[campbellcj]

Same small-biz story for me. Even in the extremely rare cases (probably count 'em on 2 hands for a 15 year period) that I was truly sick enough not to go into the office, I have to / do check email, make calls, etc. from home. It is masochistic and costly to not 'keep up' if I am physically able to do so. At this point my immune system must be pretty strong, as I have a 4-year old kid in pre-school and a (former) pediatrician wife who collectively have brought home every germ known to mankind for the last several years.

I am in complete agreement about not having contagious people in the office. I 'encourage' them to NOT come in unless there is some crisis or deadline that requires their presence, and have often sent people home when obviously miserable and coughing, sneezing, etc. However, obvious fakers abusing sick leave policy do not tend to stay employed for more than 6-12 months.