Back in December 2004 I posted about something called presenteeism? It’s the opposite of absenteeism and it’s all about people who insist on heading into work when they’re sick.
At the time I wrote that a study had found that people who don’t take time off when they’re sick may be setting themselves up for a heart attack. Scary stuff.
Fast forward to the first day of the Australian Winter we’re being told once again about the benefits of staying home when we’re sick.
This article at NEWS.com.au tells us that Sydney virologist Peter White says staying at home when you pick up a cold is a better strategy than spreading colds in the workplace, sending more people home sick or reducing their ability to concentrate.
In a survey of 547 Australian adults, Dr White found 94 per cent of Australian workers admitted they still turned up for work with cold and flu symptoms although 85 per cent admitted thinking about the risk of passing on their illness.
Dr White said 53 per cent of workers surveyed believed that having a cough or cold was not a serious enough illness to take a sickie. However 79 per cent of respondents found it harder to concentrate at work when they had a cold.
When workers show up to work ill they run the risk of passing on their illness to other workers. Their own work also suffers for a longer period. While they feel that they’re doing the right thing, the right thing is usually to take a few days off to recover and then to head back to work at full strength.
Some research has shown that presenteeism is costing business far more than absenteeism.
I guess we all need to listen to our bodies and rest when our bodies tell us to.
What do you do when you’re sick. Do you take time off so that you can be back to 100% a lot quicker or do you tend to soldier on?
What’s your boss like when it comes to taking dys off? Do they only allow you to take time off upon presentation of a death certificate or do they see the value in looking after the health of staff?
What’s your attitude to co-workers who insist on working while sick and spreading the love around?
Posted by Rodney Olsen
Technorati Tags: Sickness – Presenteeism – Flu
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Hi Rodney!It’s been awhile since I’ve visited; but it’s always like a breath of fresh air over here!
When I feel a cold coming on, I will take a little time off so I can make sure I get plenty of sleep. That usually does the trick. Why let yourself, or make yourself, get sick?
It depends on what my schedule is like whether I take a sickie or not. If I’ve got a cold and nothing very important on at work that cannot be covered by others, then I’ll take a sickie. But there was a patch last year where I had a cold/flu thing last year and I soldiered on because work was so busy at that time of year.
I don’t look down on workmates who come to work sick but I don’t admire them for their presenteeism either. I usually gently suggest they ask the boss if they can go home and get some rest. Sometimes I say ‘keep away’ jokingly to sick people. I can handle being around people with colds but if they’ve got gastro or some nauseous bug I don’t want to be anywhere near them.
Phew, just caught up with all the posts I’ve missed over the last week or so. What a lot of interesting stuff you can write about! wHaO!
BTW: I loved your segment today with Jill. I laughed a lot too. Great work Rodney!
What I do is to stay away from a colleague who comes in having a cold
I like to go to work when I am sick, just so I can “share the wealth.”
🙂
I used to work in the same room as a guy who never used sick leave in 40 years. He would go to work when sick, then I and others would inevitably catch his germs. Whereas he didn’t suffer much with a common cold, the same simple germs would knock me out for a week with a risk of it becoming bronchitis. Needless to say, that guy wasn’t respected much for sharing his germs.
He retired with over 400 accrued unused sick days. What reward or thanks did he get for soldiering on so diligently? None at all.
This is one (of the many) reasons I started homeschooling my children. Parents who couldn’t be bothered to take of work sending their sick children to school. Apparently my son had no defenses at all, and would come home ill and then pass it on to the rest of us. One month, the doctor/medicine bills from such a scenario went up to $500 for the three of us.
I don’t think people sick should go to work or school. Stay HOME, get WELL.
When I am sick, I sleep my day away. Staying at home.
Hi, it has been quite a while that I have visited your cyber home. Not sick, just a little busy.
But, I have had three days of rest now, another one to go. Not sick, we have a stretch of holidays for celebrations – one of the tribes’ harvest/new year and King’s birthday!
It’s a blessing to have a rest when you are not sick!
Thanks for sharing.