If you can, yes for the first 2 to 3 days - that is peak contagion and usually the worst-feeling stretch.
If you cannot, the CDC's minimum bar: symptoms improving and 24 hours fever-free without medication, then 5 more days of mask, distance, and handwashing, since a cold stays contagious through its first week. The productivity math agrees: sick days cost less than a half-speed week plus three sick coworkers. Fever, chest cough, or vomiting are home-day symptoms regardless of culture.
What to do
Common questions
Should I stay home from work with a cold?
If you can, yes - at least for the first two to three days, which MedlinePlus identifies as the most contagious stretch of a cold. That window is when you are most likely to seed the office, and it is usually the worst-feeling stretch anyway. If staying home is not realistic, the CDC's respiratory-illness guidance sets the minimum bar for being around others: symptoms improving overall and no fever for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication - and even then, take added precautions for the next five days: a mask in close quarters, distance, good ventilation, and obsessive handwashing, since a cold stays contagious through its first week. The honest productivity math also favors staying home: sick days cost less than a week of working at half speed followed by three sick coworkers. The other half of the judgment call is severity: a cold you can work through is runny nose and scratchy throat; fever, deep chest cough, or vomiting and diarrhea are home-day symptoms regardless of workplace culture. Pymander, a free AI doctor available 24/7 by text, can help you weigh the morning decision.