My coworker is deathly ill and coughing everywhere

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L

Lola

Originally posted by: hungfarover
Originally posted by: LolaWiz
Boy i feel for you.
That is my BIG work-pet peeve. If you are sick, stay home and don't spread germs. :|

and yes, i would call a manager and send his sick-bum home... then spray your work space with Lysol.
I'm going to find out who his manager is. They have the techs (me, us) sitting near the devs (him) and I'm not even sure if he really has a boss. He's just a "hired gun".

*sigh*

perhaps you can approach him in a group (others around him) to tell him to go home?
 

markgm

Diamond Member
Aug 23, 2001
3,291
2
81
Maybe he's working on something more important than what you are. You could also look at it as a way to boost your immune system so you won't be the first to die when Avian Flu hits and kills the rest of us who work at places with a good sick policy and the ability to work from home. :)
 

wheresmybacon

Diamond Member
Sep 10, 2004
3,899
1
76
Originally posted by: LolaWiz
Originally posted by: hungfarover
Originally posted by: LolaWiz
Boy i feel for you.
That is my BIG work-pet peeve. If you are sick, stay home and don't spread germs. :|

and yes, i would call a manager and send his sick-bum home... then spray your work space with Lysol.
I'm going to find out who his manager is. They have the techs (me, us) sitting near the devs (him) and I'm not even sure if he really has a boss. He's just a "hired gun".

*sigh*

perhaps you can approach him in a group (others around him) to tell him to go home?

We've considered this. I work in a very formal oldschool environment, and really I want to see what the whole situation with his employment status (FTE, contractor, temp) is before I do anything.

The other thing is, I really don't think he'd even consider going home if he willingly came to work like this in the first place, short of something from his boss(es). He's sort of an odd guy, to put it mildly.
 

OutHouse

Lifer
Jun 5, 2000
36,410
616
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Originally posted by: child of wonder
Your employer might be more lenient but I once worked for a company and had pneumonia. I got a Dr.'s note saying that I needed to stay home and rest.

My boss didn't care. I was a bad employee for staying home per the Dr.'s instructions and I was put on written warning for missing time from work (my second time home sick in a 3 month span -- the first time I also had a Dr.'s note).

Some places don't care how sick you are, they just want your butt in your chair.

That would piss me off to no end. if an employeer treated me like that I would raise hell and refuse to sign any written paperwork. then go to HR if the company has one and file a complaint then to the health dept to file another. If the company is small and not HR then my boss would hear how loud i can yell.
 

sao123

Lifer
May 27, 2002
12,653
205
106
Originally posted by: child of wonder
Your employer might be more lenient but I once worked for a company and had pneumonia. I got a Dr.'s note saying that I needed to stay home and rest.

My boss didn't care. I was a bad employee for staying home per the Dr.'s instructions and I was put on written warning for missing time from work (my second time home sick in a 3 month span -- the first time I also had a Dr.'s note).

Some places don't care how sick you are, they just want your butt in your chair.

This is the mentality at many businesses today.
 

wheresmybacon

Diamond Member
Sep 10, 2004
3,899
1
76
Wonderful - my boss is out of the office for the next 2 days, so there's basically no way to get anything from management one way or the other on this til then.

I guess I'll just pump myself full of vitamin C and hope for the best.
 
Jan 18, 2001
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1
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Originally posted by: LolaWiz
Boy i feel for you.
That is my BIG work-pet peeve. If you are sick, stay home and don't spread germs. :|

and yes, i would call a manager and send his sick-bum home... then spray your work space with Lysol.

Actually I'd suggest WD-40 that has been ignited... You could probably getthese dumbasses to help you for a 12 of Coors.
 

TruePaige

Diamond Member
Oct 22, 2006
9,874
2
0
Originally posted by: sao123
Originally posted by: child of wonder
Your employer might be more lenient but I once worked for a company and had pneumonia. I got a Dr.'s note saying that I needed to stay home and rest.

My boss didn't care. I was a bad employee for staying home per the Dr.'s instructions and I was put on written warning for missing time from work (my second time home sick in a 3 month span -- the first time I also had a Dr.'s note).

Some places don't care how sick you are, they just want your butt in your chair.

This is the mentality at many businesses today.

That's how it is where I worked last...

If you were really sick they put you in the kitchen so that the customers couldn't see how sick you were.
 

Platypus

Lifer
Apr 26, 2001
31,046
321
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Don't approach him, this is an HR case waiting to happen.

Talk to HR about it and let them (try to)handle it.
 

Vic

Elite Member
Jun 12, 2001
50,422
14,337
136
Originally posted by: sao123
Originally posted by: child of wonder
Your employer might be more lenient but I once worked for a company and had pneumonia. I got a Dr.'s note saying that I needed to stay home and rest.

My boss didn't care. I was a bad employee for staying home per the Dr.'s instructions and I was put on written warning for missing time from work (my second time home sick in a 3 month span -- the first time I also had a Dr.'s note).

Some places don't care how sick you are, they just want your butt in your chair.

This is the mentality at many businesses today.

Only among poor/misguided management, or at understaffed retail/service oriented businesses. Reprimanding an employee who stayed home sick under doctor's instructions is a lawsuit/labor board investigation just waiting to happen (not to mention just bad management practice for reasons I mentioned above, i.e. sick workers are unproductive, bad for morale, and contagious).
Most companies offer paid sick time for a reason. They want you to take it when you're sick.
 

dmcowen674

No Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
54,889
47
91
www.alienbabeltech.com
Originally posted by: child of wonder
Your employer might be more lenient but I once worked for a company and had pneumonia. I got a Dr.'s note saying that I needed to stay home and rest.

