Do people in your office come down with mysterious illnesses in early January?

[Orrex]

It's the strangest thing, and it happens every year. During the first week of January a ton of my coworkers are afflicted with some strange malady requiring them to call off, even though they show no symptoms before or after the date of the call off. Nor during that day, if their FB posts are any indication.

What a fortunate coincidence that they've just gotten their new round of sick days with the start of the new year!

[MissMillie]

1. Nothing mysterious about the illnesses in the office here

We all have head colds. No mystery because we're all here at work.

[Orrex]

3. My sympathies!

My beef isn't with people who actually have some kind of illness or a pressing reason to call off. I'm irked at the people who say "hey, I have a whole year's worth of sick days available, I might as well call off, and to heck with my coworkers."

Strikes me as kind of a crappy move.

[LiberalEsto]

2. A couple of things

1. My tree pollen allergies start acting up in early January now, probably because of climate change. They've started earlier and earlier every year. I live near Washington DC. The symptoms can feel like a bad cold or even bronchitis.

2. When families come home after visiting relatives over the holidays, they bring back a wealth of new germs. Kids start exchanging them with friends and classmates and thus it spreads through schools. Before my kids were grown, they used to come down with colds a week or two after school started in September, and again in January and after spring break.

[Orrex]

4. A charitable assessment, but I fear that I'm not convinced

I'm not judging from one or two examples but rather from a pretty large sample size, relative to the size of the office. It's one of those wink-wink deals in which everyone knows what's going on, but no one can do anything because, strictly speaking, the employees do have time off available.

Still, it's a crappy move.

[CanSocDem]

5. tsk tsk...

...Liberal Esto gives you a solid scientific explanation and you blow it off with a nod to the social and psychological pressures that lead to illness.

Of course you could blame the exhausting and stressful work of 'finding the right gift' or, perhaps in your case, 'being nice to family'. May I suggest a sure-fire vaccination for all of those people who are neglecting their corporate responsibility. Time and a half on all days following a holiday.

.

[Orrex]

7. You've hit it right on the head

Young 20's, most of them. And I'm so irritated that I'm going to leave that apostrophe in there even though it's incorrect pluralization.

My company is actually pretty generous with time off, so I have no complaints in that regard, except to the extent that employees tend to take unfair advantage of the system.