Posted: November 20, 2009

You've been sneezing all evening. You feel hot one minute and cold the next. And you can feel a sore throat coming on. It's 9:30 p.m.; what would be the best thing for you to do tomorrow?

Medical professionals, epidemiologists and gurus of common sense (including your mother) would all tell you to stay home. Increasingly, so would business and productivity experts.

With H1N1 making the rounds, as well as the usual seasonal flus and other contagious illnesses, the best thing a sick worker can do is to stay home to avoid infecting co-workers and customers. But all too often, sick workers come into the office, and the losses in productivity caused by that are known as the phenomenon of "presenteeism."

The health care market research firm Kalorama Information recently released the results of a study on wellness in the workplace. According to their findings, "costs due to sick workers going to the office are more than double the cost of the 425 million sick days taken in 2008, an estimated $60 billion in lost productivity."

What can you do as a worker? Remember that you're human and act accordingly. You're likely to get some form of illness this fall and winter, and when that happens, your job is to get well. Make it easy for yourself to take the time you need to get better and make it easy for your co-workers to carry on while you're out.

Every day during the cold and flu season, before leaving work, take 10 minutes and make up a detailed to-do list for the next day, highlighting the most critical items. If you use a tickler file or action file system (which is highly recommended), put all needed papers and information in the next day's folder. That way, if you need to call in sick, your co-workers will be able to take care of your most important items in your absence.

Don't try to do productive work while you're out sick. Your body is not functioning well because it's trying to fight off an infection. And although this should go without saying, it does sometimes need to be repeated: Your brain is part of your body. When your body is under attack from a virus, so is your brain. If you try to work while you're sick, not only will you prolong your illness, you're prone to make significantly more mistakes than you would while healthy.

So focus on getting well: Drink lots of fluids, take whatever medications your doctor has recommended and stay in bed. Once your symptoms have gone, you should be OK to work from home for two days before re-entering the workplace. (A recent Air Force Academy quarantine indicated that H1N1 was still contagious after 24 hours, so a full 48 hours of working from home is recommended.)

What can you do as a manager to reduce the costs of presenteeism? Again, remember that your employees are human beings and plan accordingly. Most or all of them are likely to get some form of illness this fall and winter, and that will affect your department's productivity. Know what your priorities are, and focus on the projects and tasks that are truly mission-critical.

Also, consider that when an employee calls in sick, they are actually doing your business, your employees and your customers a big favor. Encourage sick employees to go home and focus on getting well. If possible, look into strengthening sick leave policies, if only for this season.

Managers can also make it easy for employees to work from home once their symptoms are gone but they're still in the two-day contagion window. Not only will this help keep the rest of the office well, many businesses have discovered that allowing employees to work from home can reduce some office costs.

A harsh cold and flu season can seem especially rough on businesses when it occurs during an equally harsh economy. But if managers and individual workers take a few extra steps, the effects of illness can be reduced and work can still get done. After all, a business is only as healthy as its workers.

Catherine Cantieri's business, Sorted, helps other businesses get organized. Visit the Sorted blog at www.get-sorted.net/.