When Is It OK to Call In Sick?

If your office is like most at this time of year, it's probably full of coughing and sneezing co-workers or the empty desks of people who are out sick.

The question of how to handle sick leave stresses workers out more than it should, so here are answers to some of your most common questions about sick leave, including when it's OK to call in sick, whether you should be expected to work from home when you're ill and more:

When is it reasonable to call in sick?

Ideally, you should be able to call in sick whenever you don't feel you're well enough to be productive at work or when dragging yourself out of bed and into your office will make you feel worse than you already do. In practice, some people don't mind working when they're under the weather, and others just want to get into bed with a cup of tea and watch game shows. It's really a personal judgment call.

If you're contagious, you should try to stay home regardless of the factors above. Your co-workers won't appreciate you spreading germs, and some of them may have compromised immune systems or are going home to family members who do.

What if your workplace or boss discourages you from taking sick time?

If you work somewhere that frowns on sick days unless you're hospitalized (and maybe even then!), your workplace has a serious culture and management issue. There are very few roles where disaster will strike if someone takes a day or two off to rest, and requiring sick people to come to work is unkind, shortsighted and potentially dangerous to the health of them and their co-workers.

What about working from home instead of coming in?

In many jobs, it's reasonable to work from home instead of coming into the office when you're sick. It has the advantage of not exposing others to your germs and allowing you to work in cozy pajamas, wrapped in a blanket.

Of course, this isn't an option for everyone. If your role requires your physical presence (a receptionist or retail store employee, for example), or if you work somewhere that has a culture opposed to telecommuting, this might not be feasible. But in an increasing number of offices, working from home when under the weather is perfectly reasonable.

It's important to note, though, that you shouldn't offer to work from home when you really should be taking a sick day and not working at all. Many American workers increasingly feel that they have to work no matter how sick they are, but that's bad for their health and productivity.

Working from home with a cold might be easy to do, but there's a point when you really just need to take the day off and not think about work. (Illnesses like the flu and food poisoning fall in this category.) Plus, paid sick leave is part of your overall compensation and benefits package; so if you need it, take it.

What should you do if you're too sick to work, but your boss expects you to anyway?

Be straightforward with your boss. Explain that you're too ill to work, and make it clear what people should and shouldn't expect from you that day. If in your office, "out sick" generally means you're still working from home, be explicit when you call in. Say something like, "I'm taking a sick day today. I'm sick enough that I won't be checking email or otherwise working."

What if you don't have paid sick leave?

Consider pushing to change that! Point out to your employer that having no sick leave means employees will come to work sick and make other employees -- and customers -- sick, too. And there's safety in numbers, so consider speaking up as a group with other co-workers.

What should managers do to encourage good sick leave practices among employees?

For starters, managers should make it clear they don't want sick people at work. That means sending people home if they come in obviously ill, not penalizing people for using sick days and setting the right example by staying home themselves when they're sick.

Moreover, employers shouldn't require doctors' notes from ill employees, since the cold and flu generally don't require a doctor's care. Requiring doctors' notes discourages employees from staying home when they're sick, is an unneeded burden on sick employees (who will have to drag themselves to a doctor when a few days of resting in bed will cure them), drives up health care costs by pushing people to make unnecessary medical visits and signals that you don't trust your employees to behave responsibly.

Of course, if an employee is abusing their sick leave, managers can address that, but blanket doctor's note policies penalize everyone.

Alison Green writes the popular Ask a Manager blog, where she dispenses advice on career, job search and management issues. She's the author of "How to Get a Job: Secrets of a Hiring Manager," co-author of "Managing to Change the World: The Nonprofit Manager's Guide to Getting Results" and the former chief of staff of a successful nonprofit organization, where she oversaw day-to-day staff management.