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If You’re Sick, Stay Away From Work. If You Can’t, Here Is What Doctors Advise. - The New York Times

posted onJanuary 4, 2018
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Article snippet: When Elle Fraser, a business operations assistant for the New Jersey Devils, came down with the flu just before Thanksgiving last year, she didn’t think about staying home from work. The hockey team had home games on Wednesday and Friday that week, and she worried that her work would never get done without her, even if she had a 103-degree fever. She toughed it out, alternating between chills and sweats, falling asleep at her desk, wiping down every surface she touched, and insisting to co-workers she was wearing mittens to handle tickets only because she was cold. On that Wednesday, Ms. Fraser, 23, worked from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. On Thanksgiving Day, she slept most of the day. The next day, she went back to work, just as sick as she was on Wednesday. Sure, she technically had a choice to use a sick day and stay home, but that was not how she saw it. She thought she didn’t really have a choice. “Nobody tries to convince you to go home because they knew in that situation they’d be doing the same thing,” she said. Some people might read her account as a tribute to hard work and selflessness. Others might be aghast that she had risked exposing others to illness. It’s clear on which side doctors come down: They say workers with the flu or a cold should use sick days far more often than they do. Though millions of Americans don’t get paid time off when they’re sick, those who do have the option often don’t take it. “If it’s bad enough that you’re wondering if you should ... Link to the full article to read more

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