Reply to: Do you still go in if you're ill?

[norrahe]

If you have an out of body experience you should send you disembodied psyche to work and bill for hte day.

If only

I've had a few days off sick, mainly due to laryngitis when I've completely lost my voice over the years.

[Old Greg]

In my permie days i always made sure i used up my entire sickness allowance each year

I've been contracting for around 3 years now. I've had 1 day off sickness that whole time with the flu (the type where you have an out of body experience!!!!)

If you have an out of body experience you should send you disembodied psyche to work and bill for hte day.

[kingcook]

Big difference between permie sickie and contractor sickie for obvious reasons. lol.

I know when I was a young lad permie I still used to struggle in to work unless I was really ill. As I got older, I wised up to this, and any hint of illness and sickie it was.

As a contractor though, I tend to go in even if I'm ill. What about the rest of you? Or do you insist with client that you get to WFH if you're not feeling 100%

In my permie days i always made sure i used up my entire sickness allowance each year

I've been contracting for around 3 years now. I've had 1 day off sickness that whole time with the flu (the type where you have an out of body experience!!!!)

[Gentile]

What line are you in that you would even consider a subbie to cover for a couple of days off???

I'm a software developer. But MyCo tends to be involved in supplying discrete pieces of work, rather than just the pay for play arrangement with an open end date that many people seem to get involved in, where they're ostensibly a member of the client's own staff for the duration. When my company agrees to provide expertise 'A' between dates 'X' and 'Y', that's exactly what it's undertaking to provide; it's not a contract with me the individual for however many days I can manage, it's with my company for an agreed number of days development on a discrete project.

[jmo21]

Not just for financial reasons either, but because as a business you don't want to let the client down and you don't want to go to the hassle of providing a subbie for a day (if you can even find one to work a day or two at short notice).

What line are you in that you would even consider a subbie to cover for a couple of days off???

[psychocandy]

It isn't give and take by default. You are a professional providing a service to a client. As a standard it isn't give and take. You deliver and get paid that's it. Now as you work with a client you may build a relationship and can work together so can do the things you say by agreement. The last two words are key. If you put t to them and they say fine (which let's be honest they will) then it's good. What you don't do is pretend you can work by being wfh when you can't/won't when the client is expecting it. That's taking pIss out of your client when really he would b ok if you are straight with him. All comes down to your relationship at end of the day.
Again am pretty anal about this so each to their own.

Agree with you to a certain extent. Luckily, my client is pretty good. 'Sometimes' they try to get little extras for nothing but then again, they never kick up a fuss about reasonable things so I dont mind at all.

Agree that if your a 9-5 out the door sort and then expect to work a few hours from home one day when you're ill and bill for a day then thats different. But, in the past, I've worked 14 hour days when needed, I've been flexible with supporting stuff at midnight - if the client then kicks off cos I dont feel 100% one day and insists I physically come into the office for the full 8 hours and doesnt cut me a little slack then I aint going to be impressed. Next time they ask me on a monday afternoon, if Im free tuesday evening to coordinate stuff from 4pm to midnight I'll be busy. ;-)

BTW WFH is something they dont mind generally anyway. Most of the permies and contractors do at some point - I just dont bother so much cos I live close anyway.

[NotAllThere]

If I'm really not up to coming into the office, or I think I'm likely to infect, I'll inform the client. Anything urgent I'll do WFH, and charge accordingly.

[Notascooby]

I'm only every really sick when stressed and busy at work - at its these time I can't afford to be off.
Funnily, since starting contracting 2 years ago - I've only had the odd cold passed to me from the bin-lids, not through work related stress.

[northernladuk]

Just to add my client allows for half day billing which is useful if you are not up to a full day. Might be an option that helps in some situations.

[BolshieBastard]

All my contracts generally involve a drive of at least an hour. If I was feeling tulip, I wouldnt drive in, on medication and be throwing up al over the gaff. People can say they go in to work with everything under the sun but, different people have different tolerances.

