Snap poll: WFH and mild sickness. Still take the sickie?

Take the day off if you feel rough, you won't be working properly anyhow and you'll recover quicker.

Nah, i don't claim sick any more, or overtime.... i just accept these things as the way it is now. My life has plenty of freedom, claiming stuff like that would be taking the piss IMO

I'd do a lazy day - a few hours here and there if theres something I'm keen on sorting, but lots of breaks and rest when I cba.

If it is impacting your ability to concentrate and make good decisions, yes.

WFH-er here too and I _finally_ took time off with covid when I could not concentrate enough to be useful. My boss was, at that point, telling me I should have just taken the time when I found out I had it and started resting, but he knew how badly it can mess you up.

Nah, i don’t claim sick any more, or overtime…. i just accept these things as the way it is now. My life has plenty of freedom, claiming stuff like that would be taking the piss IMO

Christ, glad i work for decent employer. I don't even technically have a working week anymore...

I get loads of freedom, overtime and sick pay. And I'm *expected* to take it.

Christ, glad i work for decent employer.

My employer is awesome and would say the same as yours... but personal preference, says no.

It depends on what your job is, but if there's an accepted level of 'give and take' in your working pattern / hours and you feel you can do enough work to keep things ticking over from your arm chair / bed then I'd take a lazy day (and is what I'd suggest to me team).

If it was up to me I would just work from home as usual - in my mind I'm sat on the couch whether watching TV on a sick holiday or whether on the work laptop - and I don't want to cause a fuss.

However I know the right thing to do is to take it as a sick holiday as I'll recover quicker. And also, sick holidays are there for using. If you don't use your full quota at the end of the year you'll lose them anyway. People have fought for the right of statutory sick pay so may as well use that right.

I have worked from home for years and if I am too sick to work properly I take a sick day. If I am just feeling shitty then I tell the team and only do the minimum. I have never had overtime but more an acceptance that sometimes work requires hours outside the normal working day. Equally there is the acceptance of flex the other way if there is not great demand.

Example - I was on a call from 8pm for 2 hours with the US during a intense planning period. I didn't take time off to drive to Heathrow to pick a friend up which took ~3 hours. Neither case was really discussed with the boss or team beyond 'You alright for an evening call?' and 'Don't book me any meetings before midday on Wednesday'

I'd be telling my team that I'm ill and away from my laptop but if they need anything from me then ping me on slack and I'll try to help.

Lazy day. Crash on the sofa watching TV, check emails/Teams chats for anything simple that you can do. Don't attend any calls. Let people know if it makes a difference to them.

If it is impacting your ability to concentrate and make good decisions, yes.

I should have taken off the last two years.

Depends. Mild cold / sniffles etc. I'd let me boss know I was not on form, but keep an eye on emails, be avail if needed, inter sped with a bit of rest etc.  Anything more where I feel rubbish enough not to concentrate I'd 'call in' sick. Better to do that, wipe nthe calendar clean for the day and pick up when better, only fair to everyone else really. This is my own preference though. Official policy and encouraged is to take the day off as sick if you're feeling rough and I'd be supported to do that.

I generally wouldn't if I am not to bad but that's mainly because of guilt due to my crushing hatred for work at the moment resulting in poor performance.

I took a day off about two months ago when I had a bout of COVID meaning I couldn't open my eyes without blurry vision

Hmm, OK, I've decided on an extremely lazy day (replied to one email so far) on the basis that it's been dragging on too long and if some horizontal time on the couch assists then it's a win-win.

We're cursed in that there is never anyone else to pick up the slack, and ALWAYS some sort of deadline, so basically you can never really afford a lazy day, but screw it 🙄

Since hybrid working has now come in, we say WFH on office days if you are unwell. If not really well enough to work, then take the day off sick. Works out best for everyone, and I don't expect someone who is unwell to be churning out the same work levels.

I've said this before but,

Back when working in an office, the rule of thumb I worked to was "if I go in, will I be any use?" I'm not seeing as WFH is much different, potentially infecting others aside. If you're fit to work then work, if you aren't then don't. I couldn't do a "lazy day," that's just swinging the lead because you'll probably get away with it and I'd feel guilty as hell.

If you weren't WFH, would you be contemplating commuting today?

Is working through a bug at home a sort of trade-off for being allowed to work at home in the first place?

No, that's absolute cobblers.

If you are too sick to work, but well enough to fettle a bike, get back to work you slacker 😉

I tend not to take sick leave unless I am really wiped out. Fever, nausea, vomiting. An hour on the bed in the afternoon for a year post-COVID was never claimed for.

We’re cursed in that there is never anyone else to pick up the slack, and ALWAYS some sort of deadline,

Their lack of resource is not your problem. If it was a genuine concern for the company then they'd hire more staff rather than guilting the existing ones.

Take the sick day if you cannot perform your normal role.

I have a ranking system -

Too ill to commute, but could still work from home
Too groggy to work properly, but could still sit on the sofa in my dressing gown and chew through some easy stuff
Sleep in til noon, maybe logon after lunch
Sick day

Even the 'stay in bed til noon' option is more productive than the pre COVID 'not coming in' option, and often does the trick anyway.

My work have been incredibly flexible over my long COVID, so I do try to work if I can.

People overthink stuff. If you weren't WFH, would you have gone in feeling as you do?

