A reader writes:
I’ve been looking for advice for handling (or even WHETHER to handle) the issue of a co-worker with a chronic cough. Over the years I’ve worked with several people with bad coughs. I’ve always accepted it as just part of the working world. I’ve never spoken to HR about it because I don’t know if that would make any sense and/or would backfire in some way. Anyway, I now sit near a lady who coughs constantly. The cough is a deep, loud bark and it never stops. She only pauses for a minute or so before resuming. Changes in weather or season only means it goes from bad to worse and then back to bad. I have never spoken to her about it. I can’t speculate as to why she is coughing or whether she is doing whatever she can to control it.
The problem is obvious. To complain about a cough, whether to the cougher or to HR, seems cruel and unfair. On the other hand, the noise is affecting me and the other people who sit in my area, which is to say: it’s driving us nuts. I wear headphones and listen to white noise as loud as possible but that does not block out the cough. I can’t wear the headphones all the time anyway. I should also mention that we cannot move our desks for various technical reasons.
I tried searching the web for advice on this particular issue and came up with very little. It may be one of those untouchable issues. Can I get your take on it?
Ooooh, yes, tricky.
As you already concluded, speaking to her or HR about it probably isn’t the way to go … not only because it could come across as unkind, but also because she presumably can’t control it, it’s a medical issue, etc. HR can’t order her to stop coughing, and if she could order herself to stop coughing, she probably already would have!
However, depending on what your boss is like, one possibility would be to ask her whether might actually be options you haven’t thought of for moving your desk somewhere else. Even though you’re pretty sure there aren’t, sometimes a manager will see a way around something that you didn’t realize would be a possibility. Explain that you’re sympathetic to the coworker, of course, but that the cough is relatively constant and seems to be chronic rather than something short-term, and that you’ve tried headphones and white noise but find it’s still disruptive.
However, if moving you (or her) truly isn’t option, I don’t really see that there are other avenues, unfortunately, since she presumably can’t just stop coughing. If that’s the case, I think you’re just stuck with this less-than-ideal situation.
One thing that might help, though, is to try to focus on feeling appreciative that you’re not the one with the cough! And I don’t mean that in a snarky, holier-than-thou way; I totally agree that this would be annoying to listen to all day. But sometimes changing your mindset can be fairly powerful.
What do others think?
Want to read an update to this post? The reader’s update several months later is here.
{ 102 comments… read them below or add one }
WOW! I could have written this question! We have the same problem in our office. Coughs all day long, so much I think she’s going to pass out. Used to get up and check on her, bring her water, ask if she was okay, etc. Now I don’t say a word. Chronic smoker. Drives me up the wall! Over time I just learned to tune it out. Good Luck!
Ugh. I used to have this problem. It was a medication that was making me cough. Dr warned me it could happen so the next time I went in I said I couldn’t live with it and she changed it to something else. It sucks, trust me, more for her. If you’re friendly with her you could ask what’s up, say you’re concerned, etc. Then at least you’d know and maybe could try to help. *shrug*
I would have a word with the coworker in private, maybe over lunch or something, and encourage that person to go see a doctor about it because it can’t be healthy or normal.
Is there anything in the OP’s letter that suggests to you that she has NOT seen a doctor about it and needs to be encouraged to do so? It’s not as if coughing is something the cougher herself is likely to be ignorant of.
It’s perfectly possible to have a rampant cough which has no medically discernible cause and doesn’t respond to any usual treatment. I had one a few years ago; it lasted for moths completely unaffected by the various drugs my doctor prescribed amid a sequence of chest x-rays, throat endoscopy, airflow metering, ECG, et cetera. It did go away after a few months (instead of staying on for years, for which I count myself lucky), but it was certainly not seeing a doctor that made it so. And you definitely wouldn’t have been able to hear from the cough itself that it was being medically attended to.
No there wasn’t anything to suggest that she hasn’t seen a doctor nor was there anything to suggest she has which is exactly WHY I suggested it. A chronic cough may be nothing in your case but more likely it’s a symptom of something else possibly serious and also possibly contagious to coworkers so having it checked by a doctor is called P-R-E-V-E-N-T-I-O-N. Look it up when you get off your high horse. Prevention is a useful thing and a case in point would be my best friend who died at 44 last year from a form of cancer that would have been treatable but he didn’t want to go to the doctor for some dumb reason. For the employee in question one trip to the doctor would rule out any number of simple and obvious issues. Furthermore, I note YOU went to the doctor so why shouldn’t the employee for the same reason?
I’m glad your chronic cough turned out to be nothing but “perfectly possible” covers a small percentage of possibilities and it sure as hell isn’t a plan to good health or anything else.
You want this one back yet?
Bob, do you speak to people like that in person?
I think Bob is right in this, if rather blunt back to Henning! Nothing in the original letter says the cougher has seen the doctor, further this appears NOT to be just a ‘regular’ cough as the OP describes ‘cough is a deep, loud bark and it never stops. She only pauses for a minute or so before resuming. ‘ That leads me to believe it is either asthma that is not under control, emphysema, or possibly something worse. Could it be something contagious? If it is, and HR did nothing requiring the employee to see a doctor and have a doctor’s letter stating that it is not contagious, could the company be liable for any employees getting sick? I know that I would not want to be the manager who has to explain to the company lawyer why I did not limit our liability by telling the employee that they need to see a doctor and bring me the doctor’s letter to continue working. Yes the cough may be a medical issue which could theoretically put her in a protected class, but without going to the doctor she is not in that protected class and at such, at least in my state, is still an at will employee and if I do not see that letter, you are out the door as you are disturbing the office and may be exposing them to illness.
To me, this is a discussion for the manager to have with her and he or she needs to man up and have that talk pronto.
