by Cody Hodge

Created on: May 21, 2009   Last Updated: July 07, 2009

When should you stay home with a cold? That has always been a tricky question, but in the business world today, you can never be too careful. If you don't come in, you could miss out on some important information, or hold up the team. On the other hand, if you come in, and you get others sick, you have totally killed the operation for as much as a week. Take into account the Swine Flu that is going around, and you could end up with a major health hazard when you come into work. If you can stay home I would suggest you do so. However, it isn't always that easy.

It drives me crazy when I go into work, and I see cashiers sneezing while bagging up groceries. I know that it happens, but if I was a customer, I might be a little wary to eat my food when I got home. Even if people are coughing into their sleeves, you never know what they have. Our cashiers are provided sanitizer for their hands, but not everyone uses it. It seems a little gross to me when people come into work when they are sick, and don't realize why they should have just stayed home for the day. In retail you need to have everything looking good.

I do understand though that people need as much money as possible in order to keep up. Taking a sick day is a luxury that a lot of people don't seem to have these days. There were plenty of days in the past year where I would have been better served just staying home, and resting up so that I would feel better for the next five days I had to work. However, if I lost even one day's pay, it would have effected my paycheck too much. I couldn't afford to stay home.

When you have a cold, I think you should stay home if you can possibly do so. Send in e-mails of any important information, or just pass on your responsibilities to a subordinate, or someone else who is capable. A good business will have many people who can do the same job, so that if someone is out nothing bad happens. Of course, if you have a specialized job, or are in a new position, you might not be able too.

The biggest thing to consider is your own health, and the health of others. If you are contagious, or have a really bad cold, you should just stay home. The business will survive, and as long as you can be back to work soon, nothing should go terribly wrong. Others can pick up the slack for a few days. Better to lose a few dollars, and stay home for a day, then to get everyone else sick and keep everyone else out potentially.

When trying to determine when to stay home, just make sure that you are making a good decision. Use common sense, and if you look like death, you should just stay home. Don't jeopardize the health of others if you really are sick, and just stay home. The work will be there tomorrow, and while it might not be fun to come back to two days worth of work, you should just suck it up for one day. Your health comes above all, just keep that in mind.

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