Do you force yourself to go to work when you're sick?
By themdno
@themdno (402)
United States
August 12, 2009 9:06pm CST
So, my dad always taught me to just deal with being sick, and always go to work, no matter how bad you feel. But, some tell me that it's not right to do that, as it gets your coworkers sick as well.
So, my question is, is it more important to do your job and risk getting others sick, or would you just stay home, until you're better?
Personally, I do feel that I should always be there. Everyday I miss makes me look bad, I've never met a boss that would be glad I stayed home. Even if it was to stop everybody from getting sick.
1 person likes this
15 responses
@xtinelee (3371)
• Singapore
13 Aug 09
I do. Because of the nature of my job, I have to force myself to work even when I am feeling very sick. Of course with the recent H1N1 flu going about, we should really be socially responsible, and stay at home to rest if we have flu like symptons. Well, for me, if I am absent from work, my workload for that day falls on other people, and my boss really has a way of making people feel bad. So yup...
1 person likes this
@lulumartin (963)
• Germany
13 Aug 09
Hi, themdno.
It depends on which type of sickness i have. If i have the symtomps of flu, i will definitely not go to work as i have to be responsible for myself and others, especially everybody is scared of H1N1 now. I do not want to take risks to spread the virus to others.
@themdno (402)
• United States
13 Aug 09
That's true, the H1N1 virus makes it more difficult. Even if you could tough it out, you really shouldn't in that situation. I'll be sure to tell my Dad about that, he wouldn't think twice about going when he had the flu.
I respect that because he goes to work when he really does not want to, but there should be a limit to that.
@angelajoy (1825)
• Philippines
13 Aug 09
I don't go to work when I am sick. I don't think my employers want me to go to work even if I am sick because they wouldn't have given me sick leaves if they did. No matter how good my job is, my health should come first. I don't live to work. I work to live.
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
13 Aug 09
themdno hi my parents also taught me the work edict, and I seldom went home when I was sick. but one day I felt really sick and had a pain in my side.I kept working til suddenly the library spun, I dropped the book i was shelving , and the next thing i knew I was in our employees lounge on the sofa. My boss came in and said she was sending me home, and Loretta would take me home in her car.so next day I saw my doctor who sent me for an mri. two days later I found out I had gallstones.so I ended up having surgery.
@mikeysmom (2088)
• United States
13 Aug 09
unless i have a fever i go to work no matter what or of course if i am in some kind of unbearable pain. other than that i trudge on through. in this day and age you have to be even more reliable because there is a line of people just waiting to take your job.
@doryvien (2284)
• United States
13 Aug 09
No, I don't force myself to go to work when I'm sick unless there is something urgent that can't be done by my co-worker, or can't wait for me on the next day. When one is sick, forcing himself to work is counter-productive because since he doesn't feel well, he normally will not be himself, may be agitated and lose focus - which may result in failure to deliver the quality of job expected of him. it could result in an output that is mediocre and probably the job has to be done again. So if one is sick he should stay home, take a rest and hopefully, on the next day he will have fully recovered and revived, and will be able to work at his best.
@Angelgirl16 (2171)
• United States
13 Aug 09
Whether I go to work sick depends on how contagious I am. I think it is unfair to go to work sick if I am going to contaminate the entire workplace. I know that alot of people work at jobs that don't offer sick day pay and think they can't afford to miss a day of work. Your illness will probably get worse if you don't take a day off to rest, then you will be off for a longer time, may even lose your job.
@themdno (402)
• United States
13 Aug 09
That's true, I didn't even think about playing catch up the next day. I think most of the time it's best to tough it out, especially depending on how important your job is.
You might have a job where other people can pick up the slack for you when you're home, but if you have a more important job, that only you can do, I think you should tough it out.
@virusxtreme24 (805)
•
13 Aug 09
I do my best to go to work, sick or not. But it's not very courteous to the co-workers, as I don't want to get them sick as well. However, whenever I miss a day of work I feel like i'm missing out on a lot, and I'm being a bad employee.
@themdno (402)
• United States
13 Aug 09
See, that's my problem. I don't want it to look like I can't handle coming in when I don't feel well, but at the same time I don't know if it's doing more harm than good.
I usually try to tough it out, but I'll also stay home if I know I'm not going to be very productive.
@maikarumike (458)
• Malaysia
13 Aug 09
I don't usually force myself to go work when I am sick because it is not that advisable too. I would rather take a rest at home and heal faster rather than going to work and heal later. Furthermore, if we go to work when we are sick, we might infect others too and the rest will get sick. You must be considerate when thinking of going to work when you are sick.