Actually, Henning, it is possible the coworker is ignorant of the problem. She probably knows that she coughs sometimes, but she could easily be ignorant of how frequently she’s doing so. I had this problem a few years ago. I had a couple back to back colds or respiratory infections or something and I’d been sick and coughing for so long that when I started to feel better I didn’t realize how frequently I was still coughing. It got to a point where I felt as though I was better, not sick anymore, but I had a lingering cough and it was only registering to me as an occasional clearing of my throat. Even though my coworkers knew that it was more than that. The only reason I ever knew this was happening is because a coworker that I was friends with outside work talked to me about it. So no, the suggestion to bring it up in conversation and possibly suggest seeing a doctor (if the coworker hasn’t done so) is in no way a bad suggestion, or stupid or in any way really negative.
I could see how bothersome that could be since I had a roommate who was like your co-worker. I would probably ask to move my desk, but be careful not to blame the whole issue as a result of your co-worker. If your manager isn’t understanding, he/she could see you as a whiner, so I would bring up a different excuse if possible.
I second the gentle discussion with her – she is probably just as frustrated as you. I was the cougher before, and it turned out that my blood pressure medication was to blame – who knew that blood pressure medication could have any influence on coughing? It was brought to my attention by a coworker, actually, who was in the same boat as you, but had the same experience as what I went through.
Even though you can’t wear them all the time, noise canceling headphones can be a huge help – even if you are not listening to anything. You have to be careful when buying them – some that say noise canceling are really just like earplugs (look for something like “active noise canceling”), but the real ones are quite amazing in the noise they can block out.
Absolutely. And the cheap ones aren’t going to work. To get the ones that will block out any noise you need to look at the $150+ range. Shure and Bose make the best. I use them when flying and can’t hear a peep.
On an unrelated topic….. apparently employers are now requesting to talk to job candidate’s neighbors as part of the background checking process! o_O Unreal. http://www.indeed.com/forum/gen/Career-Advice/Far-Should-Background-Checks-Really-Go/t361147
Way back when, one company I worked for had an internal “detective” — who called my wife in mid-day, asked her about a neighbor, who I found out, had been an employee at the same company and had just been let go.
I reported it to management, the next day they said “the calls will stop”. The next day, my wife got another call, I had to handle the situation myself and approached the individual directly = STAY AWAY FROM MY FAMILY.
From an article out today: “The New York State Department of Labor (and possibly other states as well) bonds people with bad credit but only after a job offer is made. The bonding is free to both the employer and the job seeker. ” http://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-background-check-solution-20110526,0,5298132.column What the heck is this all about? How does this help a jobseeker when they are dismissed from candidacy as soon as the employer learns their credit was ruined during the recession? When will this discrimination madness stop?
When I am faced with a similar situation I always ask myself one question first: what quirk of my own do my coworkers find most annoying? Do they want to sit away from me? Honestly answering that usually solves my problem. Truly. I know this doesn’t seem like a very helpful answer, but give it some thought.
I empathize with the cougher. I have allergies and cough all the time during certain parts of the year. I take large amounts of Bendryl at night to control the allergies, but it may be something she cannot help. If she is a smoker she might want to give it up. It will make the coughing worse in the short term, but it will get better in the long term. That is unless there is something more serious like lung cancer.
We have a woman in the office with the same problem. She is a life-long smoker, her husband died of lung cancer last year, and she has had health problems for years. It’s horrible to listen to, but (and also I am not meaning to be holier-than-thou because I tend to zone out and not hear anything while I’m working to the extent that I jump everytime someone walks into my office) more than that I feel like it sounds horribly painful. The times I’ve had bad colds and coughed like that it’s been absolutely miserable. I’m sure she would stop if she could, she’s a recent widow, and it must just suck. I feel for her.
We had the same problem with a coworker and it would literally jar me every time all day. No one was too shy to ask the guy what was wrong, or demand that he see a dr. He did and found out that it was his blood pressure medication. Problem solved to everyones relief. I think, in general, most people won’t be offended if you ask them if everythings ok.
One of my coworkers coughs all day, great gagging gasping lung-wrenching, throat-scraping coughs. It’s a horrifying sound. It sometimes gets better, it often gets worse, but it never ever goes away. She’s in complete denial about just how awful it sounds. When asked if she’s alright or if she’s been to the doctor, she dismisses the concern. “It’s just a little tickle in my throat.” “I have cough drops.” “I’m better today.”
And this is in a public library.
I wish there was an answer. No one I work with knows what to do.
Could be she knows how bad it sounds and has been to the doctor, but she just doesn’t want to talk about it with coworkers. This problem, if she’s aware of it, is probably stressful enough for her without hearing well-meaning but unhelpful comments and knowing acutely that her cough is bothering others. I don’t know if that perspective might help your situation…I’m just doubtful that she’s really in denial if her cough is indeed this bad! Just reading about it makes me uncomfortable! Ugh.
Yes, I suspect these people have had plenty of comments on their coughs even if it’s not from the people writing about them. I don’t think that another comment is likely to result in a solution, just more awareness that this thing they can’t control is really significant to other people. If you’re immune-compromised and are concerned about an issue there, that could be a reason to ask HR for relocation or clarification, but remember that it’s not actually your right to know why she’s coughing, so you might as well not go there.
I wanted to add that coughers though annoying are nothing compared to snot-sucker-in-ers. Makes me want to throw a kleenex box, pointy end first, right at their eye.
The ones that like grunt and snort all the time? My mother in law does that, and it drives me nuts. It’s so loud it has jarred me from a deep sleep a few times…Every time that I’ve tried to suggest a doctor or something she retorts back “Where will I get the money for THAT!?!?!” Some people just will not go to the either the doctor, or are just stubborn!
Is it really the cough or is it because it’s your mother in law?
haha lol :) I was more commenting on the fact that there are some extremely stubborn people who absolutely will not enter a hospital unless someone drags them in with physical force.
