Battle Cold Season with Office Etiquette

Summary: With colds and the flu roaming around, be sure to do your part to eliminate exposing others at work to any illnesses.

Cold and flu season is upon us and there is no escaping it. Chances are many of us have already experienced some kind of illness that we had to decide was bad enough to warrant staying home from work.

• See Calling In Sick? Here Are Some Excuses Other Employees Have Tried for more information.

Calling in sick with a nasty stomach bug will be excused, but calling in sick because of a simple runny nose might be met with criticism. There will always be a few that criticize when you come to work even with a cold. While no one wants to use all their days off on being sick, you have to be courteous to those at the office to ensure that you aren’t spreading illness around. The best option is to see if you can work from home so you can still meet deadlines, but avoid the exposure to everyone else.

Here are five other tips to help when you can’t avoid going to work.

1. Use common-sense germ prevention – Wash your hands frequently, carry hand sanitizer around with you, and clean high-traffic areas with Lysol.
2. Don’t sneeze into your hands – The best place to sneeze is into your elbow so that you don’t go touching other surfaces in the office with your sneezy hands.
3. Eat a balanced diet – Vitamins like Airborne and Emergen-C have been shown to help people get better faster. Fresh fruits and veggies as well as lots of rest are just as important.
4. Don’t shake hands – Politely tell anyone wanting to shake your hand you have a cold and don’t want to get them sick. Also avoid communal food items like coffee and cookies in the break room.
5. Take precautions – There are days when you are more contagious, like the day you really feel under the weather, which is usually about three days in. Even after the first week when you only have a lingering cough, you can still be contagious.

Photo: rodneyemploymentlaw.com