Off work ill

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Guest2

Guest2

Soldato
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There are a number of people where I currently work and previous work places that seem to be constantly off work sick.

In the past 6 of years I think I have had 1 day off and this was a 'sickie' for Summer olympics when I went to London.

Do you think this is down to poor immune systems, because people are more prone to illness or just pulling sickies?

There's a guy off at the moment due a serious problem (understandable he's off) but some just have the odd day every couple of weeks and are then usually in and fine the rest of the week.

It really grinds my gears, especially when other people have to take on their workload
 
Sometimes it depends where you work, once worked somewhere where if one person got sick then so did everyone. Personally I think it was the air conditioner there.

Where I currently work we don't have aircon (the *******s) so the only people off sick seem to be people with recurring/ long term health conditions.
 
At work we use the aircon excuse a lot as a euphemism - i.e. the two people who are sick are sick because they're actually screwing each other.
 
The last company I worked for had a lot of warehouse staff issue's with sickness so they introduced an 8 day a year policy accross the whole company (including us engineers) after which you did not get paid for any more sickness, only SSP applied.
 
Same here... I usually go whole year without any sick time off. Looking at records other members of staff EVERY year take more sickness than annual leave allowance. I know of one guy who always takes at least 30 days sick a year without fail, effectively doubling his holiday.

There are some whole departments who seem to take it in turn to have days off...
 
I ran out of sick days i only get 10 per 12 months. So i have to use up holidays when i want to take a sick day. It sucks but i tend to just stay at home on my holidays unless i am going away on a long break holiday stretch. I should probably make better use of my holidays but id rather not go to work unless i am feeling 100%. I have problem with my noes where i get a lot of sinus infections and just picked up one from the hayfever, i was taking some hayfever tablets now ive taken night and day cold and flu because its gone to my chest. I should be back to work tomorrow though.

I get annoyed with people that come to work sick and then brag about not taking any sick days.
 
I've had one day off in the two years I have worked at my current job, probably should have taken a few more days off when I've been quite ill but I've soldiered through it. There have been two people in my work how seemed to take a lot of time of ill, they ended up getting sacked.
 
Flukester said:
Same here... I usually go whole year without any sick time off. Looking at records other members of staff EVERY year take more sickness than annual leave allowance. I know of one guy who always takes at least 30 days sick a year without fail, effectively doubling his holiday.

There are some whole departments who seem to take it in turn to have days off...
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Same Here!!

I wouldn't take time off unless I had too, which unfortunately was just this when I had my knee Op, put me out for the whole of December - it was as nice break, but I had some catching up to do in Jan.

I used to work with someone similar, he'd call in sick at every opportunity and like you've said, effectively doubling his A/L. ****ed the team right off, but the manager was too soft to take any action. 2 years later, he's still here :rolleyes:
 
I maybe have a couple of days a year at the very most off sick and then it has to be pretty bad for me to bother. If I just feel rough (heavy cold etc) I'll just reschedule my working from home days so that I don't have to inflict it on the office.

One guy I work with is always off sick ... but that's probably because (a) he hates his job and (b) he lives on ready meals so probably doesn't know a vitamin or vegetable if you threw one at him.

I do know people who have been off on long term sick and they normally have genuine reasons (with Doctor and occupational health involvement).
 
Don't you ever pick up sinus infections or get flu or have upset stomachs? I get upset stomachs numerous times a year where id rather not go to work then risk it. It may be my diet, some people never get sick, my dad is like that. Id rather they deduct my pay than have a problem with me taking sick days. That's why if i use up holiday i can relax as don't have to stress about using sick days. Some people say thats a waste of holiday as you should go to work sick and then when you healthy take holidays. I don't use all the holidays when i am sick and i am not that sick that i can't sit at my pc and do what i would normally do if i took a holiday and stayed at home.
 
majority wont be ill. just pulling sickies for the sake of not being arsed to go in. standard.

if you work at a crappy place it is always going to happen.
 
