GoFaxer Blog

When I was young I had chronic asthma. In first grade my mom and school nurse discussed my illness and the importance of me to not miss too much school. If I had stayed home every day I was sick, I wouldn’t have gone to school the entire year.

Every day I’d feel terrible and I’d tell my teacher that I wanted to go home. She would then send me to the nurse. The nurse would have me lay down for 20 minutes and then say, “Why don’t you try going back to class for a little while.”

An hour later, still feeling rotten, I’d be back in her office, at which point she’d have me lay down again. In twenty minutes, like clockwork, she’d say the same thing again: “Why don’t you try going back to class for a little while.”

Finally, after three or four times going through this routine she’d call my mom and let me go home. It was an agonizing process. But I will say that it taught me that you don’t just stay home from your day’s responsibilities when you’re feeling sick.

Nowadays, however, most employers would prefer that their sick people stay home, so they won’t infect their entire staff. But they also want their employees to get their work done, regardless of their health. Companies that have Internet fax can demand that their employees work from home, working from their home computer or laptop, while still enabling them to function in their job. There’s no need to be within walking distance of the fax machine with internet fax.

It’s a common tendency when we get sick to try coming into work anyway. No one likes calling their boss and saying their sick. It makes one look weak and not committed to their job.

But a recent article in msn.com by Anthony Balderrama suggests that coming to work sick is not a good thing for businesses. Number one, you’re not going to be very product in the time you are at work and sick. And you’re likely to infect your co-workers. From a simple cost analysis perspective, it’s just not worth it to your business for you to come to work sick.

Balderrama quotes Ari Adler, director of public affairs at John Bailey & Associates Public Relations, on how they’ve used technology to allow their employees to work from home when sick:

“In our business, it used to mean staying at home and maybe fielding a few phone calls,” he says. “But with the Internet, e-mail, cell phones and remote desktop access, there’s little need for an employee to come to work and contaminate the rest of the employees.”

Internet fax technology is a great example of modern services that allow employers to say, “Stay home.” With this service you can work from home, but still be able to send and receive faxes.