Are you too sick to go to work? Here's how to tell
One in six will go to work no matter how serious their symptoms, according to a recent poll by job-search company Monster.
The survey also found that nearly 50 per cent of Canadians feel guilty calling in sick, while 53 per cent only take a sick day if their symptoms are severe, potentially dragging out their illness and infecting others.
Just 20 per cent of ailing Canadians will stay home no matter what.
And with a new Washington Post column calling people who go to work when sick just plain reckless, there’s more attention to the fact that working through your illness could really harm others.
When you’re sick, there’s a fine line when it comes to deciding whether to go into the office. You don’t want to be a wimp, but you also don’t want to infect anyone else. So what are the rules when it comes to working while you’re sick?
“Common sense are the two most important words I can use,” says Dr. John Murray, a physician in Ontario. “If you’re feeling crappy and you drive a school bus it’s probably not a great idea to go to work. But if you work by yourself on a computer and feel like you can do your work, you’re probably going to be OK.
“Everybody has their own idea of what sick is,” Murray adds. “I have people coming into emergency saying ‘I’m so sick,’ and they’re chatting with their friends and dancing in the hallways. ‘You are not sick.’”
He says people need to ask themselves this: what are the dangers to myself and to others?
If you operate construction equipment and could get hurt on the job, it’s best to stay home. If you aren’t around other people at work and can function, it’s probably fine to go in.
“It all depends on what your job is, what the environment is, and what you’ve got,” Murray says. “Generally speaking, if you have a fever, you’re probably not feeling particularly well and will probably stay home, but a fever alone is not an absolute criterion to stay home. It depends on what you’re doing: if you have a low-grade temp but you’re working by yourself in an office and really want to get a project done, I would probably say ‘I’ll take some Tylenol and if I start feeling really worse I’ll go home.
“But if somebody had an underlying lung disease and had a mild fever, they might say ‘I really don’t want to push it.’”
Keep others in mind too. You’re most contagious at the onset of cold or flu symptoms. “Any time you’re spraying respiratory droplets — you cough on your hand, then shake hands with somebody—you’re exposing others,” Murray says. “Really good hygiene is important: avoid coughing into your hand or wash your hands right away with soap and don’t shake hands. But people don’t do that.”
Check out the above symptom by symptom guide for things to consider when you’re feeling crappy and hesitating about calling in sick, and let us know what you think by commenting below and tweeting @YahooStyleCA!
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