Garga Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 (edited) Has had a fever since Monday. On Monday it was about 101 and he slept all day. Since then, he’s been improving. Has a runny/stuffy nose, a bit of chest congestion, and a very low fever that has been coming down a bit each day. Today there is no fever, but still the runny/stuffy nose and touch of chest congestion. He works at McDonalds. When I worked, I worked in an office and I absolutely would have gone to work with no fever and the congestion. It’s a cold, you know? And if there’s no high fever, you don’t stop life for a cold. But he works in food prep. He is the one who makes the food on the grill or assembles the sandwiches. He does wear gloves....but...the nose issues. He doesn’t know if he should call in or not. He’s only 14 and works only 2 or so evenings a week. He called in on Tuesday when the fever was worse (still at 100.# or so) and now it’s Friday and he doesn’t know what to do. He wants me to ask the hive. What do you think he should do? Go to work in food prep with a cold? Call in sick? Edited January 3, 2020 by Garga Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 Do not go in, he will be passing on a virus to possibly hundreds of people and it may be more serious for them than for him. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 No. I understand why workers often need to in this situation, and it's yet another reason American labor and healthcare kinda suck. But as a teenager, he doesn't have to. I'd encourage him to wait a little longer so he's not passing on the virus. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmasc Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 (edited) No. He should stay home, imo. 1) because he’s in food prep and most likely still contagious fever or not and 2) he probably still needs another day of rest. just out of curiosity, I didn’t know 14-year olds could work! Is this something by state I wonder? Not to hijack, I’m just completely fascinated by this! When I was a kid, you had to be 16 and I assumed it was still that way, everywhere, bc I’ve never researched it. Edited January 3, 2020 by mmasc Typo 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted January 3, 2020 Author Share Posted January 3, 2020 1 minute ago, mmasc said: No. He should stay home, imo. 1) because he’s in good prep and most likely still contagious fever or not and 2) he probably still needs another day of rest. just out of curiosity, I didn’t know 14-year olds could work! Is this something by state I wonder? Not to hijack, I’m just completely fascinated by this! When I was a kid, you had to be 16 and I assumed it was still that way, everywhere, bc I’ve never researched it. Ok—he’s going to call in sick today. He can work at 14 in our little town. I’m not sure this is state by state or urban area by non-urban area, or a mixture of the two. I think that even if they’re allowed to work at 14, the urban areas simply don’t hire them because they have more applicants who are older. I live in a small town, though, and the local McDonalds (the only fast food restaurant in a 10 mile radius) is filled with the local teenagers working there and a lot of them are under 16. But I’ll bet that if we headed to the cities an hour away, that probably wouldn't be the case. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 10 minutes ago, mmasc said: No. He should stay home, imo. 1) because he’s in good prep and most likely still contagious fever or not and 2) he probably still needs another day of rest. just out of curiosity, I didn’t know 14-year olds could work! Is this something by state I wonder? Not to hijack, I’m just completely fascinated by this! When I was a kid, you had to be 16 and I assumed it was still that way, everywhere, bc I’ve never researched it. Kids can work at 14 in our state, there are limitations on the kinds of work and the hours they can work. It's a state by state thing usually. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 Since it’s food prep and surrounded by other crew members in an enclosed environment, I’ll call in sick especially when he doesn’t need the wages. For office work, it depends. My husband has worked from home when he is sick and many coworkers are sick. I have worked with a runny nose when I am the only person in a back room (stocktaking, so can’t work this task from home), so little to no chance of spreading germs to anyone, I did take Claritin to stop the runny nose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 Kids can work at 14 in the summers here. I think it's older during the school year, but I'm not sure. They have to have their school sign off though, until some other age. Maybe 16? I remember that we used to do this for 8th graders right before summer break when I was a small school administrator. Ds had a summer job this past summer at 14 and there was paperwork. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 I'm glad he's calling in sick. The general rule is 24 hours fever free (not sure if I saw that mentioned) because viruses often have fevers that come and go, and they tend to come only in the evening sometimes. In my area, a lot of McD's have signs in the drive-through window advertising that they hire at 14, and I've never seen that anywhere else. I think it must be a company-wide initiative to hire younger workers. Our local laws limit work at 14 and 15 to certain hours of the day, not just a certain number per week. I think the hours get a lot less restrictive at 16. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 2 hours ago, maize said: Kids can work at 14 in our state, there are limitations on the kinds of work and the hours they can work. It's a state by state thing usually. Around here kids can work at 14, but I didn't think they'd be allowed to work on a grill. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 Yeah, I wasn't allowed near a grill at 14. I remember being told to get off a ladder once because I was under 18 and it wasn't allowed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 PLease, no, he should not be in a food preparation area while he's sick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted January 3, 2020 Author Share Posted January 3, 2020 2 hours ago, kdsuomi said: It depends on the state. Since I was that age CA has actually loosened the requirements and made it easier for 14-year-olds to work. I am surprised he's legally allowed to work the grill, though. When I worked at McDonalds you couldn't even touch the fryers if you were under 16. He can work the grill, but not the fryers. Or at least that’s what they do where he is. Maybe they’re not following law?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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