I'm just curious if anyone else feels they have to be at work even if they're sick? I am sitting here knowing I should call in but feeling like if I do I'll get into trouble... and I started surfing the net and saw a poll that said something like 60% of Americans go to work when they are sick and the main reason is they do not have sick pay.

Well I do get sick pay, but we are sort of conditioned to be afraid to use it. Use it "too much" and you get written up and you don't get your raise for the year. But... what is too much? If the time is there... how can you be abusing it? Hmmm.

Anyway, I was just curious what other people thought on this. I had one job where if you called in sick more than 3 times you got written up. There were people hurling in their garbage cans then going back to work.

I am one of those that wont call in unless I literally can't get out of bed, at previous jobs it was becuase calling in sick was frowned upon. I had one boss in particular who would literally say "Are you sure you're sick, its terribly inconvenient for everyone else"
I've lucked out big time with where Im at, my sick time is paid and accumulates. I can use it if my little guy is sick as well and I need to stay home with him. No one makes me feel bad about it at all, the first time I had to pick my son up from Daycare in mid day I felt awful. I went into my supervisors office and said I just got a call from Jack's dayace, before I finihsed the sentence "Is he alright? If you need to leave to get him just let me know and we will find some one to cover'
How amazing is that?

I think if you have the time banked to use, its not abusing it if you are actually sick. On the flip side, my mother runs a clinic here and has written up employees that have a pattern of calling in sick for long weekends, when they are given a shift they dont like etc. That is understandable in my mind though

if you are ill you should go home, they cant give you a hard time for being off sick for one day. if your boss says anything about it just say you feel really ill and dont want to pass it on to your colleagues.
there was something on the news recently about people too afraid to take sick days incase they get fired, i think its a worldwide thing with the economies and everything

When I worked outside the house, my rule was always to call in sick if I had something that necessitated my being near a bathroom or if I had something contagious. The reason for the former was obvious--it's awfully hard to be out on the sales floor when you suspect you might be sick on a customer--and as for the latter, your boss should be delighted that you keep your germs to yourself.

People who go to work with highly contagious stuff and infect everyone in the office cost companies far more than people who take a day or so off to get over the worst of their illness.

It's appalling to me that more than three times of calling in sick meant a write-up. Call me a big spoiled baby, but I couldn't work under those conditions--not if people were doing that while at work. I can't even hear someone do that without wanting to join in...in fact, just typing about it is making me queasy and I'm going to stop.

Let me put it to you this way...the last firm I worked for did not have sick time. If you were sick, you just took it off and were paid. It was basically unlimited. After I was there for one year they had to actually give us sick time (one week) because I had taken two half days the year before while everyone else had taken a week or more. They felt it wasn't fair to me. However, I must admit that I'm a workaholic so that's why I typically don't call in sick, not because I've ever worked at a place that discouraged it.

It all depends on the number of times you have called in sick? So were in march now, if you've already taken 5 sick days from Jan then I'd be a little worried about taking another one, but if you only do it once in a blue moon I'd say do it. You're sick I'm sure your boss has called in sick before and other people have. It's when you know you're not sick is when you should feel the guilt. But I'm a weirdo sometimes I go in when I'm sick so they can see I'm sick and if I'm not better by the night time I'll call in sick.

depends. I am one of two people who do my job where I live so finding a sub impossible. If I am out on assignment out of my office I will do my job and when it's over I go home. If I am in my office all day I call in sick. I work with many disabled people whom some have respritory issues so I def don't want to spread my germs there.

me me me ......... I come in sick all the time and my DD also has to go to school when sick.... why because of me no other reason.... I get thinking in my own head that the place will fall to the ground or people will think I am lazy or worse yet lying..... not sure why I think that way but I can tell you my mom is the same way.... maybe something I need to explore....

It is sad that the workaholics and the lazy people ruin it for others. The workaholics by having a martar syndrome of the place will fall apart without me and be so selfimportant, pushing thier 'rules' on others, and the lazy people by calling in sick on a long weekend or just because. I am blessed to work at a place that if you are sick you are sick and you don't come in. We don't want all your germs and to get sick from you thinking the world will fall apart if you are not here.
We should not feel guilty for being sick and it is sad some companies don't pay sick time when it is a reality in life.
I am so blessed to work for a department that acutally cares about people after all what else matters?
I do understand if you can't afford to stay home but getting written up, that is the most dispicalble way to treat honest working people.

OOOOOOOHHH NOOOOO... dont go to work sick..thats how everyone else gets sick..because people go to work sick and it spreads and then goes around and around and around..If your sick, you should stay home!!!

I really just hate how some companies have a culture that you are punished for being sick. I think it is far more detrimental to have a sick employee making everyone else sick because in the end, everyone loses.

The employees that call in every other week don't bother me because that doesn't affect me as much as the employee who refuses to call in sick because they have some 7 year streak of not calling in. Well thanks, now we're all sick.

If you're sick, don't go in. Period.

I'm a teacher and I hate, hate, hate when parents send their kids to school sick. I'm not a babysitter. If you're child can't do work, I'm not going to let them just put their head on the desk and sleep all day. I'm calling you and they're going home. To the person who said they send their daughter to school sick: you are absolutely responsible for making other children sick. It is not okay to send your child to school when you know s/he is ill. Thousands of children die each year because of the flu. Be a responsible parent and person and take care of your child at home.

I'm a Practice Manager for an OBGYN clinic. If one of my nurses are not feeling well, I talk them into going home (unless they just can't afford to miss work). If you are sick, you are just increasing the chances of spreading a virus (if that is why you are sick) to other people. Plus you are not productive at work if you are not feeling well. It is also shown that people recover from an illness faster if they rest. If you continue to work, your sickness will likely drag out longer.

I once had an office manager who hated people to be sick. A new girl came in sick, then went to his office to tell him she had to go home. He told her to stick it out a few more hours. She then went back in his office, and when she opened her mouth to say how sick she was, she threw up EVERYWHERE! It was all over her, his desk, his personal carpet. She was mortified, stayed out the rest of the week, came back in with a doctor's note, and started looking for a new job. We lost a really great worker because of his foolish action. The company president heard about it and had him transferred.

Monica, that's kind of funny! He had that coming!

A similar thing happened to me several weeks ago. I had a terrible stomach bug and was told to come in anyway and spent my morning running to the bathroom to throw up. I guess I didn't do a good job of masking the, uh, noises when a particularly important meeting let out. I was sent home on the spot.