[user104658]

Originally Posted by glib

So you tell me each time you have a cold, you have about 1-2 weeks off work to protect your colleagues, do you. Or are you calling yourself a ‘*****ing arsehole’

A bit of a sniffle is one thing but something closer to a flu, or a stomach bug, then yes people should be staying off 1) for their own health, 2) for the sake of their workmates, and 3) for the sake of the company they work for (because getting everyone sick is going to tank productivity).

Originally Posted by thesheriff443

Some people cannot afford to take days off because they are ill
Because if they don’t work they don’t get paid

Not in the UK, unless they are self employed, in which case they're probably going to be working alone anyway. Unless they have employees - and if they own a business big enough to support employees, but can't afford to take a day off, then they might want to rethink self-employment.

And that's how it should be. People should be able to take time off for illness without loss of income. If they can't it's nothing to be celebrated - it's a complete failure of the system.