I’m chiming in here in support of Bob. Apparently this woman sounds like she’s bring up a lung, which does suggest a medical problem. She needs to see a doctor. Your wimpy manager needs to talk to her and insist that she goes to the doctor for a check up. If she already has, then perhaps the cougher could be moved some place where she won’t be causing so much disruption.
What if it IS something infectious?
I know someone whose incessant coughing turned out to be cancer in her thymus. I would suspect that if this cougher knew of a medical reason for her coughing, she might already have explained to her co-workers. There are very few people who won’t happily discuss their medical conditions with others, me included, even though other people’s health is boring.
Being in HR I can tell you that you are dead wrong. Lots of people don’t want co workers or even their boss knowing about their health problems.
That doesn’t mean they won’t discuss it. And then act shocked (with a few !!) when other people know about it.
I would delicately report it to HR or manager and ask if there is anyway they can approach the subject with the employee, since it is disturbing several people in the immediate area.
Please try to remain compassionate with this person. You only have to deal with the cough for 8 hours, she has to deal with it 24. It may not only affect her productivity at work, but the rest of her life as well.
She could have asthma, COPD, allergies, or is taking a medication with a side effect of cough (MANY blood pressure medications do).
I was plagued with a cough for several months, that had started much like a cold, but soon grew worse. Nothing I did would quash it. My manager had asked me about it, out of concern for my obviously declining health. I could not get restful sleep, coughing all thru the nite, and soon everything suffered. I had finally gone to the doctor, sure I had lung cancer, COPD (we have a family history,despite not smoking) or at the very least pneumonia.
As it turned out, my new blood pressure meds (that I had to start taking I’m sure thanks to the stress at my job) had a cough side effect. To make matters worse, all the ones I could afford had this same side effect. Unfortunately, I had to switch to one that is well over $100/month to control my blood pressure so I wouldn’t have to deal with the cough. Many do not have the luxury to switch.
You could always, out of genuine concern, go to her and say “Hey, I’ve noticed that you’re coughing a lot. Is everything okay?”
Then you’d know why she is coughing, what she’s trying to do about it, and probably get an apology for the disruption.
That’s what I did.
I am the chronic cougher in the office. I have been to two GPs, an ENT, and an allergist. I found out I have asthma and an allergy to dust mites. The medications the doctor put me on didn’t help with the cough. I went to the allergist for two years without relief. My air flow is very low and medication didn’t improve it. My lungs have scar tissue due to infections. I am not a smoker. I can tell you I hate having coughing fits at work. It’s very stressful to have this condition, especially at work. I know there are coworkers who are annoyed with me and that just adds to my stress. I drink water constantly and do the cough drops and that will help with temporary relief. My condition is something I have to just live with and it’s really is a trial in day to day life. When the flu is going around and I am shopping at stores I always feel I have to say to the people in line, “Don’t worry, I don’t have the flu, its asthma and allergies.”
I sit next to a fellow that snorts, then immediately grunts at five minute intervals. It’s disgusting. Another fellow coughs so hard, I think he might pass out from it.
As for smokers, most start coughing about 20 minutes after their last cigarette. That’s because the cilia (hair-like structures in the lungs) are not paralyzed anymore (from the crap in the smoke they inhaled) and are trying to do their job–which is to sweep the junk up and then out of your lungs). Smokers who quit usually feel worse immediately for a number of reasons, one is usually the excessive coughing–but that’s your body trying to clean the crap out of your lungs.
Every so often I am that cougher. Whenever I get a cold, it immediately goes to the chest and I cough for about a month. It’s extremely stressful, trying to control it around my coworkers. My breathing seems to change whenever I’m concentrating on something and the coughing starts. My doctor doesn’t have any answers, so I just take care of myself and try not to catch colds.
The woman in the cube next to me has allergies and blows her nose constantly, making loud honking sounds. It’s chronic and only goes from annoying to awful and back to annoying again. I’m trying to get my desk moved, but there’s simply nowhere else to go.
The OP does not say this person is a smoker. If she were, wouldn’t that have been mentioned? Whyis everyone assuming she is?
Everyone who is saying to report it or tell the cougher to see a dr is dumb. I know if someone came to me and told me to see a dr. my first thought would be “who the eff are you, a doctor?” And if I’m the employer I’d say to myself “somebody must be really bored to make a big deal about a cough.”. And what if this person had some serious medical problem that made them cough. You’d really look like an ass. I just don’t see any positives to complaining to anyone.
What if they did have some really serious medical problem resulting in the cough- say TB- would YOU want them to be sitting in the room with you, exposing you to their disease? Bottom line, if the person is contagious, and the boss does nothing, he can be held liable for the sickness of his other employee. If I, as the boss, ask you to see the doctor, you can be offended all you want. But if you do not do it, you are fired. (Gotta love at will states). There are positives to complaining and there are negatives to ignoring it.
I’m not familiar with a precedent that would make the boss liable in such a case–can you tell me which one you’re thinking of?
I can’t find a verifying article but about three years ago my roommate was working for a call center where they shared headsets. One of the operators had MRSA and it ended up infecting a handful of other people that used the same headsets. The employer was liable for medical bills but it was all covered under Workers Compensation. I believe they weren’t allowed to sue because of workers comp laws limit any work related illness or injury to fall under workers comp which doens’t pay crap. I think any illnesses you would get would fall under these guidelines as well. Anyone work for a hospital that knows how their employer treats communicable illnesses?
It is called negligence. The failure to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances by another person and often an entire company means that there has been negligence and carelessness that lead to the injury and harm of another person(s). This has a long standing in case law. If this person is coughing as bad as the OP stated, then the company ignoring the coughing is putting the workers at risk of catching something because they are not exercising reasonable care.
An example of this is Missouri law which states “Any employee who is exposed to and contracts any contagious or communicable disease arising out of and in the course of his or her employment shall be eligible for benefits under this chapter as an occupational disease.” And if an employer knowingly allows those employees to be exposed, a good lawyer will have them for lunch!
