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ajc.com > Health

Sick with the flu? Employers say 'stay home'
Working while sick can cause more harm than good

By HELENA OLIVIERO
holiviero@ajc.com
Published on: 02/26/08

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.

Spreading the news: How a flu moves
• Studies show that a person can infect others from about one day prior to becoming sick to about five days after they develop symptoms. They are generally most contagious when they have a fever.
• The flu is spread through droplets coughed and sneezed into the air — up to three feet. The droplet hangs in the air. You breathe it in, and it's gotcha time.
• Sneezing away from someone only flings it toward your other colleagues. Best to sneeze into a Kleenex, not your hands.
• It can also be picked up when droplets fall on a hard surface like a computer or copy machine, where the germ can stay active for a few minutes.
• It's also spread through hand-to-hand contact. When it doubt, get to the sink, or better yet, rub alcohol-based sanitizer which is more effective than scrubbing your hands with soap and water for 60 seconds. "And who washes their hands for 60 seconds? No one," says Dr. Robin Dretler, an infectious disease specialist at DeKalb Medical Hospital.
Source: CDC and Dretler.
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• Close, but not enough: This year's flu shot doesn't cover all strains.
• Better luck next time: Feds prescribe new recipe for flu shot...next year.
• Still need a shot?: Check out these locations for a flu shot.
• More health headlines

"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."
Comments

By ×â³µ¹«Ë¾

Mar 30, 2008 8:56 AM | Link to this

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By Realistic

Feb 29, 2008 11:38 AM | Link to this

The truth is a majority of employers still frown on anyone calling in sick. They say you should stay home if you are sick, but you are looked poorly on if you do call in sick. Most employers need to lighten up.

By Suckers

Feb 28, 2008 1:44 PM | Link to this

I get a bad case of the 'Flu' right about Spring time every year and the weather in the Bahamas or some other sunny beach seems to be the only way for me to recover.
Cough cough cough.

By Beth

Feb 27, 2008 10:48 PM | Link to this

I very, very rarely get colds, the flu, or any communicable bug. I did have pneumonia over the summer right as I was going on vacation, and I tried to attend a seminar anyway, and ended up being wheeled to the infirmary, who then tried to send me to the hospital.

When I'm ill, it tends to be an issue with a major organ. Kidney this, liver and pancreas that -- I'm not even 30 yet, but I've got some fallout from conditions that hit me as a teenager.

Still, I agree with the posters who say that the workplace will carry on without us. I know this, but I was still raised with a hardcore work ethic. I have to be in the ER or admitted to the hospital -- for the most part -- in order to call in to work, and that's not always a guarantee. I've come in to work with the IV dressing from a night of fluids in the ER [and sometimes I'll take the IV out myself, if my discharge is ill-advised]. I've been called at work by my doctor's office demanding that I high-tail it to the hospital.

It's not that I don't trust my doctors -- I do. And I'm not overly stubborn, but I'm not blind to the state of the economy and health care in America. My thing is, if I ain't got no more job, I ain't got no more health benefits, understand? I know the office can do without me, but I prefer to make sure that my team is set and situated before I take a timeout for the ER or the hospital. They can say what they want, but at least they can't say that the cute girl with the screwed up organs is the weak link.

By HC

Feb 27, 2008 4:20 PM | Link to this

Our employer does not issue sick days, you must use your earned personal time off. Oh well, I was sick at work over 3 weeks, accomplished little and exposed just about everyone on our floor. So much for the company saving money.

By Blkshepherd

Feb 27, 2008 4:05 PM | Link to this

My motto is, If I died the agency will Continue as if nothing happened. I am a fed gov.worker. I have sick many sick hours. I come to work generally 5days a week. Should I arise at 3:00am and feel like absolute crap..chance are two and a half later I wont be feeling any better. Yes, I call my asst.or office manager and Tell them to put me on 8hrs sick leave and I will see them the next day. end of conversation. My Boss is NOT in charge of my health. I determine if I am too sick to come to work not my boss or co-workers. I took my flu shot and have had a few sniffs. I stayed home yesterday because I was bone tired and slept most of the day. I am only concerned about My health and Not concerned how the company/agency will fare without me..trust me that Fair just fine without me. Not one of us is so much that the show cant go on without us. Just remember when You die, or should you die, someone will be sitting right where you sat for X years? And guess what? No one will even mention your name about 2weeks after your gone. Your new replacement will not even know you were ever there, and after about a month, your own co-workers will forget you ever worked there! Take care of yourselves folks..if your sick stay home, the show Will go on without you.

By BB

Feb 27, 2008 2:30 PM | Link to this

My boss required five days notice if I am out sick. One occurance will lower my performance rating. I come in sick.

By B in Roswell

Feb 27, 2008 12:10 PM | Link to this

I agree. Please stay home. I learned the hard way after decades of trying to work while sick. I got very sick last year from a co-worker and tried to go to work because "they really needed me." I then got much sicker and it took twice as long to recuperate. I eventually missed 2 weeks of work.

By Alex

Feb 27, 2008 12:04 PM | Link to this

I have the same issue with school. I am working on my Master's degree and the schools policy is that 3 x's absent results in a drop in letter grade. To me this is rediculous. I don't feel I should be sitting in class with this flu virus, but I have no choice since I already missed one class and still have 3 months left to go.
This flu takes a good week plus to recover from. Mine started over a week ago and I am coughing as if I smoked! It's awful!

By Stayed Home

Feb 27, 2008 11:25 AM | Link to this

I don't know about you all, but when I caught this flu bug, I COULD NOT work and I work at home. There is no way I could have dragged myself into an office. This is a bad, bad bug.

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