Working From Home & Sick? 3 Reasons Why You Should Apply For Sick Leave Right Now!

Working from home culture is on the rise and is less likely to go away in the coming months amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Leaving the benefits aside, work from home means that more employees are working despite being ill. Studies show working while being sick can have harmful effects in the long run. 

Read on to know more…

Why Sick Leaves Have Been Reduced When WFH?

Many employees are relived working from home as they can tend to their other responsibilities and non-work commitments. With flexibility, decreased commute time, and reduced job-related stress, the companies seem to have witnessed an increase in productivity.

People when working from home and sick are more likely to NOT take sick leaves. This is because they can stay on top of their workload without the hassle and strain of commuting to the office and working as per their time.

Many times, managers hesitate to give sick leaves as they are unsure of the seriousness of the illness and also if the employee is faking it. Hence, presenteeism is preferred as people can stay at home but work. 

Why You Should Take A Sick Leave Even When WFH?

Presenteeism means continuing to attend work despite being sick. The main factor that influences presenteeism is job insecurity. The other aspects include the company’s sickness absence policies, the employee’s financial pressures, paid/unpaid sick leave, heavy workloads, and tight deadlines.

If someone has a chronic disease and wants to work despite that, presenteeism has positive effects.

However, if forced on employees that is against their will, it can have negative effects on the employees as well as the organization.

Reasons to take a sick leave for the employees’ and company’s betterment- 

1. Many studies  – where researchers collected data from the same workers over a period of time – indicated that the workers who didn’t take a sick leave when actually sick took more time off due to sickness 18 months later. This shows that working during an illness can increase the risks of poor health in the future.
2. The mental health of an employee can also be affected. As per research, if someone had worked while ill in the previous 3 months, their psychological well-being had a negative impact. People felt down or irritable or decision-making was seen to have hampered.
3. According to another research, working while sick increased the risk of depression two years later, even though the workers were not depressed initially.

Hence, companies that refrain from providing sick leaves can be encouraging negative presenteeism and thus affect the employees’ and company’s health in the long run.

Just because you are work from home when sick doesn’t mean you should. You need to take time off, rest, and recover.

Remember, your physical and mental well-being matters!