As I understand it, though–and I am not a lawyer–that means they’re covered, not that their employer (not the same as their boss, for another note) is negligent–as the previous poster notes, it’s a Worker’s Comp issue, which actually prevents them from suing.
The thing is, something bad happening isn’t enough to make the employer negligent, and somebody’s having some kind of infection isn’t enough to require an employer to take action–or inform the other employees. People have infections all the time. If we’re talking TB, health departments generally do have guidelines on its handling; employers would probably fulfill their responsibility by following those guidelines. (MRSA doesn’t seem to be as well covered, but there are some CDC and health department guidelines.) But they’re not responsible for knowing what bacteria people are wandering around with or for making sure that people coughing aren’t infectious.
Actually, there is nothing in the law which REQUIRES an employee to accept Workman’s comp. Rather, they may elect to pay for cost themselves and sue. WC merely requires you to forfeit your rights to sue. But even there, if you can establish that the company knew or had reason to suspect that the person was contagious, then you can file a motion to sue on the grounds of negligence because of the disregard of the company for safety of the employees. In the event that the court allows the suit, then the managers can be named as parties of the suit where they would share in the negligence should you prove that they knew or had reason to know. Now in the case of someone hacking up a lung for several weeks, it would be a very onerous burden for the company and the codefendants to actually argue that they were unaware of the situation when you bring a string of employees forward to testify that they saw, heard and complained about the girl with the bubonic plague. And since the company never required her to go to the doctor, she infected everyone and CDC was none the wiser because former employee and codefendant Pointy Haired Bossman refused to tell la enferma that she needed to go see a doctor and would not be allowed back to work until she complied.
Bubonic plague would be skin lesions. You really want your employer to insist you see a doctor every time you get a skin lesion because of your paranoid co-worker?
Honestly, I think the infection issue is a red herring here. People’s chance of being infectious doesn’t correlate with their being annoying, we’ve all infected tons of people in our lifetime and will do it again so we really can’t get up on our high horses about other people’s being infectious, and offices aren’t going to be found negligent for not requiring everybody with possible swine flu to go to a doctor. If an employee has a particular worry about being infected, s/he can bring that up with HR and ask for relocation, but may also have to accept the answer of “No, there’s no problem.” The company is not obligated to tell you what’s going on with another co-worker, and your not knowing doesn’t mean that they don’t know.
This has been a fascinating discussion and I have learned a lot. From what I have googled, whether or not someone can reject workers compensation in order to sue depends entirely upon state laws. Some state’s workers compensation systems provide “exclusive remedy” for on the job injuries and insulates employers from civil lawsuits. In the states that retain the provision that you can reject workers compensation in order to sue the employer, it looks like the employee must fill out a form rejecting the workers compensation coverage BEFORE becoming injured. How many employees actually do this? Honestly. I feel like if I filled out a form rejecting workers compensation coverage I would be painting a big bull’s eye on my forehead saying “lay off.” Also, how many people are educated on these rights? I have worked in the HR in the field of workers compensation I haven’t dealt with this before (mainly because I do not think my state allows you to reject coverage) but I am definitely going to look into this issue more in depth to see if I my small business has to worry about this. Thank you anony mouse and fposte for your contributions. Hopefully this will post in the correct spot but I didn’t see a reply button after the most recent responses.
Anonymouse,
I don’t know what you’re basing your information on, but I have never heard of an employer being held liable in the scenario you pose. And I can’t imagine a court holding an employer liable when the only credible information they have is a cough. Yes employers have a duty to provide a safe work environment, but jumping to the conclusion that a workplace is unsafe when the only facts you have is a cough? Cmon. That’s ridiculous. And trust me as an employer you don’t want to assume there’s some underlying serious medical condition. By merely doing that you invoke ADA protections.
No you do not. You are acting under the constraints of the law to require the employee suspected of being sick to see a doctor. If they see the doctor and are sick, they are legally protected. If they refuse to see the doctor, they are not covered by ADA and can be fired for refusal to see the dr.
And as I stated above, according to several states WC laws, you are liable if your employee gets sick from exposure to someone else who is sick. If you suspect they are sick, you have a legal obligation to protect your other employees from the sickness. And ADA does not apply until after they have gone to the DR.
I suggest you do your homework before you misinform about ADA protections requiring a dr visit. Do a search for ADA and regarded as.
And I’m really interested to know which states you’re referring to when a coworker catches the flu from another co work is considered a work related injury or illness.
I had this problem, it was a blood pressure medication that made me hack and cough all day, it was horrible. Got off the med, stopped coughing. That could be the problem, approach him in a nice way about it.
Alison,
I really like your blog better when you don’t end posts with What do others think? That phrase seems to provoke a lot of bad advice. I’m not sure if you do that as a way to increase the comments, but it really takes away from the usefulness, and frankly the appeal of your blog.
Interesting. I usually ask that when I’m especially curious to hear other people’s take on the question.
I interpret it more as you not having a lot of confidence in your answer. Same as when you give either or advice. Yes there are some thoughtful and well informed commenters, but it really seems like it brings out the bad advice and hateful comments.
Nope, I’m usually overly-confident, if anything :) But I like to hear what other people think, particularly on some of the questions that are more grey than black and white.
I actually really take pride in giving either/or advice when I do it, because often the answer can’t be definitively determined from the info in the letter, and I think it’s important that people consider all the options — i.e., maybe their boss is really crazy, but it’s also possible that the letter-writer is causing the problem. I have a pet peeve about advice-givers who sort of fill in the details on their own, when several scenarios are roughly equally possible!
Further complicating this issue, your coworker may have Tourette syndrome, with this cough manifesting as a vocal tic.
I have to agree that the question (which is a recent development IIRC) doesn’t match the usually confident tone. Main problem is that this tends to be abused in other blogs to cover for a poorly thought-out answer, which is never the case here.
