When you're too sick to work do you feel pressure to push through or do you do what needs to be done to take care of yourself? If you hesitate or choose not to take time off for illness these might be some of the reasons why:
Workload Concerns: You worry about the burden your absence places on your coworkers, so you push through despite feeling unwell.
Fear of Repercussions: You fear negative consequences, such as being perceived as unreliable or even facing potential disciplinary action for taking sick leave.
Pressure to Maintain Productivity: In competitive work environments, you may feel pressured to maintain high levels of productivity and may be reluctant to take time off, even when ill.
Limited Paid Sick Leave: You have limited or no paid sick leave and the financial impact is too high to take off the time.
Workplace Culture: In some workplaces, there may be an unspoken expectation or culture that discourages taking sick days. You may feel compelled to adhere to this culture to fit in.
Fear of Falling Behind: You might worry about falling behind on tasks, missing important meetings, or deadlines. It can be a pain to reschedule meetings involving lots of people if you're the one running it or have to be there.
Perceived Job Insecurity: If you perceive your job as insecure or are in a probationary period or new to the role you may be hesitant to take sick days for fear of being seen as less committed to your role.
High Work Ethic: If you strongly identify as a hard worker and pride yourself on your strong work ethic, your sense of duty to fulfill your responsibilities --even when unwell can be powerful.
Limited Backfill Options: In roles where finding someone to cover for you is challenging, you may be less inclined to call in sick.
Stigma Surrounding Sick Leave: There can be a stigma surrounding taking sick leave. You may feel judged by colleagues or supervisors for prioritizing your health.
It's important to take care of yourself when you're sick. For this to happen, employers need to foster a workplace culture that prioritizes employee well-being and views it as normal to take sick leave when necessary. Creating a supportive environment can help alleviate the concerns that lead people to avoid calling in sick when they genuinely need time to recover.
When clients share concerns about feeling burnt out with me, we look a little more closely at the factors that may be contributing to this. When I support people in their job search or career change we do what we can to assess the environments being considered and their potential impact on health and wellbeing.
The ideal environment.
Moving into a culture that values something as simple as clearly communicating the company's sick leave policy, including the process for notifying supervisors and any documentation requirements. It needs to start with an emphasis on the fact that taking sick leave when needed is a normal and accepted practice within the organization or field.
An ideal work environment walks the talk. Leadership leads by example. Leaders should not hesitate to call in sick when necessary. This sets a precedent that prioritizing health is important. Leaders need to be intentional about saying certain things out loud! Like the benefits of taking sick days that include recovering faster and preventing the spread of illness. Communicating that taking time off to fully recover benefits both the individual and the team in the long run is so important!
Prioritizing environments that offer flexible work arrangements, such as remote work options or adjusted schedules, to accommodate employees who can't come into work but are still able to perform some tasks should be a no brainer. This is a measure to support an employee, not a way to have them continue working at all costs. It has to make sense.
Discouraging the stigma
This might be the biggest factor right here...creating a culture that actively discourages any stigma associated with taking sick days as a normal part of maintaining the overall well-being of the workforce. Workplaces need to ensure employees are aware of available resources, such as an employee assistance program (EAP) for additional support, counselling, or mental health services.
Prioritize workplaces that have plans in place to cross-train team members to ensure that there's backup support when someone is out sick. There also needs to be some recognition that one person cannot do the work of two--especially longterm. Yes, something will still need to give and this is part of the cost of doing business. It shouldn't be the burden of the workforce alone. Environments that value a "do more with less" mentality raise red flags for me. They should for you, too. Having adequate resources in place to begin with is a responsibility of the workplace. This will go far to help reduce your fear about having to leave your colleagues in the lurch by taking care of yourself.
It's not enough for workplaces to merely make taking time off for illness okay, it's important that they actively acknowledge and appreciate employees who prioritize their health. An ideal environment will recognize your commitment to maintaining a healthy work-life balance. It's time for all of us to stop heralding the work horse and the ability to run ourselves into the ground as a badge of honour.
Workplaces that leave it completely up to you to commmunicate your workload and stress levels to your boss during regular check-ins isn't enough. If the culture, supervisor, or manager isn't actually supportive or resourced well enough to make changes, you'll likely worry that your openness will only be viewed as complaining. You might also be right. It will feel pointless to discuss your concerns about a heavy or stressful workload so you'll just suck it up.
The bottom line is that you need an environment you feel safe and supported in. You don't need perfection but you need to sense integrity and committment that the workplace is doing right by the people that allow them to stay afloat. These places do exist. I also see them thriving.
It might seem counterintuitive for workplaces to offer ample sick days and to encourage their workforce to use them. There will be concern that people will take advantage or mis-use them. In my experience this tends not to be the case. For most, mutual respect and care is reciprocated and is a win-win.
If you're someone looking for a new job or making a career change, this is part of the research I suggest doing before entering a new field or taking on a new role. I teach people how to do it, too.
You’re not less valuable than your work.
To give my views a little context here, I spent years working in the vocational rehabilitation field. I spent time with people recovering after falls down elevator shafts, and roofs, and accidents I won’t go into detail about here. I spent time with people whose job required they run towards danger every day and then were left on their own to try to process it.
I spent time with the families left behind after their parent, spouse, or loved one never made it home from work at all.
When I say you’re not less valuable than your work, this isn’t meant as a useless platitude. It’s not meant as a way to “stick it to the man”.
It’s a way to encourage us all to shift our views about work.
To let it really sink in.
It starts at the most basic level.
The understanding that we are never less important than our work. AND, this can start with the belief that it should be ok to call in sick when we are. At the most basic minimum. It should be ok to take care of yourself.
Your work is not more important than your health. You are allowed to use your sick days.
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Cheering you on!
Christine
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