My boss didn't care. I was a bad employee for staying home per the Dr.'s instructions and I was put on written warning for missing time from work (my second time home sick in a 3 month span -- the first time I also had a Dr.'s note).

Some places don't care how sick you are, they just want your butt in your chair.

I've had bosses say even my own death would not be a valid excuse to not be in the chair.
 

child of wonder

Diamond Member
Aug 31, 2006
8,307
176
106
In my situation when I was put on a verbal warning the very first time I stayed home sick I thought nothing of it. I wasn't planning on missing any more time and wasn't going to call in sick unless I really truly was.

When I get pneumonia and was put on written warning I became agitated and asked why. At the time, I worked overnights in a call center. From 2am-6am it was only myself and 3 other guys in the center. We each got a call about once every 30-45 mins during those hours so one person being out wasn't a big deal. My boss saw it a different way.

When I got the stomach flu about 2 months later my boss brought me down to speak to HR. He outlined my attendance history (missing work on 3 separate occasions) and the HR lady looked me in the eye and said to me in a voice eerily similar to the boss from Office Space:

"You know.... when I'm sick I still have to come to work."

Apparently even HR didn't care. No matter how sick I was and what a Dr. had to say about it, I was expected to be at work anyway.

I put in my 2 week notice 2 days later since I had a backlog of work at my consulting job that paid over twice as much.

My friend still works for the company and essentially it wasn't company policy to be so strict on attendance, just that my boss was a tiny man on a power trip. This same boss had even told another employee who had been there over 10 years and who missed work once a year on average that if he ever missed time from work without a Dr.'s note that he would be instantly fired.
 

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,844
1,049
126
salaried and unlimited sick days promote good health at the workplace.

hourly workers who need the money at food joints make people sick.
 

wheresmybacon

Diamond Member
Sep 10, 2004
3,899
1
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Originally posted by: child of wonder
In my situation when I was put on a verbal warning the very first time I stayed home sick I thought nothing of it. I wasn't planning on missing any more time and wasn't going to call in sick unless I really truly was.

When I get pneumonia and was put on written warning I became agitated and asked why. At the time, I worked overnights in a call center. From 2am-6am it was only myself and 3 other guys in the center. We each got a call about once every 30-45 mins during those hours so one person being out wasn't a big deal. My boss saw it a different way.

When I got the stomach flu about 2 months later my boss brought me down to speak to HR. He outlined my attendance history (missing work on 3 separate occasions) and the HR lady looked me in the eye and said to me in a voice eerily similar to the boss from Office Space:

"You know.... when I'm sick I still have to come to work."

Apparently even HR didn't care. No matter how sick I was and what a Dr. had to say about it, I was expected to be at work anyway.

I put in my 2 week notice 2 days later since I had a backlog of work at my consulting job that paid over twice as much.

My friend still works for the company and essentially it wasn't company policy to be so strict on attendance, just that my boss was a tiny man on a power trip. This same boss had even told another employee who had been there over 10 years and who missed work once a year on average that if he ever missed time from work without a Dr.'s note that he would be instantly fired.

Are you sure this wasn't a dream or a story from back in the 20's? Man that is outrageous.
 

child of wonder

Diamond Member
Aug 31, 2006
8,307
176
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Originally posted by: hungfarover

Are you sure this wasn't a dream or a story from back in the 20's? Man that is outrageous.

Nope.

Lodgenet in Sioux Falls, SD, during the last half of 2005.
 

wheresmybacon

Diamond Member
Sep 10, 2004
3,899
1
76
Originally posted by: child of wonder
Originally posted by: hungfarover

Are you sure this wasn't a dream or a story from back in the 20's? Man that is outrageous.

Nope.

Lodgenet in Sioux Falls, SD, during the last half of 2005.
Wow. I'm not doubting you at all I just find that incredible. I bet morale was great there. ;)
 

TruePaige

Diamond Member
Oct 22, 2006
9,874
2
0
Originally posted by: rh71
salaried and unlimited sick days promote good health at the workplace.

hourly workers who need the money at food joints make people sick.

Being young I've had a lot of crum jobs, some paying better than others.

Shoveling gravel (paid well but hurt) for example...


But at food joints and retail I've always had bosses tell me to come in or don't ask for any decent hours.

So it was either come in sick and get a good check, or work leftover shifts and try to make ends meet.

Not our fault we come in sick. =(
 

Fritzo

Lifer
Jan 3, 2001
41,920
2,161
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It may be an alergy cough. I have that right now, have had it for two weeks. My lungs itch and I cough about every 10 minutes. It's not bad, but antihistimenes don't seem to help :( "Hayfever induced bronchitis" is what my doctor called it. it goes away after the pollen season.
 

child of wonder

Diamond Member
Aug 31, 2006
8,307
176
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Originally posted by: hungfarover

Wow. I'm not doubting you at all I just find that incredible. I bet morale was great there. ;)

When you add in the fact that they gave a max of 2% yearly raises (if at all)... yeah, morale kind of sucked. lol
 

miri

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2003
3,679
0
76
Some people do not get sick days and cannot afford to miss 1 or 2 days.

I worked when I was sick this past winter, we do not get sick days.
 

LeiZaK

Diamond Member
May 25, 2005
3,749
4
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I am a contractor and therefore do not get any sick days or personal days or what have you... When I am sick, I come to work. My family depends on it. I can't afford to stay home without pay just because I have a touch of the flu.
 

MobileLoser

Member
Mar 3, 2007
126
0
0
I am also a contractor. Missing work not only causes me to lose money but also a chance to become a full employee (after all, that's what a contractor wants) due to lost productivity and time out.
 

Coolone

Senior member
Aug 18, 2001
983
0
0
Thats pretty asinine of him not to take a break. He could save everybody a lot of trouble if he just had his head screwed on tight