The “new normal” plans and suggestions currently being implemented around the world come out of necessity but don’t feel like life upgrades. I’m scratching my head over migration to online learning, restaurants with shielded booths, stores with Plexiglas barriers, one-way aisles and futuristic-looking gyms.
We’re trying very hard to change the way we interact because someone, somewhere could be sick.
But shouldn’t we start with changing the way we deal with viruses when, inevitably, someone does get sick?
Yes, viruses, plural. Not “just” COVID-19.
Quick question—how many times were you sick last year? And how many sick days did you take? How many times did you make a conscious effort to stop the spread? How many times were you not able to because, well, life?
Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to put you on the spot. I’ll go first.
A year into my first “real” job as a French teacher, I got sick. Fever, headache, weakness, the whole package. But since it was an hourly wage job and I was living paycheck to paycheck, I still showed up at work. A day off meant losing $120, after all. Worse, I couldn’t risk my reputation as a “reliable teacher”—schedules were made weekly and “good employees” got more work hours.
Eventually, after dragging myself from classroom to classroom for four days, one of the supervisors noticed I really looked sick and told me to go home. “You get three paid sick days a year,” he said. “Take one. Hell, take all three of them.”
I had no idea we had sick days. I was a naïve twenty-something who was trying her best.
By the way, workers in Ontario have no paid sick leave rights. Most employees have the right to take up to three days of unpaid job-protected sick leave each calendar year.
In 2009, I moved onto a new opportunity and I took a position as a translator. This time, as a salaried employee, I went through a proper onboarding process with HR and I was introduced to the concept of benefits, including paid vacation days and sick days. There was a tiny problem, though—using them was frowned upon. The informal vacation policy was “take a day off here and there, forget about even considering being away for a week.” You weren’t supposed to get sick either because we were constantly swamped and we knew we would leave the team in the lurch.
I switched jobs when I got tired of being always on call and sleeping with my BlackBerry under the pillow. My new workplace was less stressful and it also offered good benefits, albeit with a slight twist—it had recently adopted the “take time off at your discretion” paid time off (PTO) model, where sick days, vacation days and personal days are combined. This is a trap, people. Got the flu? Too bad, you’ve just used the time you had set aside for vacation. As a result, everybody was showing up sick at work to “save” PTO days for a vacation.
Outside the workplace, we could probably all use a refresher on the concept of contagion as well. Let’s not take anything for granted. After all, we live in a world where citizens have to explicitly tell officials they’d rather not get killed or harmed by the police. A world where people question science, like climate change, childhood immunization and the fact the Earth is round.
Okay, this world is depressing. How about a quick anecdote? One day, toddler Mark spent an hour playing with another kid at the park. They even shared a snack the kid’s mom nicely offered. “I’m glad to see he is eating,” she noted. “We’ve all been sick with a stomach bug all night!” Guess who got the viral gastroenteritis next?
Or that time, last winter, before COVID hit. The cashier looked exhausted. “Busy shift?” I asked as he was ringing me through. “Oh no,” he replied. “It’s just that I’ve been sick for two days, probably the flu.” And here I was, wondering if it was socially acceptable to take a couple of steps back and wipe my groceries before it was even trendy to do so…
So yeah, a contagion refresher for everyone. Discrimination and social prejudice against people with disabilities? Not okay and completely pointless—intellectual or physical disabilities and impairment are not contagious. Viruses, on the other hand, spread like wildfire and I’m okay with avoiding my friends, relatives and co-workers for a few days when they’re sick—and I’ll stay away from them when I am too.
We need a cultural shift now and it’s the perfect time since we’re all completing virus 101—by now, we all understand how epidemics start, how easy it is to self-isolate for a few days and the consequences we face when things get out of hand.
Let’s build on this.
Employees showing up sick at work are not dedicated, they are a liability—next time someone calls in sick, breathe a sigh of relief, you’ve just avoided a possible outbreak. By the way, absolutely no one comes to work sick for fun—workers need to know they can stay home without losing money, hours or their job. Since we’re at it, can we stop with doctor’s notes? Sitting in a packed germy waiting room for hours helps exactly no one and it’s a waste of time for health professionals as well.
