People at work with colds
Discussion
Most colds are actually spread through touching something that someone else has left the 'germs' on, eg a door handle, and then touching your nose, mouth or eyes.
Those hand gel things are a godsend, anecdotally I've caught far fewer colds since using them. Though I'm willing to accept they may be snake oil.
Those hand gel things are a godsend, anecdotally I've caught far fewer colds since using them. Though I'm willing to accept they may be snake oil.
Me and a mate were talking about this at the weekend because I dragged myself in whilst feeling awful last Thursday and Friday and still don't feel right now.
He asked why I didn't I take the whole week off? Sadly because I'm in a probationary period in a new job I would need a doctors note and won't get a bonus if I have days off. He reckoned it was mad and at his work the staff are allowed 3 instances of 5 days off per year with no doctors note and not so much as a meeting with hr on return. Hence he describes it as 15 extra free holiday days and the general view is only a fool would take 1-2 days off as you may as well take the full 5.
I thought that approach was madness and yes it gets completely abused as people even plan their sick leave.
He asked why I didn't I take the whole week off? Sadly because I'm in a probationary period in a new job I would need a doctors note and won't get a bonus if I have days off. He reckoned it was mad and at his work the staff are allowed 3 instances of 5 days off per year with no doctors note and not so much as a meeting with hr on return. Hence he describes it as 15 extra free holiday days and the general view is only a fool would take 1-2 days off as you may as well take the full 5.
I thought that approach was madness and yes it gets completely abused as people even plan their sick leave.
AJB88 said:
If people stayed at home every time they had a sniffle there would be nobody at work.
Pretty much this. I seem to have a cold more often than not. I have a dust allergy and 2 young kids at home who are building up their immune system sharing everything with other school kids.If I avoided work whenever I had a cold, I'd probably only be working for a few weeks in summer! I agree hygiene should be paid attention to in the workplace though. Have a word with colleague and ask him to cover mouth/blow nose into tissues etc. It's common decently if anything else.
zarjaz1991 said:
Most colds are actually spread through touching something that someone else has left the 'germs' on, eg a door handle, and then touching your nose, mouth or eyes.
Those hand gel things are a godsend, anecdotally I've caught far fewer colds since using them. Though I'm willing to accept they may be snake oil.
I saw a programme on these a while ago, when tested they got rid of a similar amount of bacteria to soap but I guess it's easier for people to use hand gel than wash their hands.Those hand gel things are a godsend, anecdotally I've caught far fewer colds since using them. Though I'm willing to accept they may be snake oil.
We can WFH and I much prefer people with colds to do that than bring it in and share it around. The other thing that work do is provide free flu jabs. A few years ago our open plan office was left looking like a ghost town after flu swept through the building.
As a side note, when people say that you can't get out of bed when you have flu, have a quick read of the below article. It seems that the majority of flu infections don't cause any symptoms but you can still pass the virus on. You need to avoid sick and healthy people
.
https://www.jwatch.org/na34017/2014/03/20/most-inf...
As a side note, when people say that you can't get out of bed when you have flu, have a quick read of the below article. It seems that the majority of flu infections don't cause any symptoms but you can still pass the virus on. You need to avoid sick and healthy people
. https://www.jwatch.org/na34017/2014/03/20/most-inf...
V8 WUU said:
If I called in sick because of a simple cold, I think I would be called a big girl and laughed at for weeks........
Things may be different for you precious office workers
Ahhh some subtle sexism and then a dig at anyone who doesn't do manual labour, coorrrrr you're a real man Things may be different for you precious office workers
anonymous said:
[redacted]
When I have anyone around me who comes in 'braving' a cold, I just tell them that either they go and find another desk to work from out of contagion from me, and if they won't then I will just move elsewhere in the building (booking a meeting room or somewhere for a few days to work from). No-way am I going to suffer because some t
t thinks it clever to come to work and spread their germs around.A colleague had a cold last Monday...she spent two days in a car with two others. They then got a cold.
It's gone round the office with nine of us having it. I'm waking up with a bit of a sore throat but so far holding off!
Hasn't helped this week has been spent getting close and personal in our personal safety lessons!
It's gone round the office with nine of us having it. I'm waking up with a bit of a sore throat but so far holding off!
Hasn't helped this week has been spent getting close and personal in our personal safety lessons!
I can certainly empathise with this annoyance. To some these things are "just a whatever", but for some of us picking these things up can be much worse.
I suffer with Crohns Disease and my meds suppress my immune system. With colds I just try and keep my distance and use hand sanitiser. We all get the sniffles from time to time and that's given, but our place seems to have quite a number of people coming to work in much worse states, as if we cant survive without them. Just last week a colleague of mine came in having picked a virus up off his kids. On the 3rd day of him getting progressively worse he got the hint that he should sit it out at home. Our place does pay sick pay, and has a reasonable system in place to keep players at a minimum.
It's a distinct lack of consideration.
I suffer with Crohns Disease and my meds suppress my immune system. With colds I just try and keep my distance and use hand sanitiser. We all get the sniffles from time to time and that's given, but our place seems to have quite a number of people coming to work in much worse states, as if we cant survive without them. Just last week a colleague of mine came in having picked a virus up off his kids. On the 3rd day of him getting progressively worse he got the hint that he should sit it out at home. Our place does pay sick pay, and has a reasonable system in place to keep players at a minimum.
It's a distinct lack of consideration.
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