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The Death of the Sick Day - Responses


#1

The ability to work remotely has both enhanced and deprived us of our personal time. In many ways, the pleasure of working from home can be wonderful, as does the ability to leave early to attend to children and then finishing up afterward remotely. Even working from home while sick can be nice if one's concern is to avoid making others sick or to hasten recovery for other types of illnesses. That said, there does come a time when one really needs to turn off work completely if one needs to recover. I've had a few of those instances, where I grew progressively worse unless I just went to sleep and took a few days.

Even then, there are many people that feel obligated to keep working, tied to their cell phones and some sense of duty. In the worst case, I am reminded of a person at a financial institution, and that person's father, a board member, had passed away. They were still taking calls during his wake, and this as not someone callous and uncaring. It was obvious the father's death greatly troubled them. I thought some people might see that as devotion, but it seemed horrible that they felt obligated to work as their father lay dead.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/style/the-death-of-the-sick-day.html?comments#permid=30086152

#2

@Randall - It's amazing that you have little concern for all the people you could affect, from your coworkers to their families. There are people that have significant illnesses that could be harmed by you. You should read through the comments to see all the concern people have about harming others. That said, it is sad that you are in a situation, or at least it sounds like a situation, where you cannot take a sick day for fear of losing pay.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/style/the-death-of-the-sick-day.html?comments#permid=30085609:30087077

#3

@tiddl - Typically, the flu and colds are passed hand-to-mouth, so someone who is sick only has to touch things that other people touch and those people touching their mouths to their food, to get sick. Honestly, it only takes one sick food employee to infect many, many people.

When sick, I tend to be obsessive about washing my hands, and not touching shared items like food and handles, to avoid infecting others.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/style/the-death-of-the-sick-day.html?comments#permid=30085609:30085942:30087679:30088023

#4

@Chris - Yes, follow my same, slightly obsessive procedures, but do shake hands, and yes, absolutely right about it being kids. Once someone in the family gets sick, then everybody gets sick, including parents. In fact, it was always the parents with young children getting sick. At my previous employer, on some team meetings, it was always a bit of a laugh...

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/style/the-death-of-the-sick-day.html?comments#permid=30085609:30085942:30087679:30088023:30090427:30091096



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