Do You Go Sick From Work When You Have A Cold?

[twschw]

We'll have to agree to disagree. Enjoy the remainder of your Sunday guys.

[bungy007]

I notice in our school that quite a lot of the teachers are going sick at the moment. Some people struggle into work despite their sickness, because they know that otherwise somebody else will need to take their classes. I have always been of this second variety. I believe the more you go sick, the more you want to go sick. I actually get a bit irritated when the same people are constantly taking time off for over trivial illness. Am I unfair? Should I be taking to the sickbed too at even the mere suggestion of a sneeze? What do other people think?

I agree with you. However, it I do feel angry if the the Thai staff make a point of freezing out teachers who do take a day or two off when seriously sick. I think it must be difficult for the Thais to work out who swings the lead and who tends to be stoic in the face of difficulties. This is where many of the problems lie.

What do people think about having to repay covered classes by covering the classes of colleagues who covered for you when you were sick? Would this limit the sick days taken?

[Ijustwannateach]

This is from the CDC. You can find it pinned in the Swine Flu sub forum of the Health Forum.

_____________________

What can I do to protect myself from getting sick?

There is no vaccine available right now to protect against swine flu. There are everyday actions that can help prevent the spread of germs that cause respiratory illnesses like influenza. Take these everyday steps to protect your health:

Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.

Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.

Try to avoid close contact with sick people.

If you get sick with influenza, CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

What is the best way to keep from spreading the virus through coughing or sneezing?

If you are sick, limit your contact with other people as much as possible. Do not go to work or school if ill. Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. It may prevent those around you from getting sick. Put your used tissue in the waste basket. Cover your cough or sneeze if you do not have a tissue. Then, clean your hands, and do so every time you cough or sneeze.

_____________________

As an Admin member at my school my advice at this time is stay home if you are sick. Yes, it is a pain in the bottom to arrange cover for all the sick teachers but my concern is both teachers and students. I think some here take a rather cavalier attitude twords the health of others.

By the way, we do not punish our teachers for taking sick days. It is in their contracts so it is their right to take days off when sick. If out 3 days or more a report is required from a hospital that the teacher is recovered enough to return to work.

Sounds to me like you're the kind of looking-at-the-big-picture administrator I'd like to work for. Sick leave is (I would go so far to say) a human right- as much for the kids as the teachers- and if schools (or any employers) haven't planned for reasonable numbers of them, then they are mismanaged. I also find that I tend to work harder for managers that look at me as a human being, and frankly I've never found the 'I haven't taken a sick day in umpteen-odd years' to be a recommendation for a person- usually it seems related to a problem with managing personal priorities and having a balanced life... People who have things going on (families, friends, lives, etc.) will *usually* manage to get sick occasionally and need some down time... people who don't or people who avoid their home life will be happy to be sick at work and be the type that likes to brag about NEVER being sick, ALWAYS being an hour early, etc.- at least this is true in my experience of such persons. I like my job, and I'm proud of my work, but my identity and self-esteem are not tied up in such work details.

But as Tschw says, we're probably going to have to agree to disagree. To be clear, I'm not saying that people should have all the sick days in the world, nor that management should be tolerant of abusers- but that a REASONABLE number of sick days is REASONABLE.

Another thing that might be worth considering for management types is that for those of us who have stayed here a relatively long time, our immune systems have already adapted. I remember the first year or two I lived here- a nightmare of new infections and parasites, especially intestinal!!!

[garro]

Well IJWT, you certainly have a different view of the world than I do. I never realised that not taking to my bed with a cold is a sign that I'm trying to avoid a home life. I didn't realise that to some people not taking sick days could be viewed as a personal flaw. If I get a cold, I keep going and shake it off in a couple of days. I don't believe that you need to be a medical doctor to know the difference between a cold and a flu. I know lots of people who do they same and many of these are happily married and good parents. I also know full-time carers who never take to their bed with illness, because they can't. I see sick days as a privilege to be used wisely.

With some people I can predict weeks in advance when they are going to be sick. I don't need to be a medical doctor to speculate that something odd is going on. Normally this would be none of my business, but if I'm taking up the slack then it becomes my business. If a colleagues have something more significant than a cold I would of course be as concerned as anybody else.

