Can you make someone go home?

Keep telling her she looks dreadful and that she'd be better off in bed! ? Say you obviously dont want to catch it as you dont want to be ill over Christmas. Failing that there isnt much you can do to make someone leave.

Can you have a quiet word with your boss and explain? He can send her home. Failing that pull a sickie yourself to get out

WSS. Is there anyway you could avoid her?

This.

Make a sudden dash for the toilet, wait there for a while, throw some cold water on your face & then slowly walk back in, tell them you've just been sick, must have a tummy bug and should probably go home.

I swear I've never done this before. ?

We have different bosses. I've just made a complete tool of myself by telling my boss i was worried and I burst into tears. She told me to get a grip of myself and that I will be fine. I just can't help but worry which is probably the worst thing I could do.

Id just tell her boss and make him/her make her go home!!

Did you tell her you were pregnant?

Yeah did you tell her you were upduffed? If so thats a bit harsh for her to say that. If not might be worth explaining, but to be honest even if you caught the bug you would be fine. I know it doesnt feel like it, and i was the same as you, wiping everything in the office with antiseptic wipes and avoiding ill people! Its your natural instincts to.

WSS?

By not telling your employer you are pregnant it puts you and your baby at risk - you need to tell her immediately. Health and Safety law says once you have told your manager you are expecting they need to do a risk assessment for the risks you may face at work, including exposure to risks posed by other workers. HR law says your manager must keep this information confidential, until you are ready to tell you colleagues you are having a baby.

Viruses - the cold/snuffles type - pose a very small risk to you and your baby if you are otherwise fit and healthy, and the general hygiene advice of cleaning thing is valid, you might want to get yourself some alcohol gel for you hands - remember not to touch your face and to use soap and water at every opportunity. The viruses to avoid are things like rubella, flu and chicken pox.

I completely agree that going into work sick is bad/inconsiderate/stupid, but it's up to her manager to send her home. If you explain to your manager that you are expecting they may be sympathetic, or at least let you take a leave day.

Your boss sounds very unsympathetic Sadly it's not an uncommon attitude to pregnant women.

I'm not a medical professional so I can't tell you what actual risk there is to you and the baby but if you're vigilant about washing your hands, avoid touching your face, keep as much distance from her as you can then you are very unlikely to pick up whatever she has.

Try not to panic. I know how scary early pregnancy can be, especially when it's your first. I was a nervous wreck the whole 9 months with L!

If your manager can't make some arrangement, then this is good advice. I work in a very sickly office and this is pretty much what I do.

WSS - you need to tell your manager ASAP.

Also comfort yourself with thoughts of pregnant women who have older kids at schools, which are marvellous hives of contagion! There is CONSTANTLY some bug or other going round at my son's school so I must be exposed to all sorts daily. It's so easy to read stuff which makes you panic but if you take everything you read to heart, you will end up spending the entire pregnancy living in a plastic bubble and scared out of your wits.

Relax (and whinge away to us if you need to!).

WSS! I would also insist your boss gives her some gel and antibac wipes for her own use on her desk. When I worked in OOH GP service our doctors on call would wear a mask when visiting flu/swine flu patients, I would wear one in the office, then she might get the hint!

I think I may have had a slight over reaction this morning and gone into blind panic. My boss knows I am pregnant and she has been really good, she was basically saying that I cannot wrap myself up in cotton wool for 9 months and that i need to calm down as it's not going to help if I am constantly stressed.

Ill cow is still here, sniffling, spluttering and coughing all over the place. I will just try and stay out of her way.

Don't beat yourself up; it's pretty common in first pregnancies to be a bit of a hypochondriac ? Like I said earlier, I was a mess with my first and used to go massively out of my way to walk around people smoking on the street, wouldn't go anywhere near anyone who was ill and generally drove myself bonkers with worrying. I've been more relaxed in subsequent pregnancies and am having a much happier time for it!

This. On all fronts. Try not to worry (easier said than done). You probably come into contact with people carrying all sorts of bugs, at all times of the day, for every day of your life (both pregnant and non-pregnant ones). A cold-type virus is unlikely to be problematic.

Hope you manage to avoid her germs Panj.

I find it quite ridiculous and unfair that employees are so scared to have sick leave that they drag themselves in with all kinds of illnesses. I know there has to be some sort of monitor to stop people taking the pi$$ but surely if you can see your employee is truly ill, you should just send them home!

As a manager you are not able to send an employee home for being unwell however as you are pregant you can(in theory) take as much sick time as you like without having any disiplinary implications. If you are that worried then perhaps go home sick yourself and then you wont be near her.

I have never been preggers obvs but I have managed many upduffed ladies in my time (4 in my last team of 12) but all of them have been exposed to viruses, coughs and cols etc and all produced perfect little bambinos - please dont worry I am sure all will be fine.

She has gone home!!!! ?

I knew about the sickness thing when you are preggers because we had one girl work here on a temporary contract for 10 months. She fell pregnant after one month of working here and then had 66 days off sick through out her pregnancy. She was then given a lump sum maternity payment of £5000 when she left. It's no wonder small businesses go under when they have to contend with the likes of people like that.

Hurrah!

At least you dont have to worry Panj - I had a girl who was off from the day she found out she was preggers untill she had the baby - she then took all her maternity leave and handed in her notice on the day she was due to come back- after we had devided her RTW plans, found a role for her etc etc ?

And, unfortunately, what makes women of child baring age a less attractive option to employers.

ETA - glad she's gone home Panj

This is interesting because when my OH was in a call taking role and would frequently take asthma attacks after too much talking on the phone (weird sounding but true, he's got it pretty bad) his manager kept trying to send him home and he would say 'I'm ok, I just need fresh air for 10 mins and I'll go back online' but the manager refused to let him, he said he had no choice but to send him home. I said 'I'm not keen for this because your sick record which was until recently perfect is now terrible' but OH reckoned the manager was within his rights to send him home.

This led to 6 months paid sick leave and a long awaited appointment with OHD leading to my OH being take offline to do other work which suits him just fine ?

Keep Calm and Hitch On. ?

Step away from Google or wherever your getting your info from. You're goinging to send your blood pressure up when worrying which isn't good for you. LO is protected by your immune system as you are exposed to an awful lot of germs day in, day out. As long as you take precautions (handwashing, etc) you should be fine, though, you will get colds at some point during your pregnancy. I was exposed to all sorts of illnesses from to my students, particularly chicken pox. If you worry about the flu, ask your GP about the flu jab.

If you worry over every little thing, you won't enjoy your pregnancy ?

I think it was from being at the docs yesterday (trying hard not to breathe in yukky germs). There were lots of leaflets about flu jabs and how harmful flu can be to the baby in early pregnancy and can result in mc etc. Seeing how poorly the colleague was this morning, I just got really angry and in turn really upset at her for polluting the office with her filthy germs.