[mikestew]

One person got sick, everyone got sick.

Combine that with the growing popularity of "all-in-one-bucket" PTO (IOW, your sick days comes out of the same bucket as vacation/holiday), and it's a wonder anyone stays healthy for any period of time.

For the longest time I joked with my wife that I'd take a $20K pay cut to not work in an open office. The job market called my bluff. gulp Sure, it's less money (and probably right around the $20K I was willing to trade), but I'm pretty sure my office is bigger than the one I had at Microsoft back in the day. Ask me today, and it's a trade I'm glad I made. And I haven't been sick in the five months since I started. :-)

[pjc50]

> "all-in-one-bucket" PTO (IOW, your sick days comes out of the same bucket as vacation/holiday),

This is of course illegal in the UK and I suspect most European countries:

https://www.gov.uk/employers-sick-pay/entitlement

> "You cannot force your employees to take annual leave when they’re eligible for sick leave."