick days".  My employer offers 5 days of sick pay to use through a year and can be used for personal illness, illness in the family or court appearances (not jury duty, that's different).  Sick time doesn't accrue the way vacation time does, whatever you haven't used at the end of the year you lose and resets again at 5 days.

Thanks Tif - I thought I was the lone wolf out here!

We have an exceedingly generous sick policy. You get 1 sick day per month (up to 12 per year - July 1-June 30).  In addition, you can accumulate them and they will rollover up to 90 sick days.  So, for example, if I have 90 sick days accumulated as of July 1 and then do not take any sick days for the rest of that year, by the following June 30 I will have 102 days.  However, on July 1 it will go back to 90.  I currently have 88 days in my bank and due to get another awarded the end of April.  

That is one reason why it frosts me so much when people insist on coming in and acting as if they are indispensable.  We are allowed plenty of time and there's no reason why they can't take it.  In the last year, we have changed just about every top level manager there is, including 2 major ones within a week of one another (quite unexpectedly to boot), and believe it or not, the place is still running along just fine.  While there may be instances where people absolutely need to come in for meetings that can't be rescheduled without difficulty or a particular project, for the most part I think our people here just like to THINK of themselves as indispensable when, in fact, no one really is.

Again, I'm not saying anything about any of you - this is how it is in the division of my company - other companies are completely different.

I go to work sick - I have found that it is better for them to send you home than to call off work.

There are days that I miss working for the agency I used to work for. Your sick leave accrued to a certain point and then, if you didn't take it, you couldn't carry any more over, but you have to take it. My husband is at that point now, so he ends up taking off all the time because his boss says he has to use up the excess leave. My brother-in-law was in the same situation and ended up being able to take off every Friday afternoon for a year! Ahhh...wishful thinking!
Tif

In my company, we accrue sick leave every pay period, just like AL, and it continues to accrue from our first day to our last, rolling over and accumulating.  Basically, we get 1 day a month, every month, till we retire, and so can add up to a lot of leave.  When you retire, you can get paid for a certain percentage (may be all of it, not sure) of your sick leave that you have accrued, as an enticement not to take it.

I hear what y'all are saying about not coming in sick to work, because of causing sickness in others... and once I get enough accrued so that I can be off for my illnesses and my childrens, then I won't.  But right now, I've got to get paid (hence me working) and I know that my kids will get sick, so my leave is for them.  Since our maternity leave is also considered part of our sick leave (ie: if you don't have the sick leave hours,  you don't get paid for the maternity leave), I've used up all of my sick leave and am accruing it very slowly when I have to take time for well-baby appts, doctor appts due to illnesses, and then just general sick babies.  I believe I have somewhere along the lines of 18 hours of sick leave right now because of this.  I just had to take 11 hours of leave last week because of my baby having an ear infection (doc appt - 3 hours), running a fever (8 hours - not able to stay at daycare because of this), and no family or friends around that can watch him while I go to work.  And hubby does what he can, but he works too and he doesn't get sick leave, he just gets annual leave, so when he's off, it costs him vacation days.

So I applaud those of you who have the ability to think of everyone else and not go to work sick.  And for those of us who must... we just need to do what we can not to share our germs.

CountriGal
Peer Moderator

Just curious, for those who have sick pay that accrues, do you also have vacation time?  I get 5 days of sick pay per year, which I have to use or I lose it, but I accrue vacation time separately.

Same as you misslynn, we finally went to an accrual system a couple of years ago, prior to that it was use em or loose em both on vacation and sick time.  This is much better.

Diamondlady
Peer Moderator

Yes, we also have vacation time that is separate from our sick leave.  Unlike Countrigal, we do not get paid for any unused sick time when we retire.  However, my feeling is that if I retire with 90 sick days accrued and lose them on retirement, I've been a lucky person because that means I've very rarely been sick!

