On presenteeism

I have a cold. Nothing serious - just snotty nose, cough and general misery that goes with it. Not too much of a surprise as about 5 people in the office have had much the same cold over the last month. You know the pattern. One person with cold, snorting, sneezing and coughing for a few days; as they get better another starts and so on. Felt pretty crap over the weekend but by yesterday morning I was ok so went to work. Boy did I get a roasting.

I have spoken and written about presenteeism - the people who come to work when they are sick; spread germs; don't work very effectively Costs to business according to NZ Treasury could be as high as $8billion annually.

So I was at work, working away quietly in my office with frequent use of tissues and the occasional cough (some occasions were more frequent than others) By 10am I had about 5 people in my office pointing out my hypocrisy - apparently I was not practising what I preach. So I went home ( well when the 3rd bus actually stopped for me) and have stayed home today.