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Eve Tahmincioglu

Primary author Eve Tahmincioglu has been covering small business and entrepreneurship for more than a decade. She regularly writes about small business issues for the New York Times and BusinessWeek's SmallBiz magazine. She also writes the Your Career column for MSNBC.com. She is the author of "From the Sandbox to the Corner Office."



Don't sneeze on me

Posted: Monday, February 25, 2008 10:28 AM by Eve Tahmincioglu
Filed Under: , , , ,

Are you one of those entrepreneurs without a “sick boundary”?

That’s what Rich Sloan, founder of entrepreneurial website StartupNation.com, calls it.

A sick boundary is a common sense strategy all small business owners should have. Here it is in a nutshell: When you’re sick, stay home, don’t work, get better.

This is pretty simple, no?

“Most entrepreneurs don’t set the sick boundary,” he surmises.

I know, how the heck do you make money when you’re not working? That’s the entrepreneurial conundrum.

A study by a U.K. flu pill maker found that:

“Over a third of entrepreneurs would be tempted to return to working for someone else because of the benefit of paid sick leave.”

“The majority (57%) of entrepreneurs said they couldn't afford to take time off work through colds and flu, with 34% saying they would head into work regardless so as not to let customers down. An additional 22% of small business owners worried that taking a day off work due to a cold or flu would set a bad example to their staff.”

Even Sloan himself admits he sometimes losing sight of his sick boundaries.

“Just having recovered from a bout with the flu, but having recently transformed StartupNation into a home-based enterprise, there was no escape? I couldn’t 'stay home' and avoid work. I found myself doing the work, bleary and feverish anyway. In reflecting on that, I’ll have to set better boundaries next time."
 
A lot of small business owners aren’t even big on their own employees taking paid sick time off. About 41 percent of you don’t offer the benefit to your full time employees, according to a survey by the National Federation of Independent Business.

I know what you’re going to say, people abuse it.

But come on folks, you know you can figure out who are the scammers pretty quickly.

There are many reasons why you should stay home. Here’s a great post on the issue from a colleague of mine who blogs at the New York Times.

“It is NOT kosher to go to work sick and infectious. It’s not considerate to the rest of the people you work with. That’s my view,” Sloan adds.
 
Sometimes even bloggers have to take some time off.

I started and stopped writing this blog post many times because I’m sick with the flu.

I have a fever, probably a sinus infection and I spent most of the day coughing up a lung.

If I had an employee or two, I would have felt pretty guilty about coming to work and spreading my illness. I am going to have an intern working with me soon, and you better believe I’ll give her time off when she’s sick.

OK, so I’m not paying her. That’s not the point.

The point is, when you’re sick you should stay in bed, right?

That’s where I’m heading right now.

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Comments

Very few employers realize the trouble started when they impose non-written "I never get sick, I always come to work" mentality.  It ALWAYS leads to loss of production many times the loss that would be incurred if people were forced to stay home when they were sick.

This is just another practice in the American workplace that has drug us into ground.  These are the same white men that put kids in factories, tell women to stay at home and take care of babies, think vacation is a weakness, and working less than 70 hours a week shows a lack of "Team" spirit.

One of these days people will learn that employers (In General) in the U.S. don't give a damn about the employees.  1/2 of them will tell you if you make them pay lick leave, it will just give them another reason to outsource to another country.  Employers should have to treat foreign employees with the same regulations and rules set in their home countries, that would solve the cheap labor situation, and improve working conditions for all involved.

G. Behrend (Sent Friday, February 29, 2008 9:08 AM)

Ironically, today was my first day out of bed and back at work, after being home for a week with the same flu symptoms you mentioned. I'm a marketing coach, so I don't get paid when I don't work. But it would be unthinkable to meet with clients and subject them to my illness. When I called and canceled our meetings, they were grateful, if not sympathetic. As for my phone clients, it's the same. Although I can't contaminate them through the airwaves, it's just not professional to be sniffling, wheezing, and coughing in their ears.

I have noticed over the past year or two more and more employers, clients, and co-workers asks others to be kind enough to stay home when they are sick. Maybe ... just maybe ... the once prevalent be-there-at-any-cost attitude is being replaced by consideration, professionalism, and thoughtfulness.

Hopefully you're over the flu in a few days!

Peter George, Warwick, RI (Sent Friday, February 29, 2008 10:29 PM)



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