Emotional Sick Days Are Still Sick Days!

If you knew that a colleague or employee had a Flu or a bad cold, would you insist that they come in to office? You probably won’t right? You’d ask them to please get well and come back and / or facilitate for them to work from home.

You do this because;

A. You want them to get well and feel better

B. there is the chance that they could infect the others at office you would end up losing more people.

But there are so many of us who are not feeling good emotionally, maybe even a little depressed and generally not at our 100%, that have to show up at work no matter what. As long as you are not coughing, sneezing or puking…you can come to work right?

But just like a cold or a flu, one persons emotional ‘not feeling well’ can infect and effect their effectiveness, efficiency and wellbeing. It can also, infect the other people in the office team.

I am not suggesting that you treat emotionally distressed people like lepers, I am merely suggesting that we should be mindful and aware about their emotional and mental health and wellbeing and the impact that it has on their work life as well as the effect it has on the overall team.

Take the time to talk to them and figure out if they can come in or of they should just take the day off and/or work from home / remotely.