The sick season is upon us, but don’t be fooled – there’s plenty you can do to protect yourself from getting the sniffles so you can keep working. Limited sick time or the guilty feeling of calling out of work may seem like more of a push to get yourself into the office, but if you’re really under the weather coming in to work is most likely harming you, your work family and your employer. Remember when you are sick your productivity is reportedly lower and not taking the time to recover will lengthen that time, not to mention the spread of germs is more likely to take another coworker out of the office.
That being said, here are our tips to help you stay healthy and happy.
Understand Workplace Procedures When Unwell
Sick policy varies company to company, but one thing is universal – sick employees lead to more sick employees. Understanding how your company treats their sick policy is crucial. It may be beneficial to either work from a home office or remote location while you recover. If that is not an option, it might be time to weigh out the option of staying home, biting the bullet, and focusing on feeling better, to better protect those around you in the office.
Minimize Physical Interaction
Limit the number of items you touch and be mindful to wash your hands or sanitize often. Unfortunately, if your office is anything like ours here at Interior Talent, that also means no petting of the office pups until you’re feeling back to 100%.
Communal spaces like office kitchens, shared restrooms, and other common shared areas often lead to the spread of germs. Keep disinfectant wipes on hand and quickly clean up high traffic areas. Of course, don’t forget to give your workstation a good cleaning and sanitizing.
Wash your hands often, and with soap.
The CDC recommends 15-seconds of vigorous hand washing to reduce the number of germs we each carry around on our hands every day. Don’t forget – wet, lather, scrub, rinse, dry!
What if you’re sick…of your job?
Maybe you’re looking for a company that has a better policy for managing employee wellness or a boss that values a good old-fashioned sick day. If you’re rethinking your well-being, head over to our job board at Jobs.InteriorTalent.com to check out what open positions we’re working on.