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.
FWIW, to me, it's not the amount of time, it's how often it is being used. Like a 3 week absence indicates something serious. So does 3 days. But 2.5 days for a cold is a little much. It is a cold.
Since you asked about work ethics, I'd have to ask if these sick days were interfering with getting the job done. If its busy and someone slacks-off over something small, it's a problem. If it's really slow and someone goes home at noon with a backache - so what? Do you have to be sitting in your chair with back pain, when its not really needed, to be considered ethical?
And I know lots of people who prefer to use their sick time 'here and there' rather than save it up for a vacation - that's why I LOVE PTO that's combined. People can use it when the want. I rarely got sick enough to use all of my old "sick" time, but other people managed to use it. Now, I get to take long weekends or a few days to get away.
I honestly side eye 2+ days for a cold and so would my boss, but as long as the employee had the sick time accrued we probably wouldn't say anything. The big question I think is whether it's part of a bigger pattern. If that happens every month - huge issue. If the employee in question hasn't used a sick day in 6 months - hope you feel better soon.
P.S. I've called in sick a few times lately for IVF related things. I claimed stomach issues/migraine/etc because I'm just not going to tell them 'egg release.' But it's still a legitimate sick day. I just don't want to talk about my medical issues.
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.
FWIW, to me, it's not the amount of time, it's how often it is being used. Like a 3 week absence indicates something serious. So does 3 days. But 2.5 days for a cold is a little much. It is a cold.
Yeah. True. It's just a sore subject with me. Probably bc 24 hours after I did the legwork on temporary telework for medical reasons, another girl in the office somehow ended up getting approval for extra telework for reasons that border in taking advantage. And then I felt like ppl thought I was too.
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...
This. In my 10 years of legal practice I have been out sick 3 or 4 times total, other than maternity leave. 2 were stomach viruses were I was actively puking during the day and once I had my appendix out. My use of sick time was about the norm for lawyers. You are expected to work unless you are near death at most law firms. So, I judge the absences you mentioned as an awful work ethic, but that's because of what I am used to. Plus, in law firm world, you have your own office so not passing germs around quite so much.
Post by iheartvino on Nov 26, 2012 15:17:26 GMT -5
I take sick days a lot more quickly than my H does. He works in finance, and he is expected to be there unless really ill. He also gets compensated a lot better than I do and has more predictable hours.
I work in the nonprofit sector. I get paid based on 37.5 hours of work a week, but I work a lot of evenings and weekends, so I average more like 55 hours a week. I do not get paid well, and I go above and beyond in most cases.
As long as I have no meetings and I will not be sticking somebody else with my work, I take a sick day. This usually amounts to 4-5 days/year. Sometimes I just need to take a day or else I will want to quit.
Post by lurkergirl123 on Nov 26, 2012 16:35:28 GMT -5
We have unlimited sick time (according to HR they will speak to you if it gets to be "excessive"). Generally no one in my group cares if you take time when you are sick, but we do have a couple of people who are sick every Monday and every Friday and that can be annoying when everyone else has to cover.
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.
I'm one of the sick day naysayers (well, not a naysayer -- but someone who only takes them when absolutely necessary because they're very frowned upon) and I think that's completely different!
So are things like recovery from surgery, hospitalizations, etc.
Your everyday cold/flu/sinus infection/plague? Not as easy to justify.
I have about 55 days worth of accumulated sick time. We are welcome to take sick days whenever we don't feel well / for doctor's appointments (though not when family members are unwell). If the person in the OP was obviously in pain from the back ache and felt sick from the cold, I wouldn't judge. I want contagious people to go home and stay away from me!
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.
P.S. I've called in sick a few times lately for IVF related things. I claimed stomach issues/migraine/etc because I'm just not going to tell them 'egg release.' But it's still a legitimate sick day. I just don't want to talk about my medical issues.
We have unlimited sick time and no one cares. In fact, I have repeatedly been sent home for coming in with a cold. My old company required you to come in on your death bed, so staying home with a cold threw me.
Post by onwisconsin on Nov 26, 2012 20:52:02 GMT -5
While I wouldn't necessarily frown upon it, my manager definitely would have a HUGE problem with this. Last year she even sent out an email to the entire staff stating "Just thought you might be interested to know that we've had at least xx days or partial days that staff were sick (or they had to be home with sick children) out of the past xx work days. Here's to hoping today's the last day for a good long while!"
Talk about SNARK. Worst part, I haven't called in sick for over 5 years. Ugh.
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.
I'm one of the sick day naysayers (well, not a naysayer -- but someone who only takes them when absolutely necessary because they're very frowned upon) and I think that's completely different!
So are things like recovery from surgery, hospitalizations, etc.
Your everyday cold/flu/sinus infection/plague? Not as easy to justify.
The flu can be a really serious illness. People die from it. It is not the same as a cold, and I would never expect someone with the flu (and not just a cold that they are calling the flu) to come in to work.
P.S. I've called in sick a few times lately for IVF related things. I claimed stomach issues/migraine/etc because I'm just not going to tell them 'egg release.' But it's still a legitimate sick day. I just don't want to talk about my medical issues.