Let’s say you wake up with a stomach ache and a fever. Ideally, you’d curl up under a blanket, switch on Netflix and start healing. But wait. The thought of ditching work turns your stomach more than your flu does. The idea of calling your boss to ask for a sick day worsens your headache.
You’ve caught an especially pernicious bug called “sick day guilt.” And it’s going to make you — and your colleagues — even sicker.
While the U.S. has no federal policy guaranteeing paid sick leave, about 65 percent of U.S. employees have that benefit, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Still, up to 3 million U.S. employees work while sick each week, according to a 2016 study published by Cornell University researchers in Health Services Research. That’s true for freelancers like Stacy Rapacon who don’t have paid sick leave and for whom taking time off to recover from an illness has financial repercussions. To meet deadlines, Rapacon will work through a sickness, even laboring late into the night to make up for a day of sleeping. “My guilt is assignment-based,” says Rapacon, who freelances from New Jersey and didn’t get sick-day remorse when she worked full time for an employer.
There are myriad other reasons why workers head into the office while ill. About 40 percent of sick workers say they do it because of nonexistent or insufficient sick leave benefits, according to the study, and 31 percent owed their attendance to heavy workloads or fear of at-work repercussions.
“We have this incredible work ethic, and more so in the United States than anywhere else, where we can’t take our vacation days and can’t take our sick days,” says Susan Krauss Whitbourne, professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts–Amherst.
But before you limp into the office, snot flying and stomach aching, here’s why you should take that sick day.
1. You may infect colleagues, clients and customers. Bring a virus to work, and “you’re going to get a lot of other people sick,” says Dr. Aaron Glatt, chairman of the department of medicine and hospital epidemiologist at South Nassau Communities Hospital in New York.
Germ-covered doorknobs, physical contact and disease-hurling sneezes are classic ways to pass germs in the workplace, Glatt says.
Co-workers aside, sick workers can infect clients and customers. That’s especially troubling for those working in the food industries, health care fields or child care, which also are less likely to offer sick day benefits.
2. … Or kill them. Sure, the flu’s unpleasant for even the hardiest people. But what clears up after a few days for one person could be fatal for a co-worker — or a co-worker’s sick family member. One example Glatt gives is if your desk mate has cancer and is on chemotherapy. In that case, catching your virus could be fatal.
Another real-world example took place during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. An extra 7 million people became infected and 1,500 died because contagious employees chose to work, according to the American Public Health Association.
Your risk of harming others rises if your job requires operating machinery or driving, experts add. “Say you’re lethargic but behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler,” says LeaAnne DeRigne, lead author on a 2016 study about the relationship between paid sick leave and delayed medical care, published in Health Affairs. “It’s not just dangerous for yourself, but for everybody else on the road.”
3. Your pocketbook — and your employer’s — take a hit. Delaying a doctor’s visit to come into the office can drive up both your health care costs and your company’s when a treatable malady worsens.
“If you’re forgoing health care or delaying it, you’re potentially exacerbating health conditions, more serious, more complicated and perhaps more expensive to treat,” says DeRigne, who is also an associate professor at Florida Atlantic University’s School of Social Work.
4. Your productivity suffers. Working when you have the flu doesn’t just cost your employer in long-term medical expenses, it reduces productivity. “It’s a double whammy,” says Bruce Elliott, manager of compensation and benefits at the Society for Human Resource Management.
Being at work physically, but not mentally, is called presenteeism, and it could cost your employer millions each year.
5. Your manager should be able to handle it. “There’s a number of things that any manager can do to adapt,” Elliott says. At the end of the day, an effective manager should be able to push back a deadline, reshuffle your workload or find your temporary replacement. People get sick — it’s a certainty — and employers should be prepared for the inevitable, experts say.
If you’re feeling guilty about taking a sick day, analyze those emotions, Whitbourne says. Instead of guilt, are you actually dealing with an inflated sense of self-importance? “Chances are, if you’re not the CEO or a member of leadership, you’re probably OK,” she says.
Bottom line: If you wake up with a scratchy throat and a fever, take the day off. Or consider working from home if that option is available. Your co-workers and clients will be thrilled to not catch your bug. Your employer will appreciate that you’re not dragging unnecessarily on the health care plan and that you’re truly productive when you return. And your body will thank you for not needlessly prolonging your illness.
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5 Reasons to Kick Your Sick Day Guilt originally appeared on usnews.com
