When Sandra Banther sheepishly called in sick recently, she felt guilty her colleagues would have to cover.

Her boss had bigger concerns — Banther's flu bug circulating the office, clinging to phones, copy machines and bathroom doors with every ah ah ... choo!

"My feeling is if you are sick, please stay home," said Nicole Jackson, manager of the Call Center at Dekalb Medical Hospital. "I'd rather one be out instead of three or four. She stayed home for the whole week. And I was glad."

The guilt of abandoning ship or leaving your team hanging can be so severe in Cubicle Country that we sometimes pick our sick selves out of bed, grab a packet of TheraFlu and mope our way to the office. Especially when the office population has been decimated with sickness.

"I used to be one those people that thought, if you are sick, just go home. I hated it when people came to work sick," said Ryan Klee, a 27-year-old marketing executive. "And yes, I'd rather be resting, but sometimes you just have to suck it up and take some medicine and get it done."

Klee is sick and at work, but he's quarantined himself in his office, keeping his door shut and avoiding face-to-face chats with co-workers.

Up against a tight deadline for Georgia Cancer Foundation's 25th "Celebration of Life" event featuring Vince Dooley, Klee faces meetings and a pile of papers. He says taking a couple days off was just not an option.

And Klee's not the only one sick, either.

"I told a co-worker on Friday, 'You look like death, you should go home,'" he said. "I guess I should be saying that to myself."

The flu season — now in its peak — has seemed particularly rough this year following a couple mild years, according to state public health officials. Doctors are reporting twice the number of confirmed cases compared to last year, according to state officials. Making matters worse, this year's vaccine is believed a dud — a good match for only about 40 percent of flu viruses. Typically, a flu shot is effective for 70 to 90 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

But even facing inevitable sick-time losses, some employers now challenge a culture that values presence at all costs.

Partly because corporations have realized there is a cost and partly because sick employees often have enough tools at home to tackle truly necessary work. A 2004 Harvard Business Review report estimated "presenteeism" — sick employees coming to work — costs the U.S. economy $150 a billion per year. Sick workers' performance falls and they pass illness to co-workers.

Computers, high speed Internet and the access to "work e-mail" allow employees to keep plugging away —but at a safe distance. But they can also nap, rest and keep their germy sneezes to themselves.

And, there's no guilt.

"We don't want people coming in getting other people sick and with technology today, your computer looks the same whether you are at home or in the office," said Bob Angrisani, chief operating officer of the Atlanta Allergy & Asthma Clinic. "Who cares where you are getting it done or when you are getting it done as long as you get it done."

Workplace experts say the push to keep sick employees home is part of a larger emphasis on preventative care which can include onsite flu shots, free gym memberships and setting up hand sanitizer stations as if they were candy dishes. A new survey by the Society of Human Resource Management found half of companies make hand sanitizer and tissues easily accessible, up from just 6 percent in 2006.

At Georgia Power, weekly e-mails provide tips on avoiding the flu, said Jane Franklin, a project coordinator for Georgia Power. The company reminds staff to wash their hands and to practice, "good coughing etiquette."

Dr. Carolyn Bridges, CDC influenza expert, said staying home and resting is the best way to get over the flu. But she knows people still work sick.

"All we can do is make recommendations to stay home," said Bridges. "But ultimately people have to make their own decisions."