Let’s say that someone on your team is out sick. You open Slack or Teams, type a message, delete it, then rewrite basically the same thing with an emoji at the end. It happens. Get well soon messages can be weirdly hard to write because you don’t want to sound cold, too personal, or way too cheerful about someone being sick. The thing is, you don’t need to overthink it. Most people just want to know you noticed and you’re thinking of them.
But if you’re having a hard time coming up with get well wishes for your coworker, then below are 30 messages you can copy and adjust based on who you’re writing to and what’s going on. We also included a few swag ideas you can send if you want to do a little more than send a message.
And if you run People Ops or manage the team, that second part usually falls to you. Anyone can send a Slack message. Getting something to their door on short notice usually means working with whoever manages your swag program and budget.
Why do get well soon messages matter at work?
Because being out sick is one of those small moments where your coworker notices whether their team checks in. A short message takes two minutes, but it can make someone feel a lot less disconnected while they’re away. Here are a couple of other reasons:
People are out sick more often than you think: In 2025, US full-time wage and salary workers were absent from 3.2% of their usual hours, and illness or injury made up 2.2 percentage points of that, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It comes up often enough that it helps to have a few messages ready instead of starting from scratch every time.
Feeling cared about at work has been slipping: Gallup found that strong agreement with “My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person” fell eight points among US employees between 2020 and 2025. Among Gen Z and younger millennials, it fell 13 points to 41%. When Gallup asked what would help, 34% pointed to supportive relationships, communication, and respect. This, then, makes it important to send a positive message or a physical reminder when a coworker of yours is sick.
Most people stay quiet because they don’t know what to say: That’s really the problem. A simple two-line message is better than waiting until you’ve found the perfect thing to write and never sending anything at all.
What do you say to a coworker who is sick?
A get well message doesn’t need to be complicated.
Keep it short
A sick person reading a long message on their phone is doing work. Don’t make them do work. Anything past three sentences can start to feel like something they owe you a reply to.
Leave the work update out
“No rush on the deck” still reminds them of the deck. If coverage is sorted, say so quickly and move on. If it’s not, that’s something their manager should handle separately.
Offer one specific thing
“Let me know if you need anything,” puts the work back on them. “I’m covering your Thursday standup” or “I can drop soup at your door Sunday” gives them something they can simply say yes to.
Match the closeness you already have
If the two of you trade memes every day, a joke works. If you’ve spoken twice, keep it warm and simple. The message should sound like you.
30 Get Well Soon Messages for Coworkers and Employees
Regardless if you know how to construct what to say, below are 30 messages you can copy, tweak, or send as-is depending on who you’re writing to and what they’re dealing with.
Short get well soon messages for a coworker
“Heard you’re under the weather. Rest up, we’ve got things covered here.”
“Feel better soon. Nothing here needs you today.”
“Sending you an unglamorous amount of tea and sympathy. Get well!”
“Take the time you need. The office plant and I will hold down the fort.”
“Just checking in. No reply needed, I wanted you to know we’re thinking of you.”
“Hope you’re horizontal and watching something terrible. Feel better!”
“Get well soon! Your inbox can wait, and so can we.”
“Sorry you’re sick. Say the word if you want me to take anything off your plate.”
“Wishing you a fast recovery and a very good nap!”
“Feel better! We’ll save you the good snacks.”
Professional get well soon messages for employees
“Take all the time you need to recover. Your health comes first, and your work is covered.”
“Sorry to hear you’re unwell. Please don’t check your email. We’ll catch you up when you’re back.”
“Wishing you a smooth recovery. Reach out if there’s anything you need from me or from HR.”
“The whole team is pulling for you. Rest well and come back when you’re ready.”
“Thinking of you this week. There’s no expectation to respond and no rush on anything here.”
“Get well soon. We’ve moved your priorities for the week, so nothing is sitting on you.”
“Hope you’re recovering well. Let me know if you’d like me to update the team or keep it quiet.”
“Sending our best from everyone here. Focus on getting better and nothing else.”
“Sorry you’re going through this. Take the time, and tell me how I can make your return easier.”
“Wishing you a full and unhurried recovery. We’ll be glad to have you back whenever that is.”
Funny get well soon messages
Funny get well soon messages work when the humor already exists between you. Read the room before you hit send.
“Doctor’s orders: no Slack, no meetings, no being useful. I’ll be checking.”
“You picked a great week to be sick. Nothing happened. Nothing at all. Ignore the 47 notifications.”
“Get well soon so I can stop pretending I understand your spreadsheet.”