[bkk_mike]

Personally, I've had one day off sick in the last five years. (Broke my arm - but as I did it on a Friday, I was back to work on Monday, despite being stuck in hospital for 3 days.)

Maybe you can also tell that I didn't get sick pay at the time...

[Ijustwannateach]

I'm only referring to individuals I know personally who brag (in person) about their records with sick leave. All others, if the shoe fits... otherwise, it's not all about you.

[bungy007]

Well IJWT, you certainly have a different view of the world than I do. I never realised that not taking to my bed with a cold is a sign that I'm trying to avoid a home life. I didn't realise that to some people not taking sick days could be viewed as a personal flaw. If I get a cold, I keep going and shake it off in a couple of days. I don't believe that you need to be a medical doctor to know the difference between a cold and a flu. I know lots of people who do they same and many of these are happily married and good parents. I also know full-time carers who never take to their bed with illness, because they can't. I see sick days as a privilege to be used wisely.

With some people I can predict weeks in advance when they are going to be sick. I don't need to be a medical doctor to speculate that something odd is going on. Normally this would be none of my business, but if I'm taking up the slack then it becomes my business. If a colleagues have something more significant than a cold I would of course be as concerned as anybody else.

You make a fair point. There is a big divide between those that view teaching as a team member, knowing that others will have to load up their schedule and teach unpaid just to take up the slack and those that use sick days because they have a family,friends, visitors etc. As you rightly point-out, a pattern usually develops over the course of time and its pretty easy to spot the 'lightweights' who are happy to drop their work load in the laps of colleagues while they attend to their personal life.

I do think that it would be better if there was some kind of incentive to those who taught the extra classes while a colleague was 'indisposed' - perhaps a payment of some kind for the extra lessons taught.

[garro]

I'm only referring to individuals I know personally who brag (in person) about their records with sick leave. All others, if the shoe fits... otherwise, it's not all about you.

Given the choice between listening to somebody brag about their attendance record or needing to cover their classes because they once again couldn't make it to work, I know which I'd prefer.

[garro]

Well IJWT, you certainly have a different view of the world than I do. I never realised that not taking to my bed with a cold is a sign that I'm trying to avoid a home life. I didn't realise that to some people not taking sick days could be viewed as a personal flaw. If I get a cold, I keep going and shake it off in a couple of days. I don't believe that you need to be a medical doctor to know the difference between a cold and a flu. I know lots of people who do they same and many of these are happily married and good parents. I also know full-time carers who never take to their bed with illness, because they can't. I see sick days as a privilege to be used wisely.

With some people I can predict weeks in advance when they are going to be sick. I don't need to be a medical doctor to speculate that something odd is going on. Normally this would be none of my business, but if I'm taking up the slack then it becomes my business. If a colleagues have something more significant than a cold I would of course be as concerned as anybody else.

You make a fair point. There is a big divide between those that view teaching as a team member, knowing that others will have to load up their schedule and teach unpaid just to take up the slack and those that use sick days because they have a family,friends, visitors etc. As you rightly point-out, a pattern usually develops over the course of time and its pretty easy to spot the 'lightweights' who are happy to drop their work load in the laps of colleagues while they attend to their personal life.

I do think that it would be better if there was some kind of incentive to those who taught the extra classes while a colleague was 'indisposed' - perhaps a payment of some kind for the extra lessons taught.

The payment is a nice idea, but I think the Thai administrations would see it as paying for the same job twice. In my last job. if somebody was sick, the administration had a responsibility to provide agency staff (although sometimes this could make things even worse because of the person being unfamiliar with the area). If somebody is genuinely sick or has an emergency I have no problem covering their classes; I would expect the same from them. One of my colleagues is presently off with the flu, and I don't begrudge the extra work. If somebody seems to be taking the piss though it gets to me.

[PeaceBlondie]

No personal attacks.

I was blessed with good genes, or Texas blue jeans. It took a wild dog, jellyfish, or crashing a motor vehicle for me to lose work. Until I had two lacunar infarctions (look that up in your Funk & Wagnall's). Some of us get sick or injured and have to stay home; others don't.

[garro]

Some people sneeze and take a week off work while other's sneeze and just buy a hankie.

[Ijustwannateach]

Since this thread has deteriorated, I am closing it. If anyone has anything new and/or substantive to say, PM me or PB for consideration in adding it.