I think it is safe to say that people will share their opinion without it.
Cough-variant asthma could be an issue here. I have a coworker with pretty bad asthma who coughs a lot, and others have doubted her condition, thinking she’s really got something contagious. In addition, she has allergies and people still insist on wearing perfume (which she is allergic to).
Based on my experience, I think that any confrontation of this coworker should be from a genuine place of concern.
I feel for the cougher – and I also really feel for the OP. I can imagine that situation being extremely irritating but with no real villain.
I don’t know the specifics of the OP’s office layout – but dealing with co-worker noise is one of the problems with the open plans that some tout as being so great. You can’t give everyone their own office, but the more subdivided it is the better – to have options as to how people can be grouped.
One of my former co-workers had his own office – next to the office I shared with someone else at the time – and he would sometimes hoot very loudly, then giggle. Yes, hoot…like an owl.
He said sometimes he got bored and the quiet bothered him and hooting cheered him up – which, I guess, explained the giggling.
He was very helpful in helping me move to the other side of the office because my need for quiet “thwarted his creativity” and he couldn’t work with my “silent repression” which he could feel even when he couldn’t see or hear me.
He’s a former co-worker so I can find the humor in it now…at the time it wasn’t so funny.
He said sometimes he was bored and couldn’t stand the quiet.
Sometimes I really need an edit feature :).
Next time I will remember the difference between cut & paste and copy & paste before submitting.
O.
M.
G.
Now, that’s just wrong.
On a slightly different but similar subject I work with someone who sings constantly at the top of her voice. I often have distressed people on the phone and it really doesn’t help when she is belting out the latest Lady Gaga song.
The Roman emporer Caligula had a cousin with a chronic cough. It got on his nerves, so he had his cousin beheaded.
We’re not allowed to do that these days. Try some of the suggestions above, and if they don’t work, just thank your lucky stars that you’re not the cougher.
We had a cougher who was, lucky for us, able to switch to working from home.
What are the rights of the employees that must suffer due to the constant cougher?
We too have a long term smoker in our office. The employee coughs for 20 to 30 minutes every moring after arriving to work and throughout the day. When this employee get sick (which is often) it’s worse. The coughing can be every 5 to 10 minutes with several episodes of coughing to the point of gagging and followed by extended blowing of the nose. I’ve witnessed this employee coughing all over the copier and printers.
When asked if she’s okay. We get comments such as “it’s hot in here” or “it’s just allergies”. When asked if she’s taking any medication for it, the comments are “I want it to break up on it’s own. I can’t take anything because it will raise my blood pressure.”
The employee does nothing to try and lessen the distraction. Never covers their mouth or washes their hands after one of the spells. All of the other employees who are forced to sit near the cougher are wearing headphones. However, this has been going on for years and is getting worse (cough is deeper and more frequent gagging) forcing us to have to increase the volume in an attempt to eliminate the noise. As a result, many of my coworkers and myself have developed a constant ringing in our ears. Speaking for myself, I know it’s the headphones because the ringing gets worse when I wear them. Let me clarify that the coughing is so loud that it can be heard in the manager’s office sometimes even with the door closed. It can be heard several isles over from the source.
As you can imagine, people talk and complain. Several complaints have been made to the manager but the only response is “we can not force her to go home since she is an hourly employee”. After many more complaints, the management has told the cougher that they were distracting others and needed to cover their mouth and go to the bathroom to blow the nose. However the cougher often will not do this especially if managment is not around.
It’s gotten to the point where people are openly complaining within hearing distance of the cougher. The complaints are getting more frequent and louder. What can be done?
When does ADA come into protection? Can the openly complaining be cosidered harrassment?
I have the same problem, guy here coughs every 30 seconds (yes I timed it using a stop watch on my phone) all day long, hundreds of times per day.
I dread going to work because I know that its going to be torture all day long listening to it. Its like getting abused or violated by someone and cant do anything about it. I even think about it while I’m away from work. He comes in early, and never takes lunch, and stays late, so no matter when I come in, he’s there coughing, so I cant get a break.
My job as a programmer requires deep thinking, and every time I try to think about something he coughs, and I have to start over. I think I’m going to get fired over it because its affecting my work (I don’t even want to come to work because of it). Rather than thinking about work, I’m just waiting for the next cough, as if I’m now brain washed like a rat in a cage that has been conditioned.
I don’t believe he has any medical problems, its just a habit cough he has, maybe trying to get attention, or make other people feel sorry for him for some reason.
I understand the rat in a maze feeling! I can feel myself tense up everytime the continued coughing turns to the gut wrenching gags. I can feel the tension every day. There are days when I can’t even get to my desk before the coughing/gagging starts. It instantly puts tension in you.
Management doesn’t want to deal with it. After several more complaints, her manager has said that we need to be more mature and stop complaining. It’s causing a loss of production in the department. I’ve been trying to see what rights the coworkers have but have not been able to find anything on it. I feel sorry for the cougher but I do not think I should be subjected to this stress on a daily basis. I guess at this point, my only choice is to find another job.
Set up a voice recorder for 30 minutes, and take that to your manager.
Keep a log of interruptions.
Tell HR your productivity suffers.
Find out if you’re in an at-will employment state. (You probably are).
Seriously, I don’t understand why the listeners are told to just “suck up and get over it” when a co-worker is actively destroying productivity. What if that person was playing a radio. Or walking into your cube every 5 minutes to talk?
It should be HRs job to put the coughing/singing/snorting co-worker in a place where s/he isn’t bothering everyone else.
And yes, sometimes that might mean someone is going to have to say “JoAnne – you are causing problems for everyone else and we must solve this one way or another.”
I feel exactly like you do!!
> the noise is affecting me and the other people who sit in my area,
Can you turn this problem around and make it not about you (“She’s driving me nuts”) but about the Company (“this is adversely affecting productivity”).