“Rest up. Your reputation as the healthiest person on the team is in ruins, and we’re all enjoying it.”
“Feel better. The group chat has been unbearable without you, and I mean that as a complaint.”
Get well soon messages for a longer absence
Surgery, a chronic flare, or a longer recovery calls for less cheer and more patience. These also work better when you keep checking in instead of sending one message and disappearing.
“No timeline pressure from us. Take the recovery you need, and we’ll be here.”
“Checking in, no reply needed. You haven’t dropped off anyone’s radar.”
“I know recovery isn’t a straight line. Rooting for you on the good days and the rough ones.”
“We’ve been thinking about you. Nothing at work is more important than this.”
“Whenever you’re ready to come back, we’ll make the return as easy as we can. Until then, rest.”
One habit matters more than the exact wording: check in more than once. People tend to hear from everyone in the first week and a lot less after that. A message a few weeks later can mean more.
If the situation turns from illness into loss, the tone changes too. We wrote a separate guide on sympathy messages for that, if you don’t know what to say either.
What should you not say in a get well soon message?
Skip anything that makes a sick coworker manage your feelings or answer questions they probably don’t want to get into. The American Cancer Society has guidance for serious illness that applies pretty well here, too.
“I know exactly how you feel.” You probably don’t, and it shifts the focus back to you.
Unsolicited medical advice. Your cousin’s supplement routine probably isn’t what they need.
“You’re so strong.” It can put pressure on someone to keep acting strong when they’re exhausted.
Stories about someone else who had the same thing. Especially if the story ends badly.
“Let me know if you need anything.” It’s well meant, but it still gives them another thing to figure out.
10 Get Well Swag Ideas for a Sick Coworker
If you’re part of the HR team or you’re the HR manager and you want to send something to your teammate, here are some swag ideas you can consider:
FIGS Compression Socks ($14.89)
Light compression socks with extra padding at the toe and heel. They’re small enough to fit into almost any care package and are useful for someone spending a lot of time resting or recovering.
Micro Coral Plush Blanket ($19.97)
A 50 x 60-inch plush fleece blanket that folds down to about 12 inches square, so it doesn’t take over the shipping box. It’s simple, useful, and easy to send for anything from a bad cold to a longer recovery.
100% Recycled PET Fleece Blanket ($8.45)
A lightweight 50 x 60-inch recycled fleece blanket that folds down to roughly 12 inches square. It’s flat, light, and easier to ship when the recipient is in another country.
A soft fleece robe with a shawl collar, two pockets, and a fabric belt. It comes in S/M and L/XL, so this one works better when you already know the recipient’s size.
Drift Essential Custom Pajama Set ($69.52)
A customizable pajama set that makes more sense for a longer recovery or a more substantial company send. It’s the highest-priced item on this list, but also one of the easiest to keep using long after someone feels better.
TYESO Big Belly Mug | 16 oz ($11.73)
A rounded 16 oz stainless steel mug with double-wall insulation that keeps drinks hot or cold for six hours or more. It has a handle, slide-open lid, and powder-coated exterior that gives you room for a small logo.
A recognizable brand that still feels like something the recipient would’ve bought for themselves. The 24 oz mug is insulated, stackable, and easy to keep using after they’re back at work.
A compact seven-day organizer with a compartment for every day of the week. It’s inexpensive, easy to add to a kit, and can be a little funny when it comes from a team that already jokes around this way.
A microwaveable flaxseed eye mask that gives off moist heat when warmed. It comes with a plush cover, adjustable strap, and zippered pouch, so it works well as a smaller add-on in a care package.
Seven removable daily pods with reminder tracks that let the recipient mark a dose as taken. It’s compact enough for a bag and comes with a branded FSC Mix bellyband.
5 Get Well Swag Kit Ideas
Now, if you want to bundle the swag ideas above, you can also do that! Just remember that the right kit depends on why someone’s out and who’s sending it. A coworker who’ll be back in a few days probably doesn’t need the same send as someone recovering from surgery.
One thing to plan around: swag kits are bulk only. Keeping a couple of versions ready means you’re not building a new care package every time someone gets sick.
The out-for-a-few-days kit
For a cold, flu, or anything that’ll probably have them back soon. Keep this one small and easy.
Build it with: Micro Coral Plush Blanket, TYESO Big Belly Mug, and BeWell Flaxseed Eye Mask
The kit that comes from the company
For a manager or People Ops, send when you want it to feel a little more substantial. You don’t need to fill a huge box. A couple of nicer items and a good note can be enough.
