Yes I Am Sick and at Work

I agree that we are forced to come to work sick. Some days I actually get more rest at work than at home when I am sick. For some reason the kids think that when mom is home sick they have to be home too. If companies allowed for more sick/vac/pto time then we could stay at home when we were sick, but sadly that isn't the case at most employers. I even worked at a job for 2 years before I found out I had any sick time. I was taking all of my time off sick unpaid. :(

I feel your pain.

I work 30 hours per week, which is considered part time, and as such, I get no sick time, or vacation. I get PTO. 80 hours per year, which amounts to 8 days for me. I understand coming to work sick because you don't have any days to take off. And I hear the comments too. And it makes me want to punch someone. Seriously. Do people think you WANT to be there? I mean, come on people?!?! A sick person no more wants to be at work than they want hot pokers in the eyes. SO doesn't that tell you that they HAVE TO BE AT WORK?

People need to get a clue, and a life, and mind their own freaking business.

I hope you get some much needed rest, and feel better soon.

"Talk to the company. If we got more than 5 days a year off, durn straight I would be at home. But since they won't pay, we all get sick. They're forcing us to be here sick, and to contaminate everyone. Unless you want to go grocery shopping and feed my kids next week?"

I am so sorry to hear that you are sick and at work, but rest assured that you are not alone. I, too, have to take unpaid sick time for six months, and then only get five sick days. The one day so far that I was sick I had 102 and stayed home. I had to do what was best for me, and my family. Even in hard times, our health should always come first. Feel better, and remember do what's best for you and try to ignore your colleagues.

Yes it does stink having to go to work sick however if you look at it from your coworker's point of view you can see why she'd say something. She is being exposed to your illness which means you have the potential of getting her sick. If she has children, friends, neighbors, parents, grandparents, etc that she comes in contact with there's a chance of her passing your illness onto them too. While you are thinking "OMG I'd rather be home but I need the money" she's thinking "OMG why didn't she just stay home instead of trying to get everyone here sick".

When I didn't have sick days I went in pretty much sick all the time. Now I have them and I still come in sick all the time. I use mine for mental health days when my boss gets on my last nerve.

This year I had to save my vacation for my honeymoon so it is going to be a loooooong year. :(

Yeah right mom's don't get "sick days" or "pto days" or "vacation" lol! Whoever made up that rule must have been a man or a woman without children-sorry!
I feel ya pain woman! I only work part-time which is MY choice but that is one of the cons to working part time is no vacation days, no pto time-nothing. If I don't work I don't get paid. Now my boss for the holidays such as X-mas or Thanksgiving she does bump up my time (she isn't supposed to but does anyways) the remiander of the holidays I have to take unpaid while everyone else gets paid ;()( It kinda stinks because I have no choice because the office is "closed" so I don't even have the option work even if I wanted to so I don't miss any money.....but the other side to that is that I only work part-time......what is really not fair is that I am working full-time hours right now yet July 4th guess who doesn't get paid for it because I am still "part-time" in their records? Me! .....and that really stinks but I guess with the extra hours it doesn't really matter now does it? Sure would love a couple of PTO days though because I got some major burnout going on........people who don't have the same issues wouldn't understand your situation honey but believe there are others of us who can relate to your situation-totally! The next person that told me I should have stayed home I would have said Well then I will just send you my grocery bill next week for you to take care of alrighty then-lol! No seriously they don't understand and you just have to take it with a grain of salt. I agree though -it tends to grave on your nerves because you wish those others would understand..........they work for the same company-you would think they would "get it" huh? Hugs hope you feel better soon as well as everyone else in the household! Oh here is another one you could say "I owe I owe so off to work I go"

I used to work for a company like that. It was horrible when you used it all up or you had to take leave without pay... I was a single parent of 2 at the time... It did have it's benefits too, when they had a good year... had some very nice bonuses around Christmas.

Hang in there, take your Vitamin C and try to get some rest when you get home...

I get 3 instances per year. So if my kiddos are sick 1 day then I usually do no pay or use a vacation day. There are pros and cons to the 3 intances. The pro is that when my hubby had to have his 2 surgeries they paid me for the entire 3 weeks I had to take off and it was only considered 1 instance. The con is what I mentioned before. If it's only 1 day it's not really worth using so I use up vacation time. With my 2 young children and my hubby's medical issues I have definitely used up my fair share of sick time. Like you, I tend to go to work unless I am very, very sick.
Hope you feel better soon!!!!

The best way to get better is to rest but I know what you mean. I do have time left...I rarely use a sick day for myself - always for the kids so I am the jerk who comes in sick sometimes and spreads it around. I don't feel like I have a choice as I want to ensure I have that time when my kids get sent home from daycare/school, etc. Sorry you are in this situation and hope you feel better soon!

Been there...done that. My time is all in PTO, not broken out into sick and vacation. I usually save mine for when the kids are sick, when the babysitter is sick, when the babysitter takes vacation etc... For me to take a sick day for me is RARE....usually I just drug up and work through it.

I get two weeks of vacation and 4 personal days....They go quickly and I end up taking some unpaid time...because well we all get sick and kids get sick etc..

So sorry hope you're better soon.

I agree. but the coworker can be thinking: I guess if you didn't take off that scheduled day off last friday, you could have used it today.

I tend to work when I am not well...if I am too sick, I do take off but I also still get paid. When I didn't have sick time, I only called out if I had to (child was sick) or if I was so sick that I was down in bed.

What I would do is say something like "I sure wish I could afford to stay home". If she states that you are married/have help and can stay home, you can always tell her that if you could afford to stay home you would not be employed!

Keep in mind though, depending on what kind of sick you are, you are also putting your co-workers at risk so they have every right to want you to stay home.

Is talking to the boss an option and seeing if no PTO is something that could change (like up to 3 sick days per year)?