Take All Your Sick Days
It’s flu and cold season now, which means some of you will come to work coughing and sneezing. If your workplace does not have adequate paid sick days, this is terrible, and we sympathize with you. If so , then you are obliged to take them in front of everyone, especially in front of people who cannot take sick leave. That’s why your goal this year is to use all sick leave.
As Quartz notes, the flu can be contagious for an entire week, even after the symptoms have subsided. In an ideal world, every employer would tell you to take sick leave until you feel better, and then work at home for a few days until you become less infectious. In the real world, take whatever you can and everyone wins:
- You: You have time to get better, and no one will be offended by you sniffing your nose all day or getting sick of it.
- Your colleagues: They don’t get sick, damn it.
- Your employer: Since no one else is sick, your employer loses less overall productivity.
- People who can’t take sick leave: As Quartz points out, this is a really big question. Some people – freelancers, part-time, 38% of people working in small companies – do not have paid sick leave. If you get sick while you’re on the road, they can’t just sit at home and get the same pay. If you have the privilege of getting paid sick leave, don’t be selfish. Use this.
If you still have sick leaves at the end of the year, fake them . Call the sick. It’s mental health day, whether you admit it to your boss or not. Your employer has budgeted for this. And you normalize sick leave. If everyone on the team takes sick leave from time to time, those who really need it are not stigmatized. Yes, it’s bullshit to make you feel better about lying to your boss. This is bullshit, but it’s also true.
If you are the boss, tell your employees to go home when they are sick. Be firm in everything so that no one tries to be a hero. The employees love it because we don’t have the authority to tell our tablemates to leave and stop sneezing at us. We hope for you, bosses!
Plus, remember that CEO who thanked an employee for a mental health day and went super viral and the entire internet swept over itself to praise this guy for what, frankly, should be normal politics ? What an easy win! Take advantage of this victory and send your employees home during this cold season.