This year, sick workers are urged: Just stay home

Employers' plans to offer flu shots have fizzled.
LONG ISLAND NEWSDAY
The other day at a Starbucks in Manhattan, Norma Siciliano was sitting near a young man sipping a latte who let out a loud sneeze -- and, no, he did not cover his nose or mouth. When another man sitting nearby told him to be more considerate and stay home, a volley of curses ensued.
Already, people are feeling "outrage on a lot of levels," says Siciliano, who runs a telemarketing consulting business in Manhattan. "I think we're going to see a lot more of this."
If anything, the flu vaccine shortage may heighten concerns over infectious people -- including those who soldier into work while sick -- and what could develop into full-blown flu rage.
In the past, even the most uncompassionate may have had sympathy for such die-hards who drag themselves out despite the bleary eyes and body aches.
This year, however, workers are feeling more vulnerable, says Richard A. Chaifetz, chief executive of ComPsych, a Chicago provider of employee assistance programs. "It's not a paranoid feeling. It's based in reality."
Aren't offering flu shots
It's no wonder. Sixty percent of employers polled by the Society for Human Resource Management in Alexandria, Va., had planned to offer flu shots this year. But most of those plans have been scrapped because of the vaccine shortage. The upshot: as much as $20 billion in lost productivity, says Harvard health economist David Cutler.
And the loss from "presenteeism" -- sick workers who come in anyway, only to get less done and infect co-workers -- could be even worse. Such dedication certainly doesn't make them heroes among peers.