Use of sick time & work ethic

[Deleted]

If someone was out of work for 2.5 days because they had a cold, then 2 weeks later missed another day because they were sick and then missed another 1/2 day because they left early due to a back ache-would you start to question their work ethic or is this just what sick time is for?
How much time is too much where you work?

[ssmjlm]

Those probably wouldn't be a lot around here. Colds get passed around since we're in cubicles and sometimes you just have a few things hit sort of at once.

Now the people who are out at least 1 day a pay period is a bit much around here.

[limey]

I definitely don't want someone with a contagion in cubeville with me and I sympathize with someone in pain.

I'd look at whether or not their overall workload was getting done or if they aren't carrying their weight more than anything.

[Deleted]

No one cares at my job. If I have the time I can use it. Maybe if someone had a cold every.single.day and used sick leave to take off early, a supervisor would have an issue, but for a situation like you described? No.

If we are out sick for more than 3 days we need a doctors note though so I guess someone does care lol but only with longer absences.

[mishap]

If this was out of the ordinary, I would think they either hit a patch of bad luck or were interviewing for a new job.

[jennistarr1]

this pattern all year...not good....but if this is just kind of a phase, it happens

[Deleted]

Have they been in the office a month or 5 years?

If they are pretty reliable otherwise, no worries.

I usually take 3-4 sick days a year. Sometimes I'm sick all in a month, sometimes 1 day a quarter.

[nancybotwin]

I think it would depend on their past performance - if someone is usually a hard worker and has a strong work ethic, I might be annoyed but would mostly feel badly for them that "when it rains it pours." If there was no history or a shaky history, I would judge their work ethic. And even with a strong history, they better get back to strong working soon!

[Deleted]

Nov 26, 2012 12:33:18 GMT -5 limey said:

I definitely don't want someone with a contagion in cubeville with me and I sympathize with someone in pain.

I'd look at whether or not their overall workload was getting done or if they aren't carrying their weight more than anything.

This. Unless their absence is preventing me from getting something done I probably wouldn't even notice.

[mbcdefg]

That's what sick time is for.

Why is this an issue? Does this person make it a habit to stay out of the office and expect others to pick up their slack? If not, who cares?

[spunkarella]

I don't think it sounds bad unless it is like this all year long.

But at my job, it would not be ok. We have to be able to provide a doctor's note for any use of sick time. Ridiculous, IMO. There are times when you are sick and don't need to be at work, but a doctor visit would be overkill.

[Deleted]

It depends what's going on at work. Certain times a year I'm expected to work through a minor illness. Other times no one would care.

[protozoa]

Around here it would be NBD since everyone normally works very hard.

Well I hope so at least because this scenario pretty much describes my last month. I've done my best to keep up, but of course I think that has made this drag out longer.

[Deleted]

At my office, that would be very frowned upon for lawyers. Like, even just the 2.5 days for a cold part.

But law firm culture is very different from many other cultures, so...

[CloudBee]

If they haven't used up their sick days for the year, I don't think their work ethic should be questioned. You have no way of knowing if those "reasons" are covers for more personal medical issues that they would rather not share.

[formerlyak]

At my office it wouldn't be a big deal. No one wants others to come in sick and pass it around. I did start giving my assistant the side eye when she was either sick or running late every Monday (literally 4 Mondays in a row!). But if it is random and you know something is going around the office, no biggie.

[Deleted]

I'd suspect job interviews at that point.

But no one at my job would care. Hell, at this point, they don't really notice if I make it in or not at all.

[Norticprincess]

Mine if you had the time it was fine.
No one else wanted what you had. They weren't stick with dr's notes until you were out over a week. My lab was small everyone pretty much knew what was going on.

Last year my boss was getting concerned about the amount of time I was sick. I just felt awful and was having migraine issues. She was concerned for my health, not worried about my performance. She actually dealt with HR and paperwork for me when I landed in the hospital.

DH's company - when the director from hell was there, code for a job interview was doctor or dental appointment. They have PTO. It isn't divided.

[moolarkey]

We have an employee who makes a "spiritwear" item very popular for our major D1 college. He hires women from his church to make them, that costs him 5K a year. He sells them at the stadium (he's licensed). Until we got new management last year we could count on him calling in sick the Monday after a home game. He clears about 20k a year from his sales. The items used to make this spiritwear grow on trees in his yard so he has almost no expense for materials.

[SusanBAnthony]

My mom has an employee who does this (healthcare so it is a big freaking deal to cover patient care and you better really be sick). This employee would be "sick" as soon as she earned one more sick day, so it was obvious. She is now one sick day away from being fired.

[KaraOrNot]

This would not be an issue in my office.

[shaynaatl]

At our office that would be fine (assuming this was the only time of year they did that).

[dexteroni]

My old company would have cared, but that's not a good thing. There was definite unspoken pressure to not use your sick and vacation time. That said, four sick days in two weeks is kind of a lot. If they're genuinely sick, then I would rather they not come to work. But if someone took that much time on a regular basis, I would presume they were faking. And while that's their business, at some point their work is either not going to get done, or it will have to be covered by someone else, and that's when it starts to get annoying.

[Roc A Bee]

No one cares here, but you are suppose to have a doctors note if you out sick for more than 2 days.

[takeonyou]

I think in the span of time you are describing, it is a lot. But I have taken one sick day in 4 years for myself and I work with infants - preschoolers on a daily basis. Unless I cannot get away from the toilet, I am working because my job effects so many people's ability to go to their jobs.

[countthestars]

We don't really take sick days at my company. Pretty much everyone works from home if they are unable to come in. I consider what you have there a lot of sick time (but I've only taken 2 sick days that I didn't WFH in 5.5 years).

[Deleted]

I think it depends. Is their work getting done? Are we constantly rescheduling meetings or needing to cover for/reschedule things because this person is absent?

Sometimes people just have streaks of bad luck, too. I guess even if the stuff in my first paragraph is true, if someone is sick/hurt then there isn't much anyone can do about it.

I think most of my coworkers will suck it up through a cold or minor injury if it is an inconvenience to others, though. Right or wrong, that's how it is. So I'd do the same.

[rubytue]

I hate posts like this bc it makes it do hard when you have a legitimate health issue. I was out for 3 weeks awhile back and I kept feeling terribly guilty that everyone thought I was taking advantage.

[egishere]

Not really an issue at my company as long as you are getting your work done. There are people that I side eye that take a lot of sick time in dec since it doesn't roll over. It's obvious what they are doing to everyone.

[Chirp]

That would be NBD at my company. We get 10 sick days a year, accrued throughout the year, and you're free to use them as you see fit. If you say you're sick, you're sick. No questions asked.

The only time people raise an eyebrow is if you use more time than you've accrued (or carried over from a previous year)... you need a good excuse for that (usually a doctor's note and FMLA paperwork).


Management employees can work from home, so if we're able to work but can't physically be at the office (sick kid, have the poops, etc), we can do that instead of using time.

My boss is really laid back. We can dip into our vacation time if we run out of sick time... in addition to being able to work from home. You have to really try to run out of paid leave. Well, except my one co-worker... she's a transplant patient (immunosuppressed)with twins in daycare. She gets sick fairly often.