8 Important Reasons to Always Call In Sick When You're Sick

Mikey Rox — Wed, 05 Oct 2016 09:00:08 +0000

When you're sick, you're sick. Which is why if you're feeling under the weather, it's best to call out of work and rest up for a speedy recovery. Because as much as you don't like that stuffy head, sore throat, snot-rocket business, your co-workers like it even less — especially when you're kablooey-ing all over the office. As such, here are a few reminders on the importance of cuddling up under the covers with Jell-O and Netflix when you're on your proverbial deathbed to avoid plunging your entire company into chaos.

1. You'll Spread Your Germs Around

Obviously a no-brainer, when you're ill, you're often contagious. The last thing you want is to start spreading around whatever nastiness you've got. I don't mean to be dramatic or anything, but remember how fast diseases spread — viruses like H1N1, SARS, and Ebola. Unassuming, exemplary employee Hank probably caught a cough and thought he could work through it. Except the next thing you know, the CDC is calling pandemic on the whole thing, and now Hank is quarantined (and probably never heard from again) because he's Patient Zero. Grocery stores are mobbed, kids stay home from school, the world markets crash — all because of Hank and his cough. Don't be Hank.

2. You Won't Be Able to Concentrate

When you've fallen ill, it's usually hard to concentrate — what with the achy bones, headache, and watery eyes. Don't try to be a martyr at the office by pretending that you actually know what's going on. Because you don't. It's hard to enough to concentrate when you're sick, but it's almost impossible when you add those three max-strength Benadryl you ate for breakfast into the equation.

3. Your Body Will Be Tired, and You'll Be Unproductive

Sickness takes a toll on your body. Your immune defenses are down, you're not getting quality sleep, and you always have a hard time moving a muscle given that when you're sick on a weekend, all you do is ring that godforsaken bell to summon your partner to the bedroom to change the channel because your wittle fingers are too brittle to switch to Netflix.

Social media professional Megan Ingenbrandt, from New Jersey, knows what I'm talking about.

"People underestimate the value of sleep when they're healthy, but I think it's even worse when they're sick," she says. "Since they're not feeling their best, people often try to cram in as much work as possible so they can just crash when they get home. It's important to take time off when you're sick because your body needs more rest than normal to rejuvenate. Take the day off to veg out in bed and get back to work when you're feeling better."

4. You're Not Impressing the Boss With Your Will to Survive

Some employees come into work instead of calling in sick thinking it shows dedication and that it'll impress their superiors — but that's a fool's game. Your boss doesn't want to have anything to do with you when you arrive late just to run to the bathroom every 10 minutes. Like anybody's got time to sanitize the place all day.

5. Nobody Wants to Hear You Hacking Up a Lung All Day

You know how gross is it to have a meeting with someone who sounds like they're on death's door? Besides, all that commotion is distracting to your coworkers who are busy planning your funeral instead getting the tasks that are on their to-do lists done. Perfect way to make lifetime enemies.

6. Your Miserable State Will Make Others Around You Miserable

You're not your outgoing, friendly self when you're sick, and when one person's morale is down in the office, it tends to drag others' down with it. You'll notice that nobody's smiling around you when you go to work sick because they're not your biggest supporter while you're contaminating every surface with your plague.

7. The Medication You're On Makes You a Liability

There's a reason many medications — even over-the-counter types — recommend that you abstain from operating motor vehicles or heavy machinery while under their influence. You could hurt yourself or somebody else. And if you do that on company time, you've just created a whole heap of trouble for you and your company.

8. You're Setting a Bad Example for Others

Guess what? Since you dragged your risen-from-the-crypt carcass to work when you had the flu, now everybody feels like they have to come to work one foot in the grave, too. You don't want to be the person who silently encourages their coworkers to endanger themselves and others because you're a proper nitwit, do you? I didn't think so. Instead, go to the doctor and find out what's wrong with you, or at the very least, spend like $50 at Rite-Aid on OTC remedies to flush out those poisonous hangers-on chemically. It's the American way.

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This article is from Mikey Rox of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

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