I once had a coworker who routinely came to work sick and expecting sympathy. She would slump around the office, whining about her symptoms and generally spreading her germs to anyone who stopped to offer a shoulder to cry on. I politely but firmly refused to enter her office on days when she was clearly ill and she eventually got the hint and started to use her sick leave on appropriate occasions.
People like my coworker are annoying but also a major health hazard. When you review the first symptoms of pneumonia you can see how showing up at the office with what appears at first to be a harmless cold or flu is anything but a minor offense.
In that same office, I had a boss who insisted I get a flu shot each year, probably to help me fend off the sick co-worker next door. It was a strategy that paid off as time and again I sailed right through flu season without so much as a sniffle.
It may feel rude to ignore the wails of the ailing coworker. But it feels a whole lot better than those cold, flu and pneumonia symptoms!
Amy Bowker
(photo credit: en321)
May 27th, 2009 at 9:13 am
I have been in this same situation as well – it is frustrating to have sick coworkers in the office. You run the risk of everyone else getting sick as well, and the company being understaffed! I think that it’s frustrating that some people will use illness as a method of gaining sympathy from coworkers when they should simply stay at home to recuperate. Unless one’s workload is out of control, the sick employee should definitely not be in the office.