Countrigal, I hear what you're saying, believe me.  And I also understand for new employees who haven't accrued a lot of time.  What frosts me are the ones who have the time and just refuse to take it.  My office mate gets a severe case of bronchitis every winter.  She comes in coughing so bad it sounds like she's coughing up a lung, her face is flushed (so she's obviously feverish), and she looks and quite obviously feels like sh**.  When you say something to her like why doesn't she go home since she obviously doesn't feel well, she responds with "why - there's nothing wrong with me - I feel fine!" (at the same time she coughs like she's dying).  The woman just absolutely refuses to believe that she's sick, and the whole reason is because she feels she MUST be here.  She's worked here for 4 years, while I've been here for 24 years - I can certainly run the office for a few days without her.  She doesn't have any special duties or responsibilities that can't be handled by me or someone else if she is gone.  A few times she has only gone to the dr. because the other secretary in the office harped on her until she finally said - OK there's absolutely nothing wrong with me, but I'll go.  Of course, when she goes, he tells her she has severe bronchitis and an ear infection.  She doesn't ask him if she should stay home, so she comes right back to work.  When you ask her about staying home, she says - "the dr. didn't tell me I should stay home".  Well of course he doesn't say anything if you don't ask!

Well, time to get off my soap box. Again, I totally understand people saving their time for their families or people who are just starting out and don't have time accrued.  The only ones who annoy me are the ones who insist on coming in when they don't REALLY have to.  

Spitfire,
Have you been reading my mind??? That sounded exactly like what I was going to say.

As for leave time, we get Employee Time Benefit, which we can use for whatever we want (ie-sick time, vacation, maternity leave, whatever).

Tif

Ah Tiff - I wish you and I could be office mates

Crumbs, I'm really surprised with the system used in UK and USA. As you may know I'm in Spain, and while the general opinion is that Spain is a very backward country (spaniard's opinion as well) I belive our system is far much better than yours.

My first question would be how can you know whether and when you will be ill? It's not something you can plan. In Spain we do not have a fixed illness allowance, but if you're ill you take whatever time necessary off work, though always under the supervision of a Doctor in the social security system.

The first three days of sick leave, the company pays your salary. As from the fourth day off onwards, your salary is paid by the Social Security, through your own company; This way it does not cost the company anything and you don't realise anything different is happening.

The only limit would be that if you are on sick leave for over 18 months, (say for severe back problems, etc.) you would then "leave" the company and get a permanent state pension.

Penny.

Penny,
That's a cool idea! Just out of curiosity, how does your vacation time work?
Tif

That idea seems like a good idea, Penny.  Have you ever noticed anyone taking advantage of 'sick' days?  How do companies go about preventing such occurrances?

For my company - (as a non-union employee) we get 10 Personal days.  Typically these are used when calling off or leaving work early for whatever reason.  These are not accrued, whatever isn't used is cashed out at 50% at the end of the covering period (1st pay period of Jan - 1st pay period of Jan).   We have vacation time - which starts at 5 days (1 work week) at 6 mths, and then another 5 days at 1 yr anniversary.  After 4 years and then 9 years - you earn an additional 5 days.

The main difference between the two 'banks' (what we call them) is that the personal time can be taken in 15 min increments - but vacation can only be taken in 4 & 8 hour increments.  

We also get an 8 hour to use for 'school participation' - when my kidlet had a play at her school, I used 4 of those hours since I was participating in something at her school.  Always think this is a cool idea - because my kidlet knows that I will help out in the classroom or go on a field trip at least oncee during the school year.

Well, normally we all get 22 labour days (not including week-ends or national holidays), plus 14 national or local holidays, and in some cases depending on the trade, up to 6 further days for what is call "private matters", as in my case. Not bad at all eh?

It has happened Guru, of course, but then it is up to the Company to prove it and take disciplinary actions if necessary.

That's it, I'm moving to Spain!!!

Tif

Spain needs to put that on their recruiting brochures, they'd catch quite a few eyes with that.  Wow.

Interesting note about what increments you can take your benefit time in, with the sick and vacation time we have to use it in 2-hour increments (2 hours, 6 hours, etc.).

Where I work, we accrue AL (amounts determined by how long you've been here -- I'm currently at 12 hours a month earned -- 6 hours every 2 weeks... basic is 4 hours/2 weeks and max is 8 hours/2 weeks), and can be stored until you have 240 hours and then anything over that is use or lose.  I'm hoping to someday soon get to where I have to take all my earned hours every year, but that'll be a while since I end up using some of my AL to stay home with kids too.

Our leave - both AL and SL - can be taken at 15 minute intervals, which helps a lot when you're trying to save it up.

CountriGal
Peer Moderator

Unfortunately, yes. For one thing, there is no one else in my office trained to do my job yet--I'm sure they'd muddle through but I'd rather not test it unless it was really an emergency! That and we don't really have "sick days" - you could take a vacation day but I don't have vacation yet. I'm salaried so I don't know exactly how they would deal with a sick day if I did have to take one.