Often people must go to work whether they are sick or well. Sometimes employees are the only people who can get certain work accomplished, or people can be paid only if they work. Though many employers offer sick days to employees, workers may feel that it is frowned upon to not go to work even when they are sick.

If you are really sick, for example, with pneumonia, bronchitis, or the flu, a day or two of rest may hasten recovery. It can also help your fellow employees not to get sick if you do not go to work when you are especially contagious. Not every employer will see things in this manner. Thus one must make a judgment call regarding how staying home may be perceived by employers.

Some employers are happy to see an employee skip work when the employee is really sick. The last thing most employers want or need is a number of employees who cannot go to work because they are all sick. Other employers trust workers less and may require a doctor’s note if you plan to not go to work for more than a day. A doctor’s note can be useful in quelling an employer’s doubts in your intentions, and doctors are often happy to specify the number of days you should take off.

There are some occupations where one should really not go to work when one is ill, and where hopefully employers will support a person staying home. In the food service industry, for example, serving food to people when you are sick can be a dangerous practice. Some conditions, that first manifest as mild illnesses, like hepatitis A, can be extremely dangerous to pass on.

People who work with the medically fragile, not just doctors and nurses, but medical assistants, social workers and others, should definitely not go to work when they are sick. Many hospitals actually institute policies regarding staying home when one is ill, which can be helpful to limiting virus transmission to people with significant medical conditions.

If one works with a high number of customers, as in the banking industry, or at a grocery store, it can be respectful to those customers to not go to work when one is ill. Yet for most, mild illness is not usually a good excuse to stay at home. For others, employers may look upon even taking time off for serious illness with disfavor.

No specific rule exists in most forms of industry. It is also clear individual employers will vary in their judgment on your decision to not go to work. When possible, taking a day off can be a way of recovering from illness, and also from preventing others from getting sick. However when staying home might cost you a job, it may be better to attend work, even if you feel awful.