I have to turn in a feedback form and my new coworker is sick and refuses to leave

So, the partners and the firm administrator require all the employees to complete a feedback form and email it to the firm administrator. Your basic self performance review, that will later be evaluated. I don’t like it one bit. It is triggering my self-sabotage. I will fill it out anyway.

Mostly, I am going to give feedback about my new coworker - another paralegal like me, who has actual paralegal experience, but is doing the legal assistant work also like me at this law firm.

My performance goals are obvious: learn to do my job well and communicate better. That is too generalized so I have to be more detailed. But it is the gist.

Back to my new legal assistant coworker. She is the total opposite of me: very quiet and will not ask for help. She is also VERY sick right with an upper respiratory infection. Today she sneezed 30 times in a row. She wasn’t wearing a mask and sits directly across from me. So, i consider myself effed now.

I didn’t know how sick she was until today. I must have asked her ten times, “Are you sure you shouldn’t go home. You are falling asleep at your desk and you are mumbling a lot and aren’t doing your work.” I’m sure I sounded like a horrible person. I tried to sound empathetic but I hate it when people show up to work extremely ill. They just make the entire office as sick as them, spreading their virus around.

I did not go complain about her to anyone, considering how that backfired for me already. I get it. She probably shows up b/c we’re paid hourly, not salaried. And she hasn’t been there long enough to even accrue 8 hours yet of paid time off. It’s obvious to everyone she’s sick. No one could see her sleeping at her cubicle though b/c of where ours are located; ours face a wall so there’s no one to see us.

I need advice. What to write strategically to save face on my self performance review form. What do I do about my sick coworker who refuses to recover at home and will just make everyone in the office, including me sick as a dog. I will wear a mask tomorrow but it may already be too late since she sneezed and coughed around my cubicle area. I didn’t touch my face and washed my hands but in 3-5 days if I get an upper respiratory infection, I’ll know where it came from (her).

There’s nothing you can do about sick coworker except wearing a mask. Always carry a mask with you and if someone is sick around you, put it on. It’s awful but I don’t know what you can do

I am not sure what to write in a feedback. But I’d not write anything about sick coworker.

Ok, I will just wear a mask tomorrow and the rest of the week and next week until her illness goes away. Hopefully, I won’t get sick from her.

Good point. I’ll leave her out of my feedback form.

You’d think with covid on a rise again people would be mindful. Both mine and my husband’ work places had ton of people out with covid last few weeks. And we both got it one after another (3rd time for me). How can people be at work sick if they could possibly have covid? So inconsiderate

Sorry to hear that. Both you and your husband caught Covid multiple times. But you’re right. It’s due to people being inconsiderate buffoons going to work when they’re super Duper contagious and sick. It’s just so disrespectful. It’s like you’re not getting any work done? She slept at her desk and got paid for it yesterday, she did zero work. Zero. While I worked my butt off for the one attorney there because the other ones out of town for the next two weeks I have no idea why they hired this young lady. She’s terrible.

Oh sorry this happened- I agree it’s stressful when people come into work obviously sick, and no one seems to mask up anymore. Wise move not to put it on feedback though, unless company policy states otherwise then there’s usually nothing to stop people doing what she’s done. Would she qualify for sick pay? In my workplace we don’t get it for first 3 days so that’s why people usually still come in.

You didn't really ask 10 times did you? If you did then that is a problem. You say you are sure you sounded like a horrible person too. I think you need to try to have a live and let live attitude here.


People will always come to work sick. It's what we do in a capitalist society. Getting exposed is not the end of the world unless you have a major immune system disorder. You need exposure to keep your immune system strong. Some people think the reason we are having so many people with infections now is the immunity gap or immunity debt that we got for the lock downs and social distancing during the pandemic.


How were other people reacting around her? Were they all wearing masks? We have some people who were sick come in with masks. When I got a cold I didn't mask up and no one said anything.

Thank you for your thoughts. I struggle to have a "live and let live" attitude because while I know I can't control anyone other than myself, I don't like it when people take advantage of their workplace by coming in sick. As a former teacher, I was around sick students and staff all the time. Sure, it builds up immunity, but it also spreads disease. That's how Covid-19 SPREAD. Ahem.

If you are sick STAY HOME. I don't need her virus. She needs to respect everyone here at the office and stay home. It's disrespectful. It's lazy. It's selfish. to show up to the workplace sick.

Doesn't matter what type of society we live in. It's about respect for me, at the end of the day. If you make your entire office sick, your business can suffer in many ways, especially financially, deadlines get pushed back on projects, meetings get rescheduled that can lose a customer, effect a sale.

There is no common sense reason to come to work sick. Period.

I think it's the opposite. If everyone who gets a sniffle calls in sick there aren't enough people at work and things get delayed. Most people can work effectively with a cold. It's a company decision on the policy. Just go with the flow.

Touche. There are definitely two ways to view the sick-in-the-office scenario. I appreciate your input.

I also think a lot of people come in sick if they don't get sick pay. If phoning in sick means they can't pay the rent or electric bill or whatever expense has to be paid, that's a no brainer for them. They come in sick.

She may not have been able to afford to stay home, and having a coworker ask her at least ten times if she's sure she shouldn't go home would only add to her misery and discomfort.

You may find yourself doing the same thing one day (if finances are tight).

You bring up a good point. Companies set up the pay schedule to trap employees financially around physical and mental health issues.

Most companies set up their pay schedule and salary framework to trap the employee with forcing them to earn sick paid hours to use to cover their hourly rate or salary. It’s very manipulative, but cost-effective for the company..

However, if a woman is having a miscarriage, or a man is getting chemotherapy, or someone has Covid if they don’t have accrued hours of sick leave and they are forced with either quitting their job to stay home and recover or coming in and something terrible happening to them physically at work.

I’m not sure why you felt the need to be judgmental of me in your post that I may find myself in that situation when things are financially tight.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RockyRoad007 I also think a lot of people come in sick if they don't get sick pay. If phoning in sick means they can't pay the rent or electric bill or whatever expense has to be paid, that's a no brainer for them. They come in sick. She may not have been able to afford to stay home, and having a coworker ask her at least ten times if she's sure she shouldn't go home would only add to her misery and discomfort. You may find yourself doing the same thing one day (if finances are tight).

I see both sides of this and have lived both sides.

I have a crappy immune system. I catch every bug that comes down the road. I hate it when coworkers come in sick, afraid I will catch it. Covid taught me to protect myself. To this day if I go in public I wear a mask a distance myself from people. I get some weird looks, but it's kept me healthy.

The other side of this for me is I understand why people go to work sick. Back in the day when I got paid hourly and did not have benefits I would drag myself to work because I couldn't afford to not get paid. I was struggling to get by. Missing a day's pay would mean not being able to pay my bills.

Frankly, one of the benefits of being retired is that I don't have to deal with this.

A suggestion for the future, what about storing some masks in your desk in case.a co-worker comes in sick.