Ideally stay home the first 2 to 3 days, when a cold is most contagious; if you must go in, be fever-free and improving, then mask, sanitize, and keep distance.
Colds spread through droplets and shared surfaces, and offices concentrate both. The stay-home triggers: any fever, feeling genuinely unwell, or work involving vulnerable people (healthcare, elder care, food service). The go-in-safely protocol: mask up, wash or sanitize hands constantly, no handshakes or shared meals, wipe shared equipment, and take meetings remotely where possible. Two honest considerations: rest actually speeds recovery, and the coworker you infect may carry it to a newborn or an elderly parent. The get-checked list: fever over 101, symptoms dragging past 10 days, shortness of breath, or escalating ear or sinus pain; those are not simple-cold behavior and deserve a look rather than another day of powering through.
What to do
Common questions
Can I go to work with a cold?
You can, but the first 2 to 3 days are when you are most likely to infect your coworkers, so that is the window worth staying home for if you can. Cold viruses spread through droplets and shared surfaces, and offices are efficient distribution systems: keyboards, door handles, shared coffee machines, meeting rooms. The decision framework: stay home if you have a fever (that pushes it out of simple-cold territory anyway), if you feel genuinely unwell, or if your job involves close contact with vulnerable people, healthcare, elder care, food service. If symptoms are mild and improving and skipping work is not realistic, go in but act contagious: wear a mask, wash or sanitize hands constantly, skip the handshakes and shared meals, wipe down shared equipment, and take meetings by phone where possible. The honest trade-off to weigh: going in sick extends your own recovery (rest is genuinely therapeutic), and the coworker you infect may bring it home to a newborn or an elderly parent. And know when "a cold" is not a cold: fever over 101, symptoms past 10 days, shortness of breath, or ear or sinus pain that escalates are reasons to get checked rather than to soldier on at your desk.