Dear Abby Urges Managers to Address Sick Coworkers as Return-to-Office Mandates Resume

A widely syndicated advice columnist recommended that office managers circulate a memo asking unwell employees to wear masks or stay home after a reader said a return-to-office requirement was causing colleagues to come to work while visibly ill and spread contagions.

In a recent Dear Abby installment, a reader who identified themself as “Sick of sick co-workers” described a companywide four-days-a-week return-to-office mandate and said coworkers were coming into the office when they were “conspicuously ill.” The reader noted the company offers two weeks of “occasional absence” that may be used for sick days and doctors’ appointments and said they were now sick at home because of workplace transmission.

Abby advised the reader to speak with the office manager and suggest that a memo be sent to staff stating that employees who feel unwell should either wear a mask or stay home until symptoms subside. "Many businesses do it," the columnist wrote, echoing a common workplace practice of issuing reminders about illness etiquette and infection control.

The column did not prescribe a specific policy change beyond recommending communication from management, but it highlighted workplace tensions that can arise when employers ask staff to return to in-person work while still relying on existing leave policies to cover illness. The reader framed the coworkers who come to work while ill as "selfish and inconsiderate," and said nobody in the office objected to the behavior.

The Dear Abby column, written by Abigail Van Buren (the pen name of Jeanne Phillips) and founded by Pauline Phillips, regularly addresses interpersonal and workplace dilemmas. In this case, the guidance focused on a managerial intervention that would remind employees of expectations for staying home or masking when symptomatic.

Public-health and occupational-safety approaches to illness in the workplace vary by employer and jurisdiction, but clear communication from management about expectations for symptomatic employees can be one step toward reducing on-site transmission, according to workplace advisers and business communications practices commonly used after infectious-disease outbreaks. The reader’s mention of a designated two-week occasional-absence allowance underscores how companies sometimes rely on existing leave frameworks rather than adopting new sick-leave policies.

The columnist's recommendation is aligned with routine administrative measures employers can take without changing formal leave entitlements: issuing reminders, encouraging masking when ill, and clarifying when employees should use available occasional-absence or sick-day benefits. The reader was advised to raise the concern with the office manager so that consistent guidance could be shared with staff.

The Dear Abby column also included other reader letters on unrelated family and neighbor issues in the same installment, but the workplace health note reflects an ongoing question for employers and employees navigating the balance between in-person collaboration and managing contagious illness in shared work environments.