Sick Days From Work

[hookfinger]

Damn straight you better be sick or I'm gonna know.

I can understand your point running a small business or being on a crew where a missing pair of hands is a big hardship. Taking a day off in my profession would rarely be such an issue unless there' s a looming deadline and it's not as if throwing on another pair of hands will help move things along... there's a learning curve on any given project.

Personally, I think people should take them and I'm also a strong believer in Mental Health Days... sometimes you need to decompress. It might not be a factor for the European BCB'ers, most of whom get generous vacation packages, but Americans are lucky if they get two weeks off per year.

You're absolutely right, there a far different scenarios. As far as Mental Health days...I only work my guys 5 days a week and all they do is wait on customers. I know customers can be a headache but their job is not that demanding, if they need a day off, all I ask is they plan ahead so that I can as well. Common courtesy.

[Guy E]

Damn straight you better be sick or I'm gonna know.

I can understand your point running a small business or being on a crew where a missing pair of hands is a big hardship. Taking a day off in my profession would rarely be such an issue unless there' s a looming deadline and it's not as if throwing on another pair of hands will help move things along... there's a learning curve on any given project.

Personally, I think people should take them and I'm also a strong believer in Mental Health Days... sometimes you need to decompress. It might not be a factor for the European BCB'ers, most of whom get generous vacation packages, but Americans are lucky if they get two weeks off per year.

You're absolutely right, there a far different scenarios. As far as Mental Health days...I only work my guys 5 days a week and all they do is wait on customers. I know customers can be a headache but their job is not that demanding, if they need a day off, all I ask is they plan ahead so that I can as well. Common courtesy.

Yeah, as "professionals" we're often expected to work long hours or come in on weekends to meet deadlines, all without compensation. It used to be that "comp time" was given if the unpaid overtime got out of hand, but that's been history since 2008. Sometimes people will take the issue into their own hands, take a couple of days off and charge it on their time sheet to the project they put-in the unpaid OT on. Unauthorized Comp Time. If someone questions it you simply hold your ground and if you're a valued employee the powers-that-be will back off. Cajones required.

In some ways we get a long rope and in other ways it's an abusive profession.

[Snarfyguy]

In addition to vacation time, I get 10 "sick/personal" days off per year, to use as I see fit, and I use them all. That's part of my compensation package.

I don't bunk off when there's important stuff going on and I give my team notice ahead of time if I can't be in the office.

It seems to work out pretty well.

[CatnHat]

As far as I'm aware, no employer gives 'sick days' in addition to holidays. My employer gives 'family days' but these are for meant to when dependents are sick, or you have childcare issues. I've not read the policy in detail, so don't know if I miss out on these because I don't have kids!

I used to work with a girl who phoned in sick every time her and her boyfriend broke up (about once a month) but she failed to see that everyone knew what she was doing, she pissed people off when she did it because it they had to pick up her work (and do their own) when she didn't turn up. She became a bit of a laughing stock and then when she was genuinely ill, no one believed her.

If you're not sick, go to work! That's what you get paid to do.

It's as bad as people who moan that they don't get a bonus because all they do is come in, work their (exact) hours and go home again. Failing to see the concept that a bonus is paid for work over and above the normal you do to get your salary.

[The Dríver]

People who take sick days when they aren't really sick are cunts.

As an employer I agree. I insist on doctor's notes for more than one day of sick leave. I had a guy last year who was frequently off sick and produced sick notes but I discovered they were faked and fired him. Sick day allowance should not be abused, it's effectively stealing from your employer.

This exactly.

If I'm contagious but not incapacitated I'll work from home, especially as I do contract work - if I'm off sick I don't get paid.

[the hanging monkey]

People who take sick days when they aren't really sick are cunts.

As an employer I agree. I insist on doctor's notes for more than one day of sick leave.

I don't think you are allowed to do that in the U.K.

Here you are allowed to self certify for 5 days, beyond that you need a doctor's note. I remember going to the doc's with some horrible bug thing a few years ago because I thought I was going to be off for a few days and would need a note. He wouldn't give me one and told me to self-certify, but come back if I was off for more than 5 days.

I have to confess to having the very occasional sicky, usually alcohol related. I certainly don't make a habit of it though. I've worked with some people who have really taken the piss.

[KeithPratt]

You'd be lucky even getting a doctor's appointment within 3 days of falling sick in my experience in the UK. I had a bit of the norovirus earlier this year and the advice from the NHS website was "Don't go to see your Doctor due to possibility of contagion".

[Belle Lettre]

I haven't had any difficulty getting an appointment the same day if I phone early enough.
Then again, I don't really get ill.

[Zong]

My jobs thus far have never paid more than £7 an hour and there are many jobs where the staff are treated abysmally and paid even lower. If this is the case and ones absence doesn't change things a jot for anyone elses workload I can't help but feel that taking the piss back is justified.

