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My employer requires that I work sick. I have years of sick time never used but if I miss work then I must be in the hospital. My employer is a large national chain.
Some of them think the office will fall apart if they miss one or two days. Or they enjoy playing the role of the martyr.
Some people think their boss will hold it against them or even retaliate in some way for them not being at work, sick or no. And some of those people are actually right...
When people did that, I would whip out the Lysol and the disinfectant wipes. If they came over to talk to me, I'd say, "No offense, but I really can't get sick right now."
Hate to say it, but if enough people in your workplace go into shun mode, she should get the hint.
If she doesn't, I would say flat-out, "You sound terrible. GO HOME." You say union rules forbid management from telling employees that, but if it doesn't say anything about peers, you can say it just to make your point even though it has no authority.
And if she gets offended, so what? "Okay, you may feel like you can handle it, but the rest of us don't want to get sick and bring it home to our families."
I totally agree.
My mother works at Squal*Mart and tells me stories daily of people handing her items that have kid-slime all over them as if it's nothing. Kids are total germ vectors. She will make the customer wait a second while she puts on latex gloves. Some customers have the audacity to look offended, but it's like "Hellloooo...I can't afford to get sick, do you mind ???"
People may have to go to work and feel they have no choice, but if you cause co-workers to get sick, you DESERVE the dirty looks IMO.
And shopping for plastic assembly line crap is something you DONT need to be out doing if you are sick & coughing & sneezing everywhere. My mother had a little girl cough almost right in her face once and the mother didn't even order her to cover her nose, just looked at my mother like "Isnt she sooooo cute ?".
Of course in her position she had little choice but to give a half smile in return.
I have no hesitation in telling kids to cover their mouthes if the parent doesn't. It's rude and I don't want to get sick. Had a child in a cart coughing it's guts out in a store a few weeks ago. Standing right next to me in the bargain movie bins at Squal*Mart. I waited from the mother to break from her comatose flailing through the bins to say something, and when she obviously wasnt going to I told the kid she needed to cover her mouth because she was going to make customers & employees (especially employees as they have no escape from the constant germ-sharing) sick.
The mother never said anything. I don't think she understood english. She probably thought I was telling her kid she was cute. NOT.
Honestly I think it's deplorable that any Union would prevent employers to tell an obviously sick employee to go home. If employees get x amount of paid sick days then they should be forced to save them for only when sick. If they are in a union where they can save up sick days to the day they die or retire then they should be forced to use sick time. If more employees would bring this problem to their Unions it would get resolved. I bet those employees who come in sick and have accrued sick time are refusing to use it to bank those hours thinking they will get paid for all that time. I know it helps to have time saved up when looking for a promotional but this it does get ridiculous.
Now having said that I also think an employer should first make sure the employee has already taken time to get to the Doctor before coming in coughing and sneezing all over the place. What gets me how people will wait until a week before going to the Doctor and by that time they have already infected at least half the office and I see they aren't getting enough let alone any work done when sick like that. They make a lot more mistakes when they come in so sick, run down and miserable like that. I have no problem with coming in with a little sniffle or a little dry cough but when they are so severely sick they can't stop coughing to the point where they can't even swallow, stop sneezing and can't even catch the sneeze with a Kleenex instead of sneezing all over the place, with their filthy germs and saliva splattering all over, then they should be told go to the Doctor and stay home a few days.
Using too many antibiotics at home I think is going too far but when at work or in public places it is necessary. We can't use enough in public and that includes at work. There are entirely too many employees who don't wash their hands after going to the bathroom, the public included. So to me we all can't use enough antibacterial cleaners or bleach and water enough at work. I used to get sick all the time when I had to share a phone with other employees. I swear the germs didn't even get the chance to die when I had to use the same phone that, of course, we all know, is right up against my mouth and nose. Add that to working in an office where the vents aren't cleaned enough and the entire building is hermetically sealed, I think that's what it's called, with no opening windows. Not to pick but I noticed smokers tend to get sick much much more often than non smokers. Smokers get a lot of colds and flu and it's worse when they have to run out in the winter to smoke.
We have a really screwy sick leave policy where I work. A small portion of our accrued "personal time off" (vacation, appointments) goes into a separate medical bank. However, we cannot touch the medical bank until after 24 hours of using PTO first. Nobody wants to use their vacation hours unless really necessary, so yes, most of us work when we have the crud.
I'll never forget when one of the managers went to work with a fever a few days before I and my husband left for New Orleans. By then I was already feeling a bit peaked but with running ourselves ragged in the Big Easy I ended up getting pneumonia. It was horrible. One thing I will not take to work is a fever.
The sick leave policy backfires in another way, too. For those who don't mind using up 24 hours of their time they'll be out ill for a week. There is a manager who does this often.
I blame the fact that people are constantly cleaning their hands with anti-bacterial soaps and hand cleaners. Clorox wiping everything down constantly. In other words, people have become too clean. It's good for your immune system to be hammered on by viruses and germs. I personally never blame others for making me sick. The bugs are in the air, you could have picked it up anywhere.
My Mom lives alone so how does she get the flu? But she still get's it. My sister brings her groceries and mail but still Mom get's sick even when my sister doesn't.
I don't use anti-bacterial wipes or soap and I rarely wipe anything down (except to just clean, not for germs). I mean I wash my hands after the bathroom ect--but I think you run and treadmill for your heart and your immune system needs exercise too to remain strong.
Just MHO.
This makes sense to me. While I think it is good to wash your hands and be careful when touching doorknobs,etc. I do think some people over do it and in the long run, it comes back to bite them.
This makes sense to me. While I think it is good to wash your hands and be careful when touching doorknobs,etc. I do think some people over do it and in the long run, it comes back to bite them.
Not me for some of this. I get sick less often since I starte washing my hands more often. that could be because I work with a lot of people from all over. Staph infection is not something to take lightly so i do give everything a good antibacterial cleaning when i can but not everyday, unfortunately. At home I don't feel the need to as often as I do at work.
pullmyfinger, My Mother would always get the pneumonia every single year and I begged to get the shot but damn she would always refuse. Her argument was why she's always home. I finally got her to get the shot and she didn't get it until the one time after a few years she forgot to get the shot and don't ya know she got it. I think, though I'm no expert, that she gets it from the grandkids visiting and I am out and about so who knows what I could be carrying that I bring to her. I used to always and I mean always get sick after giving this one neice I have a kiss. I didn't figure out it was from her until she wasn't around a few times then I thoug wth I always get sick at family functions and now all of a sudden I don't anymore, what changed? that's when I figured it was her. So I waited and sure enough as a bear poops in the woods when I kissed her again at the next family function I got sick again. I haven't kissed her since and am better for it. I swear that girl, much as I Love her, was a carrier of germs. It took a long time and a lot of testing to see it.
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