Get other co-workers to back you up. Go to your manager or HR together. Keep records. Make it clear that this isn’t “just a cough” or one person’s over-sensitive reaction. This affects the bottom line. A constant disruption to productivity costs money.
How would your manager handle a noisy air conditioning unit? An employee who played a radio all day? A talker who interrupted everyone in the team? Someone who brought a crying child to work? This is no different. This isn’t about being “mature”. This is about maintaining a professional environment where everyone can work.
Change the focus away from your personal feelings and bring it back to the effect on the work.
I have a similar problem. I sit near a co-worker who belches. Not gentle, unavoidable burps, but great, loud, mouth wide open belches of the kind that you would just KNOW they smell bad too! Like, he just opens his mouth and a great BUUUUURRRRRPPPPP. He does this about once an hour. It’s not just me, the people who sit beside me say its absolutely disgusting. It’s like he enjoys grossing people out. He never even says “excuse me”. I am amazed that some people have absolutely no manners. It makes me nauseous. I have been wondering if this is worthwhile complaining about. But how do you tell a person who obviously is oblivious and has no manners to, er, acquire manners?
We’re thinking of getting him an anonymous bottle of Pepto Bismol, placing it on his desk with a little note. “For your constant indigestion. Please drink liberally.”
Some one actually left cough drops and cough syrup on the chronic smoker/cougher’s desk. All it did was make them mad and she still refused to cover her mouth.
They just don’t see that their bad manners are impacting anyone else or just don’t care.
I was thinking about this post and had to pull it up to comment.
I’m now one of those coughers!
I’m recovering from some bug – feel fine except for this residual cough which explodes about once an hour since yesterday.
I have my own office and the door is shut – I’m washing my hands 100x a day and not touching anything communal…yet every time I cough I think of you guys and how my co-workers must be thinking what you’ve posted.
So on behalf of coughers everywhere…we’re sorry!
Someone having an unchecked chronic cough can be very dangerous. Tuberculosis is a very real threat. Smokers can contract TB easier than nonsmokers and when you go in for a TB test they will ask you if you’re around a chronic smoker.
People get colds & sinus infections, they can have coughs, but if it’s going on for a number of months there is a problem. Why should my or anyone’s health be put at risk because of your illness. I feel like a doctor needs to clear you.
In our office, mgmt has come out and said that they do not want to hear any more complaints about the cougher. And they wonder why survey results for our department are low? We can’t concentrate and they don’t listen.
Send management a link to this article. :)
I work with a gentleman who continually coughs a dry, projectile type cough. I have counted and usually more than 25 times day and some days I am out making calls so it could be higher. Seems a bit absurd. I cannot be the only one in the office that recognizes this ‘condition’—feel like I am in the early stages of the movie “Outbreak” every day I go into work—miserable, sure he is too—if any Dr’s out there that read this pls. post a comment
I work with a chronic cougher as well. I too have timed the cough and it is a cough every minute or less. The last time I complained, all that I got was a bad name around the office for complaining. I wasn’t concerned about my own health, but for the health of a woman who was pregnant. I was concerned that the cougher had pertussis and if the pregnant co-worker caught it after her baby was born there would be serious consequences for the baby. Now I have the reputation as the ‘cough complainer’, the co-worker still coughs all winter and has become really hostile in repsonse to any question about her cough. I can’t even, out of concern, ask her if she is feeling well. Her boss once gave her cough drops and it only angered her.
If it’s any comfort, it’s unlikely to be pertussis (whooping cough). Believe me, you’d know if it were — the coughs are really disturbing with loud “whoop” sounds in between as the poor sufferer tries to catch a breath, and they are bad enough that they can cause vomiting and even break ribs.
So if your co-worker is still able to work through them, annoying as the coughing may be, it’s not pertussis.
Constant coughing and nose blowing disrupts people and drives many up the wall. And if you complain they just say ‘be glad it’s not you. Imagine how they feel. and that they can’t help it!’ But what about those people who no matter how hard they try they just can’t tune it out or ignore the sound? There is actually a condition that makes it as impossible to ignore as being poked by a hot iron. More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misophonia
Living with noise isolation earbuds and music on blast for the past two weeks because of all the coughing and snorting going on at the house.
Hi. I am currently suffering from an intermittant chronic cough, and have had it for over a year. I have been to the GP again and again (about 15 times), had an investigation and operation by ENT, referred to a Gastro guy, taken various medications over months and months to try to stop it (nothing worked), am due to have an endoscopy in Jan and now been referred to a cough clinic. I am at my wits end and have tried to hurry all the investigations and procedures along, but the GP and hospital decide the timescales. I am not infectious. I work in a tiny office with one other co-worker .. who has put a complaint in and I am now at risk of losing my job. I sympathise that this affects the other person, but I cannot help it and wish the medical profession would work out what the cause is and sort it out – it doesn’t just affect work, it is ruining my whole life. Please try to be understanding of those around who may be irritating you .. and be thankful that you are not suffering the actual cough!!
p.s. I forgot to say, I do not smoke .. and never have.
Everywhere I go where I live (Upper Midwest), people seemingly cough at me in a malicious manner. “Umm, do I know you?! Can I help you? Is there something you want to tell me? Do you get your kicks from coughing at people?” It’s gotten to the point where I’m afraid I’ll have a panic attack when I go outside (though now it’s happening in aparments too) from the consecutive people coughing in a malicious manner at me. It’s a form of gang harassment/stalking.
I also work with a chronic cougher. She is a chain smoker who has coughed every 30 seconds since she started working here about 4 yrs ago. Its very phelmy and gross and several of us are sick of listening to it. we shouldn’t have to be subjected to this. I agree with other posters who say this is similar to a loud person who talks a lot or a noisey office machine. I listen to music on my headphones and I can still hear her cough. Listening to music very loudly for hours a day can damage your hearing. I shouldn’t have my hearing damaged for someone who doesn’t have enough sense to quit smoking when she’s coughing up her lung every few seconds.
