Germs, and Germaphobes, in the Office

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  LWeller211/05/07 Report as spam
  1

  Irrational?

  O agree that a corner of the office is the better solution. However, her fear of getting a cold shouldn't be labeled irrational. The fact is, you get a cold by being exposed to the cold virus. So if employees come to work with colds, they may indeed infect others. Someone who is clearly in a full-blown viral outbreak should go home. Or maybe they should be put into the empty office.
  
  I do wonder if this cold-fearing woman goes grocery shopping, etc. This is where she most likely will catch a virus because of the number of people she would be around.

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  tthornton11/19/07 Report as spam
  2

  Agree w/employee - to a degree

  I agree with the employee that she should not have to come to work and deal with sick people. I have hand sanitizer on my desk - that I use mainly to deal with the folks I see leaving the restroom without washing their hands. I don't touch door handles and don't use the common breakroom because people can just be downright nasty - let's face it!
  
  However, I think her demands may be taking things to a new level. The manager should address her concerns by telling everyone in the office to stay home when they're sick. Colds/Flu spread to others in the office lowering productivity for the entire group or company when one person starts passing things around. So, there's an incentive for the manager to take the employee's side on that one. However, I wouldn't give her an office. I'd give her a face mask to wear around and encourage her to wash her hands frequently.

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  Acerebel12/18/07 Report as spam
  3

  RE: Germs, and Germaphobes, in the Office

  I have leukaemia and, although it's in remission, I'm at risk all the time. Contracting diseases these days doesn't strengthen my immune system; it challenges it.
  
  People who are sick should not come to work - period - during the time that they are contagious.
  
  We take a very cavalier attitude to health these days, with people not washing their hands, others spitting in the street and so on. It is by these behaviours that epidemics begin.
  
  I also take exception to the notion of, as one cold and flu "remedy" ad puts it, "soldiering on". There was a good reason why people were isolated when ill, and why we had periods of recuperation - the former to reduce the spread to the others, the latter to reduce the incidence of relapse and secondary infection (viral or bacterial) because we'd not recovered properly from the first instance.
  
  Sick leave is there for a good reason. Please, use it.

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  Janes1212/01/08 Report as spam
  4

  RE: Germs, and Germaphobes, in the Office

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