Many people take very bad care of themselves on the insides. Frequent alcohol consumption, lots of crappy fatty/convenience food and sedentary lifestyles. This in itself is terri-bad for people, however add to this the constant bombardment your body faces from airborne droplets containing bacteria, viruses and spores, and you can see how people can fall ill easily.

Certain things are precursors to others in acute illnesses - rubbing your eyes will increase likelihood of conjunctivitis (and you rub your eyes when tired due to dry eyes... so this comes down to sleep deprivation).

Picking your nose, or even just scratching it (insides) is a primary transmission vector for most infections, as the internal membrane is very thin in the nose, and so easy to damage capillary allowing the nasties into your blood stream.

Not washing hands after contact with most things will inevitably lead to your mouth whether you like it or not.

Clearly, personal hygiene is paramount, but where does the boundary reside? Washing hand after handshake? No intimacy with anyone else? etc


You'll find when someone falls ill (genuinely) they become more susceptible to other illnesses. Inclusive in this are depression, stress and sleep deprived - which all can lead to problems with the immune system and inability/laziness with hygiene and eating the right things.

Within the workplace though, I am hugely skeptical over genuine illnesses. The 'Monday morning cold/flu' occurs far too often after an alcoholic weekend; likewise there are people who are bored, don't care or are hypochondriacs who will take time off regardless of what is wrong with them. Some workplaces have policies that if you have a doctor's appointment or treatment note you count as working as per normal during that time, which causes disharmony in the teams, as everyone sees that person arrive late, yet they clock MORE hours (due to starting earlier since commuting to alternative place of work temporarily).

A guy at my old place used to be ill nearly every Monday and Tuesday whilst he did contract work on the side on those days. In 8 days extra a month he more than doubled his normally salary, at work's expense.
 
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Only 1-3 days a year from me for when I have a monster headache or something. I'd feel like I was hindering the team if I was taking days for nothing.
 
anything I don't mind said:
Don't you ever pick up sinus infections or get flu or have upset stomachs? I get upset stomachs numerous times a year where id rather not go to work then risk it. It may be my diet, some people never get sick, my dad is like that. Id rather they deduct my pay than have a problem with me taking sick days. That's why if i use up holiday i can relax as don't have to stress about using sick days. Some people say thats a waste of holiday as you should go to work sick and then when you healthy take holidays. I don't use all the holidays when i am sick and i am not that sick that i can't sit at my pc and do what i would normally do if i took a holiday and stayed at home.
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Vary rarely. I seem to have a stomach of steel and bad food doesn't really affect me personally. I've only ever been bed ridden once other than having my operation. I know others are different but I'd get bored being at home.

If I can get out of bed, I can get to work!!
 
No one does any of my work while i am gone and there is always new work for me when i get back. I end up answering emails on my holidays because i am only going to have to answer when i get back, unless i am on a long break then i ignore my phone. If its just one day holiday and there is a problem i might as well send one email if its going to solve it and prevent a bigger problem to deal with on my return.
 
snips86x said:
Vary rarely. I seem to have a stomach of steel and bad food doesn't really affect me personally. I've only ever been bed ridden once other than having my operation. I know others are different but I'd get bored being at home.

If I can get out of bed, I can get to work!!
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Do you work in the same office as other people? I work in the same office and if my colleagues come to work with a noes infection or flu, i will usually pick it up right away. I wash my hands all the time. Its my noes problem picks up things quick for some reason.
 
anything I don't mind said:
Do you work in the same office as other people? I work in the same office and if my colleagues come to work with a noes infection or flu, i will usually pick it up right away. I wash my hands all the time. Its my noes problem picks up things quick for some reason.
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Yes I do and we have a really bad aircon system which doesn't help. I can normally feel the early signs of picking up a cold of sorts and usually kick if before it manifests into something worse. Plenty of water with 1-2 lemsip will kick it after 2-3 days.
 
Not had a day off sick in years, and in the rare occurrence I am off of work due to sickness, it is always genuine.

That reminds me, I really need to start taking holiday. I've only used 2 days so far this year and we're a tad under half way through!
 
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