If your coworker was out of the office for a few weeks, and your team covered the work, would you expect a thank-you from the coworker or just the boss?

Actually neither as I am simply doing the job I was hired for. If I get an “atta boy” from either that is a bonus but again not expected.

Neither. It’s just expected to pitch in and pick up the slack when someone is gone.

It’s not that I would expect a thank you, but it is always appreciated, I just got a big thank you from a co-worker earlier this week for exactly this situation. I think it would be a little rude to not thank someone but not an offence so grevious as to warrant a cold shoulder.

I would not expect a thank you of any kind. However, any thanks I was given would be appreciated. It’s nice to see that my effort was noticed. However, it seems to me that most of the time people don’t notice.

Neither.

I would greatly appreciate a thank you from the manager, although it would not be necessary. If the absence of the coworker was beyond their control, a “thank you” would be nice but irrelevant (as in they did not intentionally put me out in any way). If I was covering for a long vacation and was overworked throughout their time off, I would expect a thank you from my coworker.

Neither. It’s work, it’s what’s expected on the job. Having a thanks is a feel good extra but not expected and certainly no office place faux pas if one is never given.