{"id":129272,"date":"2020-07-07T07:00:31","date_gmt":"2020-07-07T11:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.virtualvocations.com\/blog\/?p=129272"},"modified":"2024-09-24T17:19:08","modified_gmt":"2024-09-24T21:19:08","slug":"remote-work-plague-traditional-sick-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.virtualvocations.com\/blog\/remote-working-tips\/remote-work-plague-traditional-sick-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Remote Work a Plague on the Traditional Sick Day?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Updated September 2024<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The advent of remote work is bringing the traditional sick day to a close, according to Steven Kurutz, a columnist at the New York Times. In his article, \u201c<\/span>The Death of the Sick Day<\/span><\/a>,\u201d Kurutz muses over the transition of a sick day from one of rest and recovery to a day at home where you\u2019re free to tackle emails, hop on conference calls, answer questions, and check in throughout the day. Whether this is the final demise of the sick day remains to be seen, but as Bob Dylan once sang, \u201cthe times, they are a-changin\u2019.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How Remote Work and Technology Are Changing the Sick Day<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Smartphones and the internet have been the main catalysts of the changing sick day. When you\u2019re waiting in the doctor\u2019s office or you\u2019re in line at the pharmacy, your idle hands get a bit restless. Instead of waiting patiently to receive a diagnosis or get your prescription, you\u2019re answering emails and keeping up with the workload.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Mr. Kurutz\u2019s article, he discusses the sick day with a remote worker who recently came down with the flu. Instead of getting plenty of fluids and rest, she used the remote platform Slack to interact with coworkers until she physically couldn\u2019t take it anymore. The fear of falling behind and feeling dispensable to employers was enough to keep her behind a laptop. This is a scary precedent in the remote-working field, and one that has little upside and plenty of downside to an ill worker.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, many companies with remote workers<\/a> have transformed their sick day policy into something called \u201cpersonal emergency days.\u201d While it may seem overly dramatic, this approach actually provides a modicum of privacy for employees. They no longer need to explain the severity of the illness, keeping their medical records, mental health, or other potential stigmas private.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Check out these employers that don\u2019t stand aside when it comes to employee-centric health perks<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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What the Lack of Sick Days Means for the Remote Worker<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With \u201cpersonal emergency days,\u201d workers are free to take a day off without ridicule, whether the issue is a hangover or a sore throat. There\u2019s no one around to judge you for not being at work or refusing to answer calls or emails.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before remote work, many employees still felt the ire of their employers in these scenarios. This prompted them to come to work, even if it meant infecting other employees or customers. Not only was this a poor business practice, but it put plenty of people at risk with the same fear of being seen as dispensable for missing a day of work. And this was even before the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oddly enough, the fear of missing work isn\u2019t universal, especially in Europe. While European workers are industrious, their <\/span>sick leave benefits<\/span><\/a>\u00a0far outweigh that of their American counterparts. In some positions in the Netherlands, employees can receive up to 70 percent of their salary over two years if they\u2019re ill. That doesn\u2019t mean that the Dutch are abusing the system, but it\u2019s certainly something you won\u2019t find in the U.S. all that often.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, Kurutz goes on to write that there\u2019s a certain privilege in taking sick days, simply because it\u2019s possible to work from your bed. While that undermines the severity of the illness and the privacy of the employee, it\u2019s a reality that remote workers may have to accept in the near future.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Benefits of Working at Home When You\u2019re Sick<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When you have a temperature of 101 degrees, food sounds awful, and you can\u2019t even keep down a cup of tea, your job is not your first priority. Yet working from home affords you benefits that cubicle dwellers and other on-the-job employees don\u2019t have: the ability to get things done<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being sick when you\u2019re a telecommuter doesn\u2019t often exempt you from many of the day-to-day emails and tasks that you\u2019re used to tackling when you\u2019re healthy. But that just might be your saving grace. Even as a sickly remote employee or contractor, you enjoy a variety of benefits that a sneezing, sniffling office worker doesn\u2019t get.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Keeping Up with the Workload<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the worst feelings as an employee is the anxiety and the fear of falling behind. If you go into work sick, you\u2019re not at the top of your game. Your performance suffers. Typically, you spend most of the day procrastinating, waiting it out in the bathroom, or sitting in the breakroom. When you work at home, you can do the baseline amount of work necessary to keep yourself from falling too far behind.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By answering emails, checking in with clients via various communication platforms, or clerical tasks, you\u2019re ready to get back to your regular routine. It may take a few days or a week to get back to where you need to be, but it\u2019s far more beneficial than taking numerous days away from the job entirely.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Getting Some Rest<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you start to feel woozy or ill, there\u2019s no shame in hitting the sack at home. Even if you just get an hour of shut-eye, you may find that you start to feel better. Checking your email every hour to keep up with your schedule doesn\u2019t seem nearly as arduous when you take a nap when you need it.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Discover the basics of setting yourself up, how to balance your workload while maintaining work-life balance, and how to protect your financial future<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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Working in Comfort<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no need to put on a suit and tie or even a casual outfit when you\u2019re a remote worker recovering from an illness. While teleconferencing and coworking spaces have <\/span>mandated at least a loose dress code<\/span><\/a> for remote workers, your sick day means you can sit back in a pair of sweats while you get to the daily grind. You can even set up your work station in bed or on the couch.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Enjoying a Bit of Peace and Quiet<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As a remote or office worker, not every person you interact with is empathetic or sympathetic to your illness. You might tell these people that you have the flu, but it falls on deaf ears. Luckily, when you work from home, getting some peace and quiet is as easy as putting up an away status on your team collaboration software. This leaves you free to do the amount of work you\u2019re capable of doing.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How to Take a Sick Day as a Remote Worker<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Whether you have a \u201csummer cold\u201d or a more serious illness, taking a sick day as a remote worker isn\u2019t the easiest thing to do. At a brick-and-mortar business, it is easy to call into human resources, grab a doctor\u2019s note, and go on about your recovery. But in a remote working environment, many employers will expect a certain level of responsiveness and attention, even if they know you\u2019re not feeling 100 percent.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A Basic Template for a Remote Sick Day<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re truly unable to perform your job and you\u2019re a remote worker \u2014 not a freelancer \u2014 you can go through this basic format to inform your employers and still save face.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n