No one wants their officemate to come in with a runny nose or a fever. Oftentimes, though, people power through because they don’t want to risk missing an important meeting or falling behind. The Covid pandemic has taught us that we can accomplish as much (or dare we say more) when working from home. It’s much safer for the rest of the team to have sick employees work from home. Since most companies now have systems that allow employees to work remotely, it’s important to redefine what sick days will look like when people begin returning to the office.
Create Guidelines for Sick Days
Set up criteria that let staff determine whether they should come into the office, take a work from home day, or take a complete sick day. For instance, an employee who has a cold or sore throat, the flu, or other contagious illness but feels well enough to work in short spurts should do so from home. Getting a few things done is better than not finishing anything and much better than getting other team members sick. However, if working while ill prevents a staff member from getting the rest and recuperation they need to get better, they should take a sick day. Otherwise, the worker’s performance, future productivity, and morale will decline.
Encourage Remote Workers to Complete Tasks
The majority of remote workers should be able to finish at least some tasks while they are sick. Because they are working from the comfort of home, they are better able to power through their illness and accomplish some tasks. This helps them avoid falling further behind by not attempting anything at all. Also, remote workers who are ill will not spread their germs to coworkers because they are not in the office. Additionally, technology allowing for conference calls, document sharing, and video conferencing make it possible to stay connected with the team even when a worker is ill.
Set Manager Communication Criteria
Establish guidelines for remote workers to communicate with their managers about their plans for when they feel sick. This ensures the manager understands what will or will not be accomplished during the day. Remind staff who take a sick day to set their out-of-office email, Slack, and other platform notifications to “out sick.” Then, colleagues will know they are unavailable for the day.
Hire Temporary Workers
When you need temporary workers to fill in for sick employees, get in touch with Corps Team. We place highly skilled professionals in accounting, finance, marketing, HR, and IT roles. Find out more today.