One 'flu over

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Comments

  • RuthRuth Shipmate
    My son was telling me about a new company he will be working for. " They have no set sick leave," he said. I was about to say that is terrible before he added they just expect you to take off with pay if you are sick. Hard to believe this is an American company. Lucky him.

    He should ask around amongst his co-workers and see if people really take time off when they're sick. It's entirely possible that this policy is on the books, but people feel pressured to show up when sick because they're being paid.
  • Lamb ChoppedLamb Chopped Shipmate
    edited July 15
    I really hate the "donate your sick leave" thing, as it makes meeting the needs of cancer patients etc. a matter of charity from their fellow workers, rather than a matter of justice between the worker and the company. It's sort of cringy to force the needy person to deal with a heap of gratitude on top of major medical issues, and to worry that there may not be enough donated--or even that some people may be shortchanging themselves and need it later and not have it.

    In a similar vein, I found myself frustrated when a friend was about to go completely insane by trying to fit work around her wedding and modest honeymoon (think: must work up until 5 pm on the day before the wedding, which was the usual big production--and not because her help was particularly needed at that point, but simply because the math of being a worker with less than five years seniority worked out that way). I thought to solve the problem by donating a day or two as a wedding present.

    Upon approaching HR, I discovered that I was only allowed to donate days to a general pool, and that these days would be split among however many people HR deemed worthy--which meant that there was a real possibility my friend might get no more than an hour or so, depending on how much I was willing to throw into the pool. I declined to give up my entire vacation for the year just to ensure that a day of it made its way to my friend. Really, how is this just or fair?
  • orfeoorfeo Shipmate
    There is plenty of evidence that having unlimited sick leave, rather than a fixed amount, reduces the amount of sick leave taken (at least in any reasonably well-functioning workplace where there aren't other significant issues going on).
  • Nick TamenNick Tamen Shipmate
    I really hate the "donate your sick leave" thing, as it makes meeting the needs of cancer patients etc. a matter of charity from their fellow workers, rather than a matter of justice between the worker and the company. It's sort of cringy to force the needy person to deal with a heap of gratitude on top of major medical issues, and to worry that there may not be enough donated--or even that some people may be shortchanging themselves and need it later and not have it.
    Yeah, I agree. But it’s better than no other option. (And I’m not sure the the person knew who had donated.) We did have other options, including short-term disability and Family Medical Leave Act leave. But the general rule was use your own leave, then use donated leave, then move on to FMLA or short-term disability.

  • orfeo wrote: »
    There is plenty of evidence that having unlimited sick leave, rather than a fixed amount, reduces the amount of sick leave taken (at least in any reasonably well-functioning workplace where there aren't other significant issues going on).

    The *fixed amount* of sick leave sometimes backfires, if people take it as some sort of extra holiday time - and then subsequently do fall ill, with the resultant Stiff Official Letters and Disciplinary Procedures...

    Anyone taking what may seem an unreasonable amount of sick leave should indeed be dealt with considerately by management - there may be significant personal issues to be handled.
  • The organisation I work for has a policy of if you have 3 blocks of time off sick in 12 months, this flags to your manager for review incase you've got problems. This is a nice idea, but it's applied somewhat differently by different sections...

    My previous section, almost trying to make me feel that having stress-related migraines either side of a bad cold was my fault and not that of the job, the manager in question, and some bad luck in the case of the cold! My current one, acceptance that the laryngitis was bad luck, and the migraine and other stress-related item were due to a combination of personal and work things. Same sort of time spacing in both cases - about 9 months.
  • Penny SPenny S Shipmate
    I once had the beginnings of a cold while at work, nose running, etc, and before going home at the end of the day went to tell the head so he could get a supply teacher in. I was surprised when he told me never to tell about an absence in advance. Apparently this would give the impression that it wasn't a genuine illness. He muttered something about time off to go to the races at Goodwood.
    It seems to me that employers have the same idea, that employees don't really get ill.
  • I used to encourage my teaching staff to notify early if they were feeling off colour. It meant supply staff could be hired more readily and minimised spread of infection among the staff. Nothing worse than a sick teacher ringing in at 7.15am when you're already through the round of phone calls.
  • I seem to recall a boss ranting on and on about how he'd looked at the absences, and fully forty percent (!!!!) of them fell on a Friday or Monday. Clearly we were lying and just trying to extend our weekends.

    I don't think anybody pointed out to him that ANY 2 days divided by 5 is.... forty percent. So an average distribution, then.
  • orfeoorfeo Shipmate
    I seem to recall a boss ranting on and on about how he'd looked at the absences, and fully forty percent (!!!!) of them fell on a Friday or Monday. Clearly we were lying and just trying to extend our weekends.

    Oh God. That's the point where you think "I'm working for an idiot" and look to move on.

  • Marvin the MartianMarvin the Martian Admin Emeritus
    I seem to recall a boss ranting on and on about how he'd looked at the absences, and fully forty percent (!!!!) of them fell on a Friday or Monday. Clearly we were lying and just trying to extend our weekends.

    Not that this means it couldn't have happened at your work as well, but that's the plot of a Dilbert cartoon from 1996.
  • SojournerSojourner Shipmate
    I seem to recall a boss ranting on and on about how he'd looked at the absences, and fully forty percent (!!!!) of them fell on a Friday or Monday. Clearly we were lying and just trying to extend our weekends.

    I don't think anybody pointed out to him that ANY 2 days divided by 5 is.... forty percent. So an average distribution, then.

    Clearly “9-5 er”.

    He’d be laughed out of court by all us 7 day roster folks, stupid fucker

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