As a psychiatrist, it’s clear to me that Covid has scrambled so many of the social conventions that we used to share. That goes for our understanding of “sick days.”
In what now seem like the old days, if you weren’t well, you were meant to stay home and rest. This was largely to make sure you didn’t pass on your cold. But now with the aftereffects on workplace arrangements due to Covid, many employees are already at home.
So many workers, instead of resting when they’re sick, just end up getting the work done from home instead. This dynamic will be just one of many in our workplace norms, and flexibility and understanding on behalf of both employees and employees will continue to be the best policy.
