Don't Worry, It's Not the Swine Flu...
How many times have you heard that around the office when someone lets out a cough?
While the person saying this may be joking, coming into the office with so much as the sniffles is increasingly being considered a faux-pas, especially these days when people are freaking out about H1N1.
The general consensus is: if you're sick, stay at home. And if you have deadlines to meet or otherwise absolutely have to get something done, this may be the time to take advantage of your company's telework policy. If you're allowed to work from home in these circumstances, why in the world would you come into the office?
So what happens if you're in a position where it's just not possible to telecommute? In a perfect world, you'd still stay at home and take whatever sick days you need, because management has planned ahead and allowed at least one other person to be cross-trained in your specialization so they can perform your job in an emergency.
But with downsizing and the generally hectic pace in IT, is that reality in the average workplace? Do you feel your company is properly prepared to handle such a situation? Let me know your thoughts....
Sick days? What are those?
Is that because you don’t actually get any sick days alloted to you in the year as part of your employment agreement; because you are so swamped that you feel you can’t take any sick days; or because your boss frowns upon or discourages you from taking sick days?
All valid possibilities, but in my case it’s because we don’t get any alloted.
I agree with Jobsearchtech:
People who are sick really should work from home. Employees who come to work sick are not being considerate of thier fellow workers. For example, I am a 10 year cancer survivor with a compromised immune system. We have an employee who is still fighting cancer, still on a feeding tube, yet he is now well enough to work after 1 year of treatment. What about him? If he gets sick, he could die. Or what about the guy whose son is fighting cancer, if Dad gets sick and brings home the germs, his son could get very sick and possibly die.
In this age of H1N1 issues, your employer should be more considerate of the entire employee population, and allow workers to telecommute.