by Kimberlee Morrison
Filed under: Benefits
Flu season has hit early and hard this year.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the current outbreak could be the worst in a decade. Things are so bad that states such as New York and Massachusetts have declared public health emergencies.
All of this has prompted a debate about paid sick days. While it might seem like a no-brainer that sick people should stay home, for the 40 percent of workers who don't earn paid sick days, staying home is hardly an option. In fact, those without paid sick leave are most likely to be exposed to — and potentially share — infectious diseases including the flu.
How to encourage sick employees to stay home
The pervasive fear among workers is that their job is in jeopardy if they have to miss work because they are sick. Even in workplace cultures where employees are treated like valued assets, most employees will go to work unless they are literally unable to get out of bed.
Ultimately, sick employees can spread sickness to their colleagues and lose productivity as a result of compromised immune systems. The more people go to work sick, the more sickness spreads, resulting in a bigger drain on productivity caused by sick employees.
Instead of falling prey to "sick trooper syndrome," try these ideas to encourage employees to keep their plague at home:
This originally appeared on the Infusionsoft Culture Corner blog.
Kimberlee Morrison is an writer, editor and Culture Evangelist for Infusionsoft, where her job is to help people feel connected to the company culture, both internally and externally. She also writes the Infusionsoft Culture Blog discussing how to build a culture based on shared purpose and values. Contact her at kimberlee.morrison@infusionsoft.com.