I never did incidentally- in fact i'm more irritated about having worked jokes of jobs that have got uppity about anyone taking perfectly legitimate sick days off.

[Corporate whore]

Once when I worked for a large, well known company, you 'accumulated' 25 sick days a year - so if you were not sick they rolled over to the next year. Quite a good system because it meant that staff who had been there for a few years would have fully paid sick leave even in the event of a serious illness involving being off for months.

There was one guy who worked for me who managed to be sick exactly 25 days a year, every year.
Including the year he was fired, 2 months into the financial year.....

[Guy E]

Once when I worked for a large, well known company, you 'accumulated' 25 sick days a year - so if you were not sick they rolled over to the next year. Quite a good system because it meant that staff who had been there for a few years would have fully paid sick leave even in the event of a serious illness involving being off for months.

There was one guy who worked for me who managed to be sick exactly 25 days a year, every year.
Including the year he was fired, 2 months into the financial year.....

30-years ago I worked with a woman whose husband had a protracted illness. He'd worked in the same plant his whole adult life and had never taken a sick day. They accrued in a similar fashion and he was able to take-off the four months needed for his recovery and got paid for all of it. That's pretty unusual in the US... most companies now have policies that limit carry-over.

[souphound]

When my father was working as a policeman (he passed away some 26 years ago), they had an allowance of a number of sick days that were accumulated if not taken. Several of his colleages were smart enough to pile them up throughout their wholecareer and start their own businesses with the fat cheque they got (at the last year's pay rate too) for all those untaken sick days.

I don't know if that's still policy.

[Ranking Ted]

As far as I'm aware, no employer gives 'sick days' in addition to holidays. My employer gives 'family days' but these are for meant to when dependents are sick, or you have childcare issues. I've not read the policy in detail, so don't know if I miss out on these because I don't have kids!

I used to work with a girl who phoned in sick every time her and her boyfriend broke up (about once a month) but she failed to see that everyone knew what she was doing, she pissed people off when she did it because it they had to pick up her work (and do their own) when she didn't turn up. She became a bit of a laughing stock and then when she was genuinely ill, no one believed her.

If you're not sick, go to work! That's what you get paid to do.

It's as bad as people who moan that they don't get a bonus because all they do is come in, work their (exact) hours and go home again. Failing to see the concept that a bonus is paid for work over and above the normal you do to get your salary.

Great post and bang on.

[der nister]

people taking sick days that they now show up at your house unannounced to see if you are home when you call in sick. And you better be home or youre in big trouble

that's the way it should be,
or they can at least put you in the hospital
the same abusers of sick days are the first to bitch
if they feel someone else is making too much money

[Minnie the Minx]

Sick days because of a hangover are inexcusable.

[Flower]

I have a friend who has hated every job she's had ... she had all sorts of excuses for being late or taking time off from work. The younger, better educated co-workers, would give her all their administrative work. She was the Administrative Assistant! The co-workers who came in on time, hated her .. etc. She would often call in sick or take "mental health days" ... In eight years or so, she "mental health" her way out of three very good jobs.

When she turned fifty a few years ago, she would complain to me that her mother, her father's girl friend (I believed that there was an overlap, don't care) and other people quit working after fifty or only worked part time at that age. All this freaks her husband out as they need the income.

Sorry .. a bit off topic.

[Hightea]

From age 16-45 I just about never had a sick day. Even if we had a cold we still tended to come to work. Only a serious infection would keep me out and that was very rare. However, since 45 I've been sick more often and also with technology today I can work from home. Therefore, these days I tend to take off even if I'm only lightly sick because I can at least work a few hours at home and I'm not getting anyone else in the office sick. it's sort of the new policy here. If I'm extremely sick then I will also not work from home. This also is the case now on snow days, in the past we some how made it to work, now just a little snow and I'll work from home.

In regards to co workers and employee who work for me, I've been luckily the past 10 years to have responsible employees who only take one or two sick days a year. In the 90's we fired several employees who would call in sick almost once a week, I couldn't hand it so I fired them.

[Diamond Dog]

I've not had a day sick in, I would guess, 12 years.

[Diamond Dog]

Once upon a time... when you joined Royal Mail you got paid full sick pay the moment you started working for us. Yes - you could start, go sick the same day and then paid sick pay (six months full pay, six months half pay) but would then - somewhat bizarrely- return to work a year later and be dismissed because you hadn't passed your trial period. I kid you not. At the time, staff who were in their first year accounted for something like 21% of all sick pay, whilst making up only around 3% of the workforce.

Around five years ago, we changed our contract/policies so new entrants were not paid sick pay for the first 12 months. Now they make up aprox 1.5% of total sick absence (whilst not being paid).... interesting that, isn't it?