Build it with: Port Authority Shawl Collar Robe, BeWell Flaxseed Eye Mask, and YETI Rambler 24 oz
The kit for a close-knit team
For a team that already jokes with each other and knows what the recipient will find funny. Keep the illness out of the punchline.
Build it with: FIGS Compression Socks, Micro Coral Plush Blanket, and Pills Organizer
The long recovery kit
For surgery, a longer illness, or a recovery that’ll keep someone home for a few weeks. This is where you can spend a little more on comfort.
Build it with: Drift Essential Pajama Set, TYESO Big Belly Mug, and Wellable Daily Organizer
The kit that ships anywhere
For someone in another country, keep the box light and avoid anything that’s more likely to slow down at customs.
Build it with: 100% Recycled PET Fleece Blanket, FIGS Compression Socks, and YETI Rambler 24 oz
If you don’t want to ship a package at all, a local gift card works well on its own, especially when someone’s sick and probably doesn’t want to deal with delivery.
How PerkUp Helps You Send Get Well Gifts Anywhere
The get well soon message is the easy part. Getting something thoughtful to a sick teammate, especially when they’re in another country, is where things usually get harder.
PerkUp is built for companies with employees spread across different countries, and life event gifting covers the moments you can’t really plan for, including someone suddenly being out sick.
With PerkUp, you also don’t have to guess what your coworker would want. You can give them a budget and let them choose from different swag items or 5,000+ gift cards through your company’s swag store, where they can pick what works for them instead of receiving something they won’t use.
For international teams, fulfillment can happen much closer to your recipient. PerkUp has warehouses and suppliers in the US, Canada, Mexico, the UK, Europe, India, China, and Australia, with global gifting available across 65+ countries. Shipping and customs are handled with duties prepaid wherever possible, while global warehousing means anything you’ve already had produced can ship from storage within a few business days. Regional fulfillment also reduces how far orders have to travel, which ties into PerkUp’s broader sustainability work as a Pledge 1% member and Stripe Climate partner. You can see how the warehouse and supplier network works in more detail here!
You’re also not locked into one type of send when you choose PerkUp. Bulk swag, On Demand swag, swag kits, gift cards, event swag, and swag store can all be accessible to you. This way, you can send one get well gift this week without needing a completely separate setup from the one you use for a larger company program later.
If you want something outside the standard catalog, PerkUp can leverage its custom sourcing feature to find it, and PerkUp’s in-house designers can handle the artwork. Tracking and reporting show what went out and what you spent, and every account gets a dedicated customer success manager to help manage you manage your swag campaigns and ideas. The same setup can then be used for work anniversaries, holiday gifts, and marketing events when those come up, which can be triggered automatically thanks to PerkUp’s 200+ integrations!
Conclusion
You don’t need a perfect get well message. Instead, what you actually need is something warm, short, and easy to read when someone’s already having a rough week. If you want to send something with it, that’s usually where the work starts. The swag item itself isn’t the hard part. Getting it to someone in São Paulo, Toronto, or anywhere else without turning one send into a whole project is.
Schedule a demo, and we’ll show you what a get well send looks like in PerkUp, from choosing the swag item to getting it to your sick coworker’s door.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you send a get well gift to an employee in another country?
Absolutely! PerkUp ships to 65+ countries and fulfills regionally whenever possible, so your employee in India or Mexico can often receive a domestic shipment instead of something coming all the way from the US. The gift card catalog is also localized by country, so your recipients see options that are actually available where they live.
Do recipients have to pay customs or duties on an international get well gift?
In most cases, no. PerkUp ships DDP, or delivered duty paid, wherever the destination allows it and reimburses eligible unexpected customs or duty charges. Someone who’s sick shouldn’t have to deal with a customs bill when the package arrives.
What’s the minimum order if you only need one gift?
One! On Demand swag has a 1-unit minimum, so you can send a single item without placing a bulk order or holding inventory. PerkUp’s On Demand swag has inclusive pricing, too, which means the price you see already includes the item’s price, shipping, taxes, and duties.
Can you send a gift card instead of a physical get well gift?
Yes! PerkUp offers 5,000+ gift cards localized by country, and you can decide whether recipients can choose swag, gift cards, or both. For someone who’s unwell and doesn’t want to deal with a delivery, a gift card can be the easier option.
What if you don’t know what the person would want?
Let them choose. You can give your recipient a budget and let them pick from the available catalog instead of guessing at their size, taste, or what they’d find useful. If something arrives and they don’t want it, they can swap it too. The same approach works for welcome messages, and new hire sends, as well as work anniversary messages. PerkUp allows you to do this in just one platform.
