You need to have a direct conversation with your boss.

mrsconn23 · November 2023

Dear Prudence,

I need help dealing with a hypochondriac boss. I understand the need to keep the office safe and I don’t come to work sick, however, I think she takes these matters much too far. If my voice is rough on the phone, she will demand to know if I am sick. If I say I am sick, she will ask a bunch of prying questions and insist that I stay away from the office until I have recovered (and she is the non-medical judge of that). I live in fear of coughing or sneezing at work and I am not the only one. My co-workers have an understanding that we do not tell her we are sick unless it is absolutely necessary. We just work from home when we are ill. Her questioning attitude stresses me out and adds a whole other layer of unpleasantness to any kind of illness. How can I get her to tone it down?

—Treated Like Typhoid Mary

banana468 · November 2023

You need to not tell her what she doesn't need to know. I'd look up legal requirements here but unless it's something truly documented like "Covid protocol states that I need to be out of the office until X date," I would not tell her more than needed and if she pushed, that's when the need to be clear that "this is a personal matter" comes into play.

charlotte989875 · November 2023

Definitely don’t go in if you’re sick but she doesn’t need the details of your personal or medical situation. If you need a day off tell her but but unless you need to use sick time v PTO just go about what you need to do.

You need to have a direct conversation with your boss.

Re: You need to have a direct conversation with your boss.

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