I work next to a cougher. It’s not chronic, but several times of the year he gets a cough which lasts for weeks, I dread these times of the year. And when he does, it’s constant throughout the day. What ticks me off is he doesn’t do anything to try and get rid of it, or subside it! He doesn’t suck on cough drops, he doesn’t drink water. And like someone else wrote, it wear on me! I also dread going to work knowing I have to listen to that all day. He’s not that approachable, so I feel like I can’t say anything to him. I don’t think he coughs on purpose, but sometimes I think he does it because he is bored, and doesn’t realize he is doing it. What really ticks me off more is we had a meeting yesterday and he didn’t cough once at the meeting, I was listening for it. Yet today, he’s back at his desk coughing. What is with that?? I talked to another co-worker who feels like it drains him too, and also noticed he didn’t cough at the meeting. I haven’t said anything to my supervisor in the past, but I just can’t fathom having to listen to this for another few weeks! Maybe I can put it back on my supervisor, just he honest, ask him what he suggests. Some may not be bothered by it, but to me it is annoying, like a constant barking dog. I was so p*ssed tonight after I got home, I googled to see if anyone else had these issues. While it’s comforting to see I am not the only one who has to deal with it, why should we have to? I could see someone having a cough for like a week from a cold, but when it goes on and on and on, it’s VERY ANNOYING!!
There’s a cougher here. Coughing for 13 months now: originally ill, the cough then became on of their numerous tics. Now they are ill again which means a magnification of intensity. Coughs are more than once a minute (used the stopwatch on my phone) and I can feel my chest cavity vibrate for many. They take no medication, drink no water. I honestly am at the end of my tether and considering my options to get out of here.
I actually think it’s best to talk to HR. A cough spreads bacteria. They should move her to a place that doesn’t put everyone else at risk, or move everyone else.
But no, you can’t hold it against her. Or speak to her about it. That violates EEO. But sitting next to her violates your right to a safe workplace.
Listening to it now as I type this…. for 3 years we have 4 coughers in our office, all with different tones and styles. Our office is one big room with about 25 people, and every bit of noise reverberates across the walls and into our cubicles. One cougher is also a snorter who sucks up his nose goblins in a rather abrupt manner. All this, aside from the loud talkers and cursing managers. Definitely an interesting way to spend 8 hours crunching numbers as an accountant. And they wonder why I make a few errors here and there? Distracting myself with headphones is fine, but sometimes just silence (like a closed door) would be nice. Oh well, back to the zoo. =\
I feel for you. I’ve already commented above as well. When you think about it, it can be like a prison sentence having to put up with this for 8 hours. I think alot of us have a condition called misophonia, we get distracted and annoyed by certain noises, where others might not. You might google this condition to see if you fall into this category. I work in a cubicle maze and it’s not much better, sound travels. I envy those who have offices, or those who get to work at home. I just want to be able to control my environment. If I had to do it over again, I wouldn’t pick a profession where you sit at a desk. Hang in there, alot of us feel like you, but I know that doesn’t change anything.
We have the same problem in our office with an individual who has had a very heavy, loud cough for at least 5 years. Nothing beats when you’re on the phone with customers and then have to pause while my coworker hacks up a piece of lung (which is totally hearable to the sad soul on the other end of the phone). When politely confronted multiple times about the cough it has always ended up with a heated debate. Our answer to the problem was to pester the employee until they had no choice but to see a doctor.
People with chronic coughs need to go to the doctor, no excuses, until it is cleared up – NO EXCUSES. It’s disruptive to coworkers, customers, and is unsanitary. Coughing into your hands then handling papers and office equipment is just wrong. If they ever get a bug you can be sure they’re going to share it.
• If you’re that person who is coughing, get treated. NO EXCUSES!
• If you or your office is having a problem with a employee who has a chronic cough the answer is to get some thick skin and start bothering them back. Keep asking when are they going to go to the doctor – Put some Social Pressure on.
I just googled this topic because I have a cougher at work, I can not believe there is so many people out there with the same problem, it honestly makes me feel sooo much better because I thought it was just me and my low tolerance for human noises. I loved the post about ‘Misophonia’. I googled it, and that is me in many ways! This guy has been coughing for well over a year, I think it started out with a cold, and the cough just never left. There are times it seems like its almost getting better and not at often, but then, like currently, it will be back in full force. I dont know if he realizes how bad it is, and I do sympathize, because like a lot of people here mention, sometimes the person doesnt realize. BUT I know I am not the only person who is irritated by this sound because others have made comments to him like, ohhh Wow that cough is back maybe you should get into the dr… Just friendly comments to show they are concerned for his health rather then our own irritibility and even productivity. However he just says that he has seen a dr. But he doesnt DO anything for it… like others mentioned, no water, cough drops, sick days to get better!!! It happens in meetings (I am so glad I dont work as part of his team as least so dont have many meetings with him, but the ones I am in… yep… he coughs)
One day when there was actually a couple people coughing around the office (others were due to seasonal colds which is temporary and you cant blame them, but still was driving me nuts with his combined chronic cough and these new ones added in) sooo I left a pack of halls nicely set out in the coffee area…. NO ONE touched them….. Geeze people. Take a hint.
Currently our office doesnt really have the room for people to move, however we are going to be renovating and expanding our space, which could end up good if the cougher is moved somewhere FAR away from me…. BUT now I have the problem that if I make a formal complaint to the head of the office I might be the one who is moved somewhere secluded…. and I dont want that, I like where I am located… well other then the damn noisy old printer a few people still insist on using even though there is a more quiet new one here as welll… yep, Misophonia, hahaha
But I do like the comment of using the social pressure to get him to do something about it, I hear others comment to him, just need to stand up and voice myself too and maybe others will as well.
