Ha 5

You have sick days. Can you use them?

The Wall Street Journal’s story on sick-shaming—in which healthy colleagues scold their sick peers for showing up to work—inspired hundreds of reader emails, comments and posts on social media.

Plenty of readers divulged their own strategies for giving under-the-weather colleagues the hint to go home, including one worker whose colleague left a hand-drawn sign on a boss’s office door that read: “HEY PHLEGM-BOY! GO HOME!”

Many reactions, though, zeroed in on a larger point: Even in workplaces that offer an abundance of paid sick leave, the spread of the always-on work culture makes it difficult for many to take time off. Sometimes it’s the boss who pressures staff to show up no matter what.

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https://www.wsj.com/articles/can-you-really-take-that-sick-day-readers-react-to-office-sick-shaming-11548864000

MANAGEMENT & CAREERS

Can You Really Take That Sick Day? Readers React to Office Sick-Shaming Many argue the presence of hacking, sneezing and sniffling colleagues at work highlights a bigger issue: It’s often not easy to stay home

ILLUSTRATION: ROBERT NEUBECKER

Jan. 30, 2019 11�00 am ET

By Chip Cutter

Others said they inflict the pressure themselves, convinced that only a crippling stomach bug or ambulance ride to the emergency room warrants a true sick day.

“Someone has to be on their deathbed” before they realize they can’t come to work, said Stephen Schofield, a 28-year-old digital associate at a Chicago public-relations firm, of the mind-set of some of his colleagues.

Cecilia Chang, a managed-care contract specialist near Philadelphia, said that in some previous jobs, she felt she couldn’t step away from work while sick, despite company policies allowing sick time. Some bosses still expected her to respond to emails while home or to complete projects on pre-established timelines. Those who disconnected entirely were seen as inferior, unable to cope with the pressure of the job, or “less than,” she said.

“For people to call out sick, they’ve got to feel safe and supported,” she said.

Nationally, 71% percent of private-sector workers have some paid sick leave, Labor Department figures show. Yet, in a recent survey of more than 2,000 adults by Pittsburgh-based market- research firm CivicScience, 54% reported coming to work even while sick. Many workers who responded to the Journal’s story said their ability to take leave depended almost entirely on their relationship with a manager.

Tammy Cooley, a human-resources consultant in Boise, Idaho, said she has worked for bosses who expected her to answer the phone every time they called, regardless of whether she felt lousy. She also has experienced bosses who proactively asked: What help do you need so you can take the day off?

“It starts at the top,” Ms. Cooley said. Managers who call into conference calls while sick or email repeatedly on vacation build a culture of “if I’m not seen, I’m forgotten.”

That puts the onus on colleagues to keep sick colleagues at bay—one reason some act as sick- shamers. Clyde Romero, who retired in 2015 as a captain at American Airlines Group Inc., flying the A330 on long-haul international routes, said he had a no-tolerance policy for sick co-pilots in his cockpit, fearing they could infect others or not properly perform their in-flight duties.

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When crew members showed up ill before a trip, he would tell them, “No, you’re not coming with me,” he recalled. There was no shaming, but a question: “What the hell are you doing here?”

“In the airline industry, when lives are at stake, and you have to be at your best performance, there’s none of this” political correctness, he said. “If you make a mistake, you’re going to be in trouble.”

Some companies do go to lengths to remind workers to steer clear of the office while contagious. In November, Rosana Cerna, vice president of people and business operations at Great Place to Work, a people analytics and research firm, emailed the company’s roughly 80 U.S. employees with the subject line, “Winter Colds... Not for the Office.” She told sick colleagues to avoid the temptation of coming into work while ill: “If you ever come into the office coughing, sneezing or feeling like you want to crawl into bed....Go home!” In case her words didn’t drive home the message, she also included an emoji with a thermometer in its mouth.

Ms. Cerna said many employees later thanked her for sending the reminder.

The existence of workplace shaming, though, suggest many managers aren’t doing enough, readers said. “What’s happening now is you’re seeing this from the bottom-up because it’s not happening at the top,” said Karyn Detje, a founder of FABRIC, a people and human-resources consulting practice based in Washington, Conn.

Ms. Detje advises managers to think of their sick staff members like family members. If the boss’s son or daughter became sick, that manager would likely recommend the child stay home from work, she reasoned. “That’s exactly how you should be treating your employees,” Ms. Detje said.

Write to Chip Cutter at [email protected]

Copyright © 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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