Why Forcing Sick Employees to Work Backfires

Is it awful to say that so many businesses didn’t learn from the COVID lockdown? Well, every autumn, it gets to that time again where coughs echo through the office, tissues pile up on desks, and the whole idea of drinking tea is pushed as an alternative. Yep, it’s flu season for ya, and every workplace has that one person who insists they’re “fine” while sounding like they’ve swallowed gravel. But is it their fault, though?

 Well, no, so many businesses only care about being productive and making money, and being sick isn’t an excuse for employees (some employers even force workers to bring doctor's excuses like they’re kids or something).

But yeah, the employees doing this are all trying to be responsible, maybe even a little heroic, showing up despite the sniffles. But in reality, that dedication is doing more harm than good. Seriously, think about it for a moment. One person powering through an illness usually means everyone else is next. And when the whole office is running on cough, meaning productivity nosedives.

Presenteeism can Actually be the Productivity Killer

Most people think the biggest problem is absenteeism, but it’s not. It’s presenteeism, so that’s when someone shows up sick and ends up half-functioning. They’re at work, sure, but they’re not really there. They’re tired, distracted, and making mistakes they wouldn’t make on a normal day. Chances are, you’ve dealt with something like that, too. Now multiply that by a few people in the same week, basically meaning that more and more people are getting the flu.

Don’t Force Attendance

There’s still this weird idea in some offices that coming in sick proves dedication. Like staying home means you’re not committed. Well, it’s either that or they just full-on expect that dedication, or else you’re fired (a lot of factories pull this horrible stunt, too). Do you really want a bunch of miserable employees getting everyone sick?

But a healthier mindset is about trusting employees to know their limits. It’s the basic stuff that everyone should be doing, like encouraging them to rest when they need to. Yeah, it’s basic logic, rest now or lose twice as many workdays later when the entire office catches it.

Prevention is Always Cheaper than Recovery

Is damage control worth it? Yeah, it’s not; you’re better off just preventing it all. So, just get your employees to take a sick day, work remotely, maybe consider looking into some office cleaning service, it might even help to encourage everyone to sanitize their workstations daily (and put hand sanitizer on at those little stations). None of these are even that expensive to begin with, so it’s not like there’s any excuse to cut corners.

Being Flexible Actually Builds Loyalty

Seriously, yes, it’s actually this simple! People remember how they’re treated when they’re sick. If they’re pressured to work through it, resentment builds fast. Needless to say, that’s something you absolutely don’t want to have; it brings morale down horribly. Well, that, and no one is actually going to like their employer, and just the management (and boss), in general here.

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