It’s time to learn from mistakes, isn’t it?
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Je me souviens également d’avoir eu une grippe carabinée il y a un an, mais d’être allée bosser quand même, alors que je devais animer des rencontres, recevoir des gens, etc., parce que je me disais que personne ne pouvait me remplacer (too short notice). J’aurais dû être au fond de mon lit – c’est ce que je faisais chaque soir en rentrant – mais à la place je tenais avec des antidouleurs extrafort et du café.
I think we’ve all done it for similar reasons. And this is something I will do my best to avoid from now on–granted, it’s easier for me since I’m self-employed, but the pandemic really made me realize that we could spread a nasty bug in the community and that not everyone is healthy enough to “fight” it.
So true. I used to get mad at my coworkers cause they would come to work sick as hell… and guess what, I’d get it too after a couple of days! Before the Covid, I was already cleaning surfaces and door handles in winter… I hope people will get more conscious after all this.
Management should really have contigency plans in place, especially in large organizations (I get it, it’s harder for small businesses). I mean, people do get sick and will get sick once in a while. Plan ahead and deal with it.
J’ai dû aller bosser un mois avec une mononucléose, au delà de ma santé physique et mentale (une catastrophe), j’ai été un virus ambulant (même si je roule pas de pelles à mes collègues ni aux barres de métro !!). J’avais pas droit aux arrêts maladie…
Si seulement le monde du travail se dirigeait vers plus de logique, plus d’humanité ! Si seulement ! (grrr)
That’s what I’m hoping but yeah, maybe I’m a dreamer. I read a few articles when I wrote mine and apparently, in the US, some employers won’t pay employees who have COVID or ask them to come to work. Like… seriously???
I totally agree !
When I lived in Mauritius, we had the same system, I think it was about 10 sick leaves per year… I always thought it was quite stupid, I mean, how can you predict the number of days you will be sick in a year ? You might not need a single sick leave one year, then break your leg the next one and need more leaves that you are allowed to. Plus, it encourages you to take all your sick leaves… even if you are not sick. I don’t know about Canada, but in Mauritius, that’s what people do.
At least here, if you are sick, you are sick and can stay at home. That is, if you have a real job; it was never the case for be, since I’ve always been paid by the hour, with no paid vacation and no security whatsoever…
This seems to be an issue in workplaces worldwide and it’s CRAZY. I love the way people develop all kinds of conspiracy theories about the virus but don’t think twice about a world where people show up to work sick *because they don’t have the choice*.
We have a really good sick leave policy here, but when I had some bad health issues related to stress I was going through a few years ago, it came back to bite me.
When I applied for a better job, my boss didn’t give me a good recommendation on account that I had a higher than average number of sick days on record. He was a new to me boss and didn’t ask what had happened first. He was also going to stop me from transferring to Victoria until I explained that the reason I had been taking time off and wanted to leave was because I had been in and was leaving an abusive relationship.
More to your point: I think this whole situation will change things, especially for those of us who are lucky enough to be able to do our work from home. You know, when you’re well enough to work but are contagious? Or when you’d be able to perform for half the day in your PJs but going in would be torture?
Hopefully it will also mean respecting people’s need for a couple of days off when they are needed. We should really all lead with the assumption that we are self motivated responsible adults who are capable of handling sick days responsibly
There are plenty of times where the ability to work from home would be the best way to handle the issue. I know sometimes I can still be sick and productive (yet contagious!). And people who work with a vulnerable population (elderly, homeless, kids, etc.) should have a great sick policy, as well as people exposed to the general public. I think there are ways to make sure everyone can get time off or self-isolate when sick AND don’t get penalize for it.
Good points! Going in sick– I’ve done it, colleagues have done it, family, friends, and classmates have done it. Even when we have paid sick days and can’t use them for vacation. It’s seen as being dedicated, when in truth it’s getting other people sick.
I feel terrible when I hear about American workplaces. You need better worker rights over there! Unions are not a dirty word!