Do you work remotely when you're home sick from your job? Credit: William Brawley/Flickr Creative Commons
In the pre-digital days it was okay to just stay home, eat chicken soup, curl up in bed and watch Andy Griffith reruns. Nobody expected you to do anything. But nowadays with our digital interconnection, we feel compelled to keep up with email, participate in conference calls, and work remotely.
Pretty soon that sick day slips by and you realize you've done pretty much a full day's work. The California Work and Family Coalition reported in 2011 that 40% of California workers cannot take a sick day when they or someone in their family is ill because they cannot lose a day’s pay. In 2012 the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics discovered that 77% percent of private industry workers received paid sick leave, especially among management, professional, and high-wage positions.
But do these positions require employees to keep up with work at home? Is there something more than wages at stake? No matter the position, are workers not taking time to rest? What’s your company policy? Do you only claim a half-day? How do you handle your sick days?
Guest:
David Couper, Career Coach and Consultant on Human Resources, author of "Outsiders on the Inside: How to Create a Winning Career...Even When You Don't Fit In!" (Career Press, 2010)