Employee comes in to the office when they are sick at their boss's demand, boss soon regrets it: 'Boss said no working from home'

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Jul 21, 2025 12:00 PM EDT

It really makes you wonder why some people (usually your boss) are so insistent on coming into the office even when they are sick. And when that same boss gets everyone else sick in turn, they expect everyone to come in. Wouldn't it just make more sense if everyone stayed home while they were sick? That way, at least the problem would be isolated and wouldn't spread throughout the office. It's hard to believe that one person being off sick for a few days would be less efficient than having the entire workforce struggling to cope with basic tasks due to illness.

Instead, we all fall victim to some misplaced display of bravado and machismo from an era where you couldn't show any sign of weakness. Well, that still remains the case in many places, but it's disappointing to think that we've already completely forgotten about recent global events that occurred within the last five years, which taught us the value of not getting everyone we know, including our coworkers, sick. Especially when a lot of work can be done from home anyway, meaning that fewer people get sick and the sick person themselves gets more done.  

Sometimes, though, simply by showing your boss how sick you are will cause them to regret sticking to their archaic beliefs. This is exactly what this employee did when their boss demanded they come in despite their fever.

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  • 01

    "Boss said no working from home, so I came in sick as requested."

    Last week I woke up feeling awful fever, cough, the whole thing. I messaged my boss to ask if I could work from home so I wouldn't get anyone sick. He replied, "No exceptions. If you're well enough to work, you're well enough to be here." So. I dragged myself in, coughing and sniffling the whole time. The look on his face when I walked through the door was priceless. By the end of the day, he told me to go home and said I could work remotely after all. Funny how that works.
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  • 02
    Cheezburger Image 10532694784
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 03
    Mysterio... My manager wouldn't let me work remote because I wasn't contagious just severe allergies. She then complained during my 1:1 that I needed to control my coughing and sneezing because people were complaining. I took Clorox wipes with me everywhere so people would know I'm serious about possible germs and not sick or trying to get anyone sick but my manager complained when I took sick time and wouldn't let me work remote so I didn't have much choice as I was on the maximum dose for Bena
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  • 04
    Guess who now has a fully remote job in another department. Some managers s k! I'm so sorry you also work for someone without a functioning brain.
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  • 05
    4me2knowit I really don't get us labor laws. Sick days? How come they are a fixed number?
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  • 06
    kirradoodle A former employer had a policy that said you couldn't take a sick day right before or after a scheduled holiday. I guess this was to keep people from cheating to extend their holiday time off. One Christmas we traveled to visit family and I came down with a horrendous flu, just deathly ill, and even lost my voice for several days, couldn't make a sound. I got well enough to travel back home but was barely functioning.
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  • 07
    The next morning, I was due back at work, but there was no way - I could barely stand and still couldn't talk. I asked my husband to call my boss and tell him I wouldn't be in. Predictably, my boss went off on him, saying I was clearly faking and just trying to get more holiday time. He said I'd better be in tomorrow and implied I was in big trouble.
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  • 08
    I went to work the next day, still feeling terrible. Coughing, sneezing, trembling, pale as a ghost and a voice like a frog - obviously sick and had been sick and would be sick for a while. Boss looked horrified, realized his mistake, and sent me home. Why can't companies treat their people like people and trust them to do the right thing? It took me dragging myself in to the office, possibly infecting others, for my boss to comprehend that a person can actually come down with an illness while o
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  • 09
    SauerMetal I had this argument with my boss once when he said "I never call out when I'm sick." To which I replied t"hen you shouldn't get annoyed with the rest of us when you infect the place." If looks could kill.
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  • 10
    Nelliemade Do you not have sickleave? Sounds like you were not well enough to work. Why did you go into the office? Why not just take a sick day if you have sickleave available
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