Someone full of flu, coughing a spluttering could cause someone nearby to have an asthma attack or, merely the germs cause breathing problems. (Dont say that's rubbish because it has affected me.)

Im also allergic to asprin and paracetemol and wanr people near me with colds etc to stay the **** away.

[northernladuk]

But its all give and take aint it? I see no problem with taking a day WFH catching up on documentation etc and maybe putting in 5/6 hours of work.

After all, certainly in my situation, the client will get a 10 hour day out of me in the near future when I'm doing some work on their live customer site.

I dont see the difference between those contractors who work the extra hours mon-thurs and leave lunchtime on friday. Client aint getting a full day friday but in the bigger picture they're getting their worth.

Again in my circumstance, the client does better out of the deal than I do with extra hours - thats for sure.

It isn't give and take by default. You are a professional providing a service to a client. As a standard it isn't give and take. You deliver and get paid that's it. Now as you work with a client you may build a relationship and can work together so can do the things you say by agreement. The last two words are key. If you put t to them and they say fine (which let's be honest they will) then it's good. What you don't do is pretend you can work by being wfh when you can't/won't when the client is expecting it. That's taking pIss out of your client when really he would b ok if you are straight with him. All comes down to your relationship at end of the day.
Again am pretty anal about this so each to their own.

[Gentile]

Big difference between permie sickie and contractor sickie for obvious reasons. lol.

I know when I was a young lad permie I still used to struggle in to work unless I was really ill. As I got older, I wised up to this, and any hint of illness and sickie it was.

As a contractor though, I tend to go in even if I'm ill. What about the rest of you? Or do you insist with client that you get to WFH if you're not feeling 100%

When I was a permie I used to get a bit annoyed at people that would turn up coughing and spluttering all over the office, making half of their colleagues ill in the process. Usually they saw themselves as martyrs, but in reality they were more Typhoid Marys that caused a net loss to the team as more people phoned in sick owing to picking up their germs.

As a contractor, there are obviously incentives to coming in even when sick. Not just for financial reasons either, but because as a business you don't want to let the client down and you don't want to go to the hassle of providing a subbie for a day (if you can even find one to work a day or two at short notice). However, I'd still try and take any sick days that I needed rather than spread disease. Thankfully it's not an issue too often; I can't think of a single contract day I've lost through sickness.

[Old Greg]

But its all give and take aint it? I see no problem with taking a day WFH catching up on documentation etc and maybe putting in 5/6 hours of work.

After all, certainly in my situation, the client will get a 10 hour day out of me in the near future when I'm doing some work on their live customer site.

I dont see the difference between those contractors who work the extra hours mon-thurs and leave lunchtime on friday. Client aint getting a full day friday but in the bigger picture they're getting their worth.

Again in my circumstance, the client does better out of the deal than I do with extra hours - thats for sure.

I travel to the client site when I need to and work at home when I don't. Simples.

[JoJoGabor]

People coming in when sick really winds me up. Dont come in and make the whole team sick and make us endure your relentless sneazing, sniffing and wheezing. We're all contractors, we can afford to miss the odd day of work and annual income should not be calculated without taking into account absences.

[psychocandy]

If I can't do a full days work I don't bill. Simple as that. WFH should jot be used as a excuse to be under productive and still get paid. This will come back and bite you if the client sees your productivity drop. They will be watching for a drop in productivity or not being able to contact you even more when you are sick so WFH is not always the wisest idea.

All in my opinion but I was the type that was never of sick unless truly unwell. Never lost the opinion throwing sickness and skiving under the FH banner is for slackers.

But its all give and take aint it? I see no problem with taking a day WFH catching up on documentation etc and maybe putting in 5/6 hours of work.

After all, certainly in my situation, the client will get a 10 hour day out of me in the near future when I'm doing some work on their live customer site.

I dont see the difference between those contractors who work the extra hours mon-thurs and leave lunchtime on friday. Client aint getting a full day friday but in the bigger picture they're getting their worth.

Again in my circumstance, the client does better out of the deal than I do with extra hours - thats for sure.