If the answer is yes, work. If the answer is no, don't.

If you are too sick to work, but well enough to fettle a bike, get back to work you slacker

I know you added a smile but it is a attitude some have. From a personal pov I have been too ill to work on computer, as in concentrate, hold a thought for more than 30seconds ect but mowing lawn gently, odd jobs etc with plenty of breaks no worries.

The last time I wrote code with the flu was a complete eye opener.

I felt that I'd been surprisingly productive.

When I reviewed the code that I'd written a week or two later, it was borderline nonsensible.

YMMV

People overthink stuff. If you weren’t WFH, would you have gone in feeling as you do?

If the answer is yes, work. If the answer is no, don’t.

Quite. That's always been my policy. If I feel grim enough that I wouldn't head into the office, I'm sick.

Also, don't underestimate the impact of cognitive loads. When I had long covid, even quite simple stuff like reading or watching TV, seriously, could really hit me hard. Your brain uses a lot of glucose when it's running...

When I reviewed the code that I’d written a week or two later, it was borderline nonsensible.

Yeah, i did that at a previous employer that would *really* guilt you for taking sick days or even holiday.

(Weren't allowed to WFH). So i did a couple of days where i should really have just stayed in bed or on the sofa.

Took about a week to complete the work properly after i'd spent 2 days drooling all over it (metaphorically, not literally)

Having a cold or covid isn't necessarily the end of you being able to work when you are a remote worker - one of the reasons for taking a sick day is not to infect your colleagues, and obviously that doesn't need to be a consideration now.

But otherwise no, WFH isn't a trade off that means you have to work when you are ill! You still need to recover. I've tested for Covid and felt OK so I let my boss and a few others know that I was still working. A few days later I was feeling terrible so I let them know I wasn't working (though I did a couple of meetings that I couldn't be bothered to reschedule) 🤷

Main thing is just to communicate whatever you are doing, if you work somewhere good and you don't feel you are taking the p that should be fine.

I’d do a lazy day – a few hours here and there if theres something I’m keen on sorting, but lots of breaks and rest when I cba.

This is what I'd do.
Drop my boss a message saying to expect very little from me but respond to the odd e-mail and/or do some low key work. I'd only be lying on the sofa in front of a screen if I wasn't working so I may as well be as productive to some degree.

'Sickie' implies to me that you dont really feel thats its justified.

My criteria these when I work from home is, if I still worked in the office would I feel like getting up and going there, and would people want me there.

I tend not to just get slightly ill, I will get nothing for ages and then one thing that absolutely flaws me !

If I’m too ill to go to the office, then I’m equally too ill to work from home. IT bod so not really hard work but does take some brain effort

but that also depends on your ‘Bradford score’. If you’ve already had a lot of sick leave then maybe a WFH day instead.

Works both ways for me, bit of a cold (but wouldn't go into office) then carry on, too ill to do anything then msg in sick. I'm down to 4 days a week but still respond to emails & calls if it suits and consequently have a pretty free reign on my time keeping & getting the odd personal stuff done on official working days.

I'll do what I can, even if its only half a "normal" day, or less taxing tasks. My boss/employer are fine with that.

If it gets to a week, then I'd assume i did need a proper day off

In your situation I'd be off sick and do zero work at all, and tell my direct reports to do the same. One of my team is a "soldier" that bravely insists on sniffling through calls and writing emails - thus prolonging the sickness and low productivity.

If it gets to a week, then I’d assume i did need a proper day off

Have had the 'bug' for almost two weeks which is why I thought drastic action was needed.

Considering I've pretty much slept all day I probably did need it.

The point about 'cognitive load' is a good one, staying off work just to avoid a day of stress and working under pressure was probably the biggest reason for staying off.

Sickie’ implies to me that you dont really feel thats its justified.

Good point, wrong choice of word. I feel it is justified but was worried employers wouldn't 😎

I get loads of freedom, overtime and sick pay. And I’m *expected* to take it.

And also, sick holidays are there for using. If you don’t use your full quota at the end of the year you’ll lose them anyway. People have fought for the right of statutory sick pay so may as well use that right.

That reads like you use sick days as holidays or just extra days off. Is that what you're really allowed to do?

So much of this stuff is about the employer and the relationship. Are they the sort of place that'll deal well with "I am working but not very well so probably not working very well", are they obsessed with sickness algorithms that just try and turn your efforts into stats, etc etc. The shittier they are, the shittier I would be.

If your job has a good degree of flexibility and you feel able to do something work-wise during the day, but perhaps not sustain a few hours at the computer, I'd just have a lazy day and do what you can. My boss has to fill in all sorts of forms and crap if anyone's sick so takes the approach that if you can do something, or are there if anything really urgent comes in, then just take it easy save all the HR hassle. I can't claim overtime (and don't do much anyway), but it all kind of evens itself out over the year with a few odd short days when it's quiet in winter, and the odd day like this.

@MartynS

That reads like you use sick days as holidays or just extra days off. Is that what you’re really allowed to do?

Two different posters, and for me, no. A sick day is a sick day, if i'm off for more than 7 I need Drs note etc etc.

I can have (up to) 60 in a year, more than that and union/occupational health/management get involved. Then it's (effectively) unlimited.

Some companies actually "budget" for x number of sick days per person. So people feel entitled to them.