Stay Home or Go To Work Sick

For me, getting sick means that I won’t go into my home office. I will release hours that I scheduled myself to work and that is the end of it for me. However, those with low-income jobs or those who are just starting a career position with no leave available must decide between their health and their pay.

The current labor shortage is also increasing the pressure on workers to decide if they should show up to work sick because they can’t afford to stay home. The shortage has prompted some employers not to give concern to those factors. Staffing becomes depleted as people are out sick. This causes those who are on the job to do more to cover those missing staff members. It also contributes to employees being reluctant to call out sick when to do get ill.

I have a friend that called me to report that he was experiencing COVID symptoms and was scared because he had just started a new job. He asked me what he should do. I informed him to contact his supervisor and express his concerns about his symptoms and advise that he schedule to get tested for COVID. He did just that. He notified his supervisor. The supervisor told him that he would qualify to get paid sick days if the COVID test returned positive. But the test is negative, my friend would have to accept days without pay because he had not built up enough sick time. His test came back negative and he told me that he was trying to do the right thing but now it has cost him a large amount of money.

Some people actually go to work ill because they feel they have no other choice. It is best for everyone ultimately to stay home if you are sick. You will have to accept the lost of funding if you don’t have the leave available to cover your time off. While it truly seems challenging to accept days without pay, it is best for you and for your co-workers.

Have a great day!!!