I am the one coughing at work and I assure you all that many people DO try to sort it out, but that Doctors do not always get to the bottom of it!! So have a little sympathy for those suffering the cough aswell as yourselves for having to listen to it. I have had the problem for 18 months on and off and have been to the docs SO many times .. I have had lots of different tests and treatments but nothing has worked or found a root cause – I have been through ENT, Gastro and the Respiratory Depts at the hospital over the last year and nothing has worked. Many chronic coughs remain undiagnosed and most coughers are embarrassed themselves, so have a little heart ! By the way I am a non-smoker.
I appreciate your efforts to try and remedy the situation. However, there are some that don’t do anything about it. I think some have just gotten used, it has become a habit, and don’t realize how much they are doing it. I know when I get a sesasonal cough, I continually suck on cough drops and drink water all day to reduce my coughing. Most wouldn’t even know I had a cough. Maybe chronic coughers should see if they can work at home? Or, maybe find another job where you aren’t in an office environment? I feel for you, but it gets very old and disrupting when others have to listen to all day long.
Good for you. Glad that works for you. Me? I’ve had asthma since I was born and spent one entire winter a couple of years ago with a deep, hacking cough from November when I got the first sinus infection that led to bronchitis that led to pneumonia until May when I finally got well. I spent nearly as much time with doctors as I did at work trying to get my breathing under control. I’m sorry if my illness bothered you, but it was “bothering” me even more. I saw no reason to use up PTO since my condition was not contagious, and I had my dr’s approval to continue working. I need my paycheck and PTO as much as you do. I suggest earplugs or getting your own seat moved if you can’t show a little compassion for those with a chronic illness.
Maybe you should *cough*drink more water*cough*.
I see many people coughing when they see me…one after another…they pretends like they have a cold…I take it as a harassment…my life is destroyed…could you tell me…whats going on..?
Hey. I am the same person who made the comment below about earplugs + earmuffs. I had the same problem that you have. It still happens now and then. Basically, the people who are coughing are losers and they are scared of you. The only way to get over it is to become emotionally stronger yourself so you can walk around at your own pleasure and not worry about the “barking” of hopeless and scared losers. It took me a year or so to get over this. I am about to turn 24.
What? Um, no they are not losers or scared of you. They have coughs, for F’s sake.
Of course some people just have coughs. But there are others who use coughing as an outlet for their covert aggression. They cough when they see someone they don’t like. It’s hard to prove but it’s true.
This is just silly. Maybe there’s someone out there who does it, but it’s certainly nothing close to the majority of coughers.
It seemed silly to me at first too… but someone doesn’t use language like “my life is destroyed” unless something serious is going on. This kind of covert aggression is very serious. It has the same psychological effect as bullying or emotional abuse. Just know that it is possible to get through this. You will eventually adapt and become immune to the effects.
I have the same problem at my job but I’m scared that she has some type of TB or disease that can be infectious. I have jokingly asked her about it to bring attention to the issue, but to no help. Sometime I just yell out “Please stop coughing!” and she’ll stop for a while. lol. I have no problem with HR or calling the CDC to get her checked out. Some people don’t care about the health of others especially when they don’t care about thier health!
Guys, I am in a similar situation and I believe I have found a solution: Hearos NR33 Foam Earplugs in combination with Howard Leight Leightning L3 Shooter’s Earmuffs. Together these should provide around 45 dB of real-world attenuation in the cougher’s frequency range. Total cost is around $25. The plugs only cost $2-3, but I am wearing them right now and they are not working. I need the added attenuation from the earmuffs. Fare well!
I have been reading these and I really could be writing about a work colleague who sits next to me, it’s a Global problem. I have the same problem in that she constantly barks all day, it starts with small dog type bark and then turns into a seals mating call. I have spoken to her about it and she says there is nothing wrong with her; I have mentioned TB, and other lung problems and she just laughs. It’s like she just doesn’t care. She also doesn’t take very good care of herself, which is another issue entirely. But for anyone sitting next to someone with a very loud persistant cough knows its like torture. I have actually spoken to higher management as it has started to affect the team, and they agree it has become an issue and although a delicate situation it does need to be dealt with. Everyone who has the problem has my sympathy, but dont suffer in silence; Would you put up with someone constantly tapping a pen on the desk, or humming all the time, the answer is NO, you would politely ask them to stop; although you can’t ask someone to stop coughing, you can politely point out, that they have pushed you to breaking point and that if they don’t go off sick, you will, stating that a works colleagues poor health issue and caused you to become unhinged, and that you will not be responsible for what you do with the stapler sitting on your desk. (ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH)
Lol. The part about the seal is really funny. Very similar to my own experience. However, I have a few issues with your approach to this problem: 1) I have not heard of this technique actually solving the problem in the past, 2) It increases the competition for desk space far away from the cougher, especially from coworkers who were formerly “blissfully ignorant” of the cough, 3) Obviously the comment about the stapler is a joke, but if not you can get fired for threatening to physically harm someone, 4) In the eyes of “superiors” who do not have to deal directly with the cough, you are nothing more than a complainer, and this could hurt your chances for promotion.
I have had the privilege of encountering these “aggressive coughers” not only in the workplace but also in public places such as classrooms, parks, restaurants, and on the street. This experience is what has led me to believe that the coughers are subliminally expressing some sort of anger or resentment at ME.
As a result of this, I have also read about this issue from the perspective of schizophrenics (real, professionally diagnosed ones). For example, there is a whole group of people who think they smell bad because others are constantly sniffing and coughing around them, even though when they ask, everyone tells them they smell fine. I have even watched a video that was taken secretly of the coughing of people nearby to a girl who went to eat in a restaurant.
Without going into philosophy/psychology and the reasons someone might have to aggressively cough at strangers, I really believe that strong earplugs an earmuffs are the only plausible solution to this problem until you reach a stage of emotional development where you are no longer affected by the coughs, or are no longer worried about the consequences of confronting and threatening the person directly.