Aahhhchooo – Wanna… Go for Coffee on Our Break? Aahhhchooo

  

Aahhhchooo – Wanna… Go for Coffee on Our Break? – Aahhhchooo

In a World of Roiling Contagions. Is “Rest and Recover” the New “Duck and Cover”?

We’ve all seen enough pictures of the spikey COVID-19 and a few variants, but the photos above are of the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and the current flu virus happily at work across the land… particularly in open office spacew like the last picture. And yes, Murgatroyd, these viruses can be severe, are mostly miserable, always highly contagious and they can kill or leave lasting damage. Not that COVID-19 is a fun infection either, and there are more than enough continuing fatalities and long-COVID results out there. But as there is a press to bring people back to the office, the plant… the generic workplace.

Notwithstanding tales from pure remote work, hybrid work and “health-driven” precautions, there are plenty of companies demanding that workers spend all or most of their time back in their physical workplace. In some professions – like healthcare and construction – being at the workplace is essential. In others – like the legal, corporate planning and marketing – remote work is an easy alternative. With the cost of childcare often the difference between a parent’s working or not working, the ability to work from home is often determinative. With residential housing costs soaring in major cities, a horde of office workers have moved to cost-friendly locations, often quite far away and even in other states or countries.

In some major cities – like San Francisco and Atlanta – echoes in empty office suites portend a continued decline in office rentals… and hence the value of the buildings themselves. All this as residential housing is making life very expensive for all but those who bought their homes many years ago. Lots of workers, however, still fear the increasing virility of contagious diseases that seem to have redefined modern life. Going work in a normal office space can kill you.

Callum Borchers, writing for the February 8th Wall Street Journal, addresses this push-pull effect on corporate workspace reality: “Subtly or explicitly, bosses sometimes urge employees to ignore minor symptoms. Their own reluctance to take sick days can signal that subordinates are expected to gut it out. Asking whether an employee feels well enough to work from home, instead of immediately granting a day off, can also apply pressure. So can harping on how inconvenient it is and that co-workers will have to pick up the slack.

“In a January survey of 1,000 U.S. managers by Resume Builder, one-fifth said they encourage under-the-weather employees to come to the office. Almost a quarter said they suspect workers lie about being sick or exaggerate the severity of their illnesses… Managers frustrated by the many ways we work now are trying to gain a sense of control over their people, says Stacie Haller, Resume Builder’s chief career adviser. The survey results are consistent with others that show managers often doubt whether their charges are giving full effort while working from home.

“Workers can’t win, Haller says. They feel shamed by bosses if they call in sick or shamed by colleagues if they show up contagious… Some employees take sick days whenever they sniffle or need a mental break. About 30% of white-collar workers with access to paid sick leave used it last year, up from 21% in 2019, according to HR-software company Gusto. That still means most people don’t take sick time.

“Laptop-bound workers often sign on from home rather than call in sick, typing and tissue-blowing in their pajamas. Even Covid isn’t a slam-dunk reason to miss work anymore if symptoms aren’t severe…. (Speaking of slam dunks: The sneakers Michael Jordan wore during his famous ‘flu game’—he scored 38 points with a 103-degree fever in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals—sold for $1.38 million last summer. Look no further for evidence that we still fetishize toughing it out.)

“In certain cities, sick-shaming bosses risk blow back. In New York City and Washington, D.C., for example, it is illegal to ask employees for doctors’ notes after brief absences… Even less direct hassling could be grounds for a complaint, says Vanessa Matsis-McCready, vice president of human resources at Engage PEO, which handles HR functions for small and midsize businesses. A general sense that a department’s culture is to push through sickness is enough to report to HR, she said. It may not be enough to win a grievance case, but businesses can pay a price in reputation and morale.”

In Los Angeles, employees and visitors to hospitals and other healthcare facilities are once again required to mask up. But in “anti-woke” red states, wearing a mask other than in surgery is considered leftwing wokeism. If you watched the Grammys recently, perhaps you missed the superspreader after-effects. Airline travel carries renewed risks. But those events/facilities are more optional than conforming to the requirements of your employer to keep your job. It’s pretty obvious that viruses and bacteria are wildly in favor of the back-to-the-workplace mandates.

I’m Peter Dekom, and biggest shortage in the United States today appears to be commonsense.