When Should You Call In Sick?

I'm sitting here at home with a blanket over my lap and a cup of hot lemon tea next to me.  I've been sick for a day or two.  Nothing major... no fever, no swine flu, no flu of any sort.  Just a little tickle at the back of the throat, a few extra sneezes throughout the day, a lingering tiredness.

At my last job, I got 12 sick days a year (seriously, it was awesome - too bad that job didn't pay better!) so I never really thought twice about calling in sick. 

But, I've only been at my new job for three months... it seems too early to be sick.  Especially with so many people out of work - calling in sick seems like a luxury now more than ever.

So, I've been going to work.  But it has me wondering... when should you call in sick and when should you suck it up and go in?  After all, every office has that person who's always sick... you know, the one you joke about every time you get an out of office reply from. ("Oh, surprise, surprise, Susie is sick again!  Is she ever in the office?")  No one wants to be that girl.

However, you also don't want to be the one responsible for creating an office-wide pandemic because you crawled in to work with the swine flu. (We all hate that girl too!)

Before you pick up the phone and call in sick, you need to ask yourself: Are you really sick - or just "don't want to go to work" sick?

You know what I'm talking about.  A friend of mine used to always get "sick" when she had an important presentation to give or knew she was facing a rough day at the office.  That's more likely to be nerves or stress - suck it up and go in.  But, if you have the flu or strep throat or something else contagious, for the love of god, stay home!  We don't want your germs. 

Some good rules of thumb, if you had to go to the doctor, if you're running a fever or if you feel like you can't physically make it to work, stay home.

Comments

[tiredness]

Chronic tiredness can become a vicious circle. If a person feels tired he may avoid most forms of physical activity. He could then become physically unfit and will be even more tired when trying to do something physical.

If your bodyweight is too high or too low for your height you may feel tired because of this. An overweight person's body has to work harder to do everyday things, compared to a person whose bodyweight is normal. A person who is underweight might have less muscle strength and will tire more easily.