Why does everyone want you to work when you’re sick?! I have two jobs. I work one remote job doing tech sales. My other job is serving at a seafood place. I have been sick for about 2 weeks with a hellacious cough and cold.
I just began a new role. I told my new 8-5 manager that I was sick and needed to use PTO. She dissuaded me into saving my PTO by saying “you don’t have a whole lot going on today, so just save your PTO.” Ok. Why is that a problem for me? Because I need rest. I can’t sleep and rest and nurture my body if I have to be active online all day in case someone messages me for something. Because I can’t have their message go ignored because they’ll think I’m not working. So now I am scared to use any PTO in fear that my new bosses will look down upon me. I’m dangerously low on energy and fatigued, I’m also coughing hard enough to cause an earthquake. But here I am still working.
Now, I work remotely so really I can do all of this from bed if need be. I can cut some corners and make it doable. What I can’t make doable is going into the restaurant I work at. I showed up to work the other day and told my managers I had fallen Ill and it’d be in their best interest to cut me. Well they didn’t, they insisted I had to be there. I finish my shift and they tell me they will probably cut me tomorrow due to low business expectations. Next day comes and I am not cut, so I begrudgingly go into work, and to my delight I see we have 14 total parties amongst 6 servers and 2 bartenders. For those who don’t work in a restaurant, thats quite overkill. I twiddle my thumbs for a while until I’m sat a table, then I get another one. 4 guests in total for the night. I made about $55 after tipping out bartenders. I really resent having to go into work while sick to make $55. I work at a very expensive, chic restaurant where servers regularly make $500+ a night. Me having to come into work to serve those four people was completely unnecessary. I really had to come into work and spread my germs and interact more with the general public just to serve four fucking people?! WHY do people insist of having me work when I’m sick! I thought Covid would be the end of forcing employees to work whilst sick. I guess not.