Mother in Law: Working when you are ill

Due to aforementioned brain fog issues my short term memory is shocking. My medium term and long term memory is also terrible. My trainee has clearly noticed as we found ourselves the other day with her saying a list of buzz words ('claim form', 'dentist', 'risk assessment', 'Tesco express', 'conflict of interest', 'gymnastics', 'instructions to counsel') at me to see if she could help me remember what I was about to talk about. Anyway, it was on this basis I looked at my first blog of 2023 to remind myself where I was, mentally, this time last year. Rest assured I didn’t give up disposable coffee cups and neither of my children ate any new vegetables nor stopped calling out after bedtime. I am still labelling everything with my label maker, which has led me to believe that perhaps my father in law is illiterate as he clearly doesn’t understand the words 'plastic', 'paper', 'glass', 'tins', 'food' or 'other rubbish'.

The more important point, though, was that we were entering a new year for the first time in a while without the spectre of Covid hanging over us. 

Unfortunately, like most people, I am entering 2024 with Covid, flu and/or Norovirus having disrupted our Christmas and new year again. Everyone I speak to has been ill. The flu-ish bug that goes on for weeks and knocks you off your feet seems remarkably like Covid and I wonder if the tests continue to work well or not. One of my fit and healthy friends was hospitalised with the stomach bug that has been going round. Then there have also been plenty of people who are testing positive for Covid too.

A number of the same questions are being asked on repeat. Does it matter if it is Covid or not (and if not why are you bothering to test)? Should you come into work if you are ill? Should you work from home if you are ill?

So, first, does it matter if it is Covid or not? The first thing I would say is that it can be bad and still not Covid. I had a bug in about 2018 that left me in bed for a couple of days, utterly fatigued for weeks and - by the end of weeks of hacking up my guts - with a severely compromised pelvic floor. I had bought some dresses in the January sales and they sat on my bedroom floor forlornly as I lacked the strength to even try them on. I think we’ve forgotten that there are other horrible bugs. The advantage of testing (and testing positive) is that - to an extent - you know where you are. You can test until you are negative and feel fairly confident that you are not passing it on.

Because, in answer to my second question, I do not think you should go to work if you are ill. We have moved on from the pre-Covid idea that to be seen to be working when you are ill is a sign of commitment. It is a sign that you have no commercial awareness and are perfectly happy to take your whole team down with you, with all the deadline-missing, non-fee-earning, non-supervising risks that go with that.

I discussed this with two friends - a lawyer and a teacher. They both said it was policy for them to go to work with Covid if they felt well enough. This is one of the most short sighted and heartless policies I have ever come across. Utter madness.

And what about working from home if you are ill? The clue is in the question, really. If you are ill, you shouldn’t be working. I am concerned that people don’t feel that they can just lie in bed and forget about work for long enough to get better, as they now have the IT to log on at home. Again, this is shortsighted if it delays your recovery.

In the words of Thomas Carlyle, 'Rest is a fine medicine. Let your stomachs rest, ye dyspeptics; let your brain rest, you wearied and worried men of business; let your limbs rest, ye children of toil!' As an occasional dyspeptic, a worried (wo)man of business and a child of occasional toil I couldn’t agree more.

Don’t forget that December was already full-on and if you were healthy you would probably still need a recovery period. I know I am still recovering from the calories and alcohol units consumed, the worry over money spent and guilt over imperfect presents, the late nights, early mornings and the short billing month.

Take care of yourselves and (as much as it pains me to say these words) if in doubt, stay at home.

Some facts and identities have been altered in the above article