{"id":80143,"date":"2020-10-02T09:30:43","date_gmt":"2020-10-02T06:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/you-should-call-in-sick-more-often-even-if-youre-wfh\/"},"modified":"2020-10-02T09:30:43","modified_gmt":"2020-10-02T06:30:43","slug":"you-should-call-in-sick-more-often-even-if-youre-wfh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/you-should-call-in-sick-more-often-even-if-youre-wfh\/","title":{"rendered":"#You should call in sick more often \u2014 even if you\u2019re WFH"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a37323ff2cc5\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a37323ff2cc5\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/you-should-call-in-sick-more-often-even-if-youre-wfh\/#Role_of_companies\" >Role of companies<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#You should call in sick more often \u2014 even if you\u2019re WFH<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n                                The dramatic rise in working from home due to coronavirus looks likely to become a permanent feature for many organizations, at least <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/five-workplace-trends-will-shape-life-after-lockdown-138077\">for part of the week<\/a>. But while this brings <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/eprints.bbk.ac.uk\/28079\/1\/Telework%20outcomes%20Beauregard%20Canonico%20Basile%202019.pdf\">many benefits<\/a> to both employees and employers, it\u2019s also likely to lead to more people working while ill. This is not good for people\u2019s health in the long term and will require companies to actively encourage their employees to take time off when necessary.<\/p>\n<p>Working from home allows employees to balance caring responsibilities and other non-work commitments with work demands, as well as reducing commute times and decreasing job-related stress. The benefits to organizations include increased productivity, and a greater flexibility from staff to meet employer needs such as conference calls outside core office hours.<\/p>\n<p>People who work from home also tend to take fewer sick days <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC6924903\/\">than office-based staff<\/a>. Many actually <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>reciate the ability to work from home while ill, as it allows them to keep on top of their workload, while avoiding the strain of commuting to the office or working a full day. It also prevents workers spreading contagious illnesses to their colleagues \u2013 something at the forefront of everyone\u2019s minds at the moment.<\/p>\n<p>So working when ill is not always bad. Known as sickness presenteeism, the decision is influenced by <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.socscimed.2016.06.005\">a number of factors<\/a>. These include your company\u2019s sickness absence policies (and how they are applied by managers), the employee\u2019s financial pressures, whether there is paid sick leave, high workloads, tight deadlines and job insecurity.<\/p>\n<p>When voluntary, sickness presenteeism can have other positive benefits. If employees have a chronic or long-term condition and want to work despite illness, supportive working arrangements such as flexible working or homeworking can help them stay in work. This also allows companies <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1080\/09638288.2016.1258436\">to retain staff<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But if people feel pressured to go to work despite being ill, research suggests it can have negative consequences <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.socscimed.2016.06.005%5D\">for the employee<\/a> and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/02678373.2017.1356396\">the company<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A number of longitudinal studies \u2013 where researchers collected data from the same workers over a period of time \u2013 found that working while sick can increase the risks of poor health in the future. It also increased the risk of workers having to take more time off due to sickness 18 months later.<\/p>\n<p>Sickness presenteeism also has consequences for your mental health. Research <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/02678373.2017.1356396\">shows that<\/a> if someone had worked while ill in the previous three months, their psychological well-being took a knock. People also felt down or irritable, or found it hard to make decisions.<\/p>\n<p>For some, this lasted <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/24099160\/\">another two months<\/a>. Meanwhile, other research <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/journals.lww.com\/joem\/Abstract\/2014\/06000\/Is_Sickness_Presenteeism_a_Risk_Factor_for.5.aspx\">has found<\/a> that working while sick increased the risk of depression two years later, even though the workers were not depressed at the first measurement point.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Role_of_companies\"><\/span>Role of companies<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Companies <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a>ly want to keep employees\u2019 absences due to sickness as low as possible. Presenteeism is often viewed positively if the alternative is sick leave, as employees will get some work done and their role will not need to be covered by co-workers.<\/p>\n<p>But when researching this issue, I\u2019ve also found that taking sick leave is not a decision <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/01425451211236850\/full\/html\">that people take lightly<\/a>. In one study I worked on, 60% of the participants had attended work while unwell in the previous 12 months. People reported working through a wide range of health conditions, some serious enough that managers had to intervene and send people home.<\/p>\n<p>Working at home makes it harder for managers to see when employees are ill \u2013 so they are less likely to tell people to take sick leave. In order to keep sick employees from working, companies need to actively encourage employees to take time away from work.<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, a recent study found that workers diagnosed with acute respiratory illness or influenza during the 2017-18 influenza season were more likely to carry on working if they could work from home than those without the option. Perhaps not surprisingly, workers who received paid leave <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC6924903\/\">worked fewer days while ill<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A key aspect of research into sickness presenteeism is that often the seriousness of the illness is unknown. In many cases, employees can still work with minor illnesses such as colds and it will not harm their health in the long term. But workers and employers need to be aware of the potential health risk of working through health conditions that require rest and time to recover.<\/p>\n<p>Companies who concentrate on controlling sickness absence in the short term may be encouraging sickness presenteeism in the longer term and risk prolonging an illness or making a health condition worse. Just because we can work from home when we are ill, it doesn\u2019t always mean that we should \u2013 and that includes logging on to our laptop or checking emails from the sick bed.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" class=\" lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/146940\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/republishing-guidelines --><\/p>\n<p><em>This article is republished from <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/alison-collins-527257\">Alison Collins<\/a>, Reader in Leadership and Management, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/manchester-metropolitan-university-860\">Manchester Metropolitan University<\/a>\u00a0under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/why-you-should-call-in-sick-more-often-than-you-think-even-if-working-from-home-146940\">original article<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-post-pubDate\">\n                                    Published October 2, 2020 \u2014 06:30 UTC\n                                <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script data-src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js#xfbml=1&amp;appId=378011798897423&amp;version=v2.6\" id=\"socialSrcFacebook\" type=\"text\/template\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/growth-quarters\/2020\/10\/02\/you-should-call-in-sick-more-often-even-if-youre-wfh-syndication\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#You should call in sick more often \u2014 even if you\u2019re WFH&#8221; The dramatic rise in working from home due to coronavirus looks likely to become a permanent feature for many organizations, at least for part of the week. But while this brings many benefits to both employees and employers, it\u2019s also likely to lead&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":80144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/growth-quarters?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2020\/10\/sick-leave-employee-wfh-gq.png&signature=ae568d817ddf71e3a81cfd777412373e","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}