When you wake up sick, how do you know when you would be considered a malingerer by staying home or when you would be considered a jerk by going to work? Here’s some advice from experts to help you decide:
1) Grab the phone if you’re contagious. Misery loves company, but only jerks find joy in spreading illness, especially at day-care centers, nursing homes, and cancer wards. According to Michael Bagner, MD, a physician at St.Luke’s/Roosevelt Hospital in New York, a minor illness for you could be fatal to someone very young, very old, or otherwise vulnerable.
2) Call in sick if you would be a legitimate danger to other people. If you have a headache or earache, you won’t kill anyone sitting at your computer. But if you’re sitting at the wheel of a truck or bus or at the controls of an airplane, an earache could be very dangerous, especially if you have to take medicine that makes you drowsy. Dr. Bagner says to do everyone a favor in such cases and stay home.
3) Call in if you can’t do your job. This can be tough to decide, especially if you haven’t had your job for long and would get canned if you missed several days in a row, which is common in manufacturing. Staying home for a day or two, however, may sometimes be the smart thing to do. Paula Harvey, a human resources consultant and professor at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC, says, “Sometimes people come back too soon and they get even sicker and wind up staying out longer.”
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