What happens when you get violently ill

If you are throwing up and shitting yourself your not going to be working. No one is going to want Typhoid Mary sitting next to them. The big thing is try and stay healthy and work through normal stuff so god forbid you come down with Ebola you can take a day or 2 off.

you'll probably be flamed by something along the lines of "use common sense", "do what you think is right", but I'm also interested. Why?...because i want to fit in.

I was going to say use common sense, but since everyone has a different definition for being sick I think the general rule of thumb is to come into work no matter what unless your vomiting or physically incapable of showing up. At the very least get sent home. You are going to get run down and you will get sick. Your going to have to suck it up sometimes. If you have something highly contagious mention it and let them make the call. Bang out of work too much and you will be called a baby.

See...I disagree on this. If you're actually contagious, don't come in. If the worst thing people can say about you is that you don't come into work when you're sick, who cares? If you get everyone else sick, you're subtracting value from the firm so that you can look good in your own mind. MDs and Ds don't respect kids making stupid decisions that negatively impact the firm just so they can get some face time. Seriously--how much value do you add as an analyst? None? Almost none? No one is going to miss you if you take a day off when you're actually ill, especially when you spend 80-120 hours per week with everyone.

You must go into work even if you're puking blood and need to get hauled in by an ambulance. Period.

If you really are sick, you'll be expected to work from home. Being sick generally doesn't get you out of job responsibilities, it just means you are exempt from travel and sometimes coming into the office. Of course, it depends on the disease. We had an analyst get mono and he continued to come into the office every day until it was gone. We also had an associate undergo a surgery or some other operation and he was on his laptop fielding calls and producing work from the hospital bed that afternoon. I don't think anyone will FORCE you to come in, but you'll quickly get the feel for whether or not your group is the type that supports working from home.

I also found this discussion using Search: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/what-happens-if-youre-sick

i was pretty sick once and my boss told me point blank to get the f out of there and come back when I was better... I missed two days in the office but worked from home

I had appendicitis 11 months into my first year. I had the surgery on a Monday, was required to stay in the hospital until Wednesday and took the rest of the week off. The other junior guys had my back and covered my work. At first the senior guys were hitting me with emails but when I joking replied referring to the fact that I was laying in a hospital be hopped up on morphine and with a catheter in me they got the clue to leave me alone. I wasn't in any desire to rush back to the office or do work so I didn't. I think too many times people get to scared about their image and reputation and do ridiculous things like work under terrible conditions. My thinking is this: what's the point of being on a "team" if when your down you people don't get your back. For a while after I was made fun of for being a pussy but it was just fooling around.

what about if you are still capable of standing & typing, not contagious, but in extreme pain? i.e. recovering from an injury/surgery, stomach problems, eye or ear infection (so you are delirious half-deaf feverish and in lots of pain)

If you are sick then take the day off, that's what I do.

Too many people here worry about image, etc. But seriously, if you are very ill then just take the day off!

I don't understand why they would call you a pussy for that, since imo it is the direct opposite, i.e. those who go in to work when extremely sick are the real pussies. We are not robots. No point in killing yourself (literally) over a job.

I had pretty intense surgery (nothing too serious, but required a lot of pain meds and a catherer afterwards) and made the mistake of trying to go back to normal the same day (out of surgery at 2pm, back at 5pm) just to "show up and prove I'm tough". Turns out I was pretty loopy because of the anesthesia and people was "really happy" for some reason. I kinda made a fool of myself and people told me about it afterwards, even though I thought I was acting normal. I took a couple of days off after that.

Then, when I finally got off the pain meds, I got some pretty bad withdrawal sickness... felt like crap, had high fever then would feel really cold and then really hot and back and forth... passed out in random places while sitting, felt really depressed, etc. So I took 2 or 3 days off and was honest about it. Everything was fine, and people were generally like "yeah man don't worry about it, that can be pretty rough. just come back when you're out of it"

Moral of the story: you are not Leonidas. Don't try to act like it.

You guys need to get over this macho image thing. Ppl work hard in banking, yes. I think everyone knows personally when they are too sick to come in or when they are riding it.

When I was an analyst I worked through flus and stuff i.e. as long as I was able to think straight and wasn't in pain, but had to take days off for migraine (which results in me being dizzy and not being able to focus properly). As long as you are known to be a team player and overall a hard working guy/girl then ppl will generally assume you are taking time out only because you have to.

just make sure that when you first go in, work your ass off, like 18 hours a day, so that when you DO get sick, you have the cushion from before... so hopefully you won't get sick the first month...

what about lupus? do you come in if you have lupus?

Seriously, if your employer has a problem with you taking a day off because you're so sick you're at death's door, that's not the type of employer you want to be working for anyway. And besides, when I'm sick, I don't think clearly anyways. You're better off being a 0% productivity for 1 day instead of being at 50% (or less) productivity for two weeks.

If you come down with something seasonal, seriously, sleep in, have some chicken soup, get better as fast as you can, then go back to work. You're not doing anyone favors by sitting at your cubicle coughing your guts out, nor are you doing yourself any good. If your boss has a problem with that, you shouldn't be working for them.

I think this thread epitomizes everything that is wrong with IBD

Once during my summer internship in AM I started vomiting right to the garbadge bin by my desk. All the senior staff was very supportive, they even called the cleaning personnel for me. I tried to keep working but after vomiting for a second time I knew it was time to go home, I just talked to my boss and went home.

I still got the offer for FT after the internship.

The truth is that, if you are a team player and do a quality job, is not because you are seek that you will loose your offer.

Use common sense? There's a pretty distinct line between when you don't feel like working versus when you simply cannot work. If it's the former, you should be at work and you likely know you should as well even if you can put on a facade that depicts otherwise. If it's the latter, and it's happening often, you should take better care of yourself. Everyone gets a legit flu / etc. once or twice a season (maybe none), but if you're missing more than a week of cumulative work per winter, you should probably work on your diet, sleep habits, exercise regime, etc.

That said, anyone who claims they go to work come hell or high water or projectile vomit or .... is either trying to sound tough on an online forum or needs to reassess their overweighted self-worth in the grand scheme of things. The only true fubar when it comes to sick days is taking them after St. Patrick's Day or some other well-known debaucherous holiday. Even if I were coincidentally legitimately sick, I think I'd come in just to save face from people assuming you partied too hard and dropped the ball.

I guess by definition of a professional, it's like doing it not because you have to, but in the mindset, you need to.

Sometimes I refer to myself that you need to be a faker to be professional. Take pills if your ill but the show must go on.