Cover Your Mouth, or No Gesundheit

Workplace Courtesy: As if they don’t have enough to worry about, cold sufferers now have to concern themselves with how they are perceived by co-workers. According to research by Boots, a health and beauty aids retailer based in Nottingham, England, nearly half of employees (47 percent) say people with colds should stay home and recover, but one-third suspect that people use sick time as an excuse for getting out of work. The mixed signals are blamed for causing many British workers (about 56 percent) to never take time off to rest up and recover, according to Boots. Also, while people tolerate coughing and nose blowing, 48 percent find it particularly irksome when co-workers don’t cover their mouths. And nearly one in four workers expressed annoyance at flu-ridden colleagues who sniffle continually.