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[Devolution]

I work with kids so I'm always getting sick December-March. Had a puking spell back in December after a bunch of kids had gotten a virus. Only lasted Friday-Saturday night but I was still worried I would pass it to my wife, who is pregnant.

Yeah. Although some women are immune to all kinds of being sick while preggers. My mom told me when she was pregnant with me on a cruise, that's the first time ever she didn't get sea sick. Never got morning sickness either. Guess I was awesome baby.

 

[TylerD]

I had the stomach flu Monday and Tuesday last week. Missed 2 days due to the symptoms and another day just because I needed to recover and rest from having my stomach kick my ass for the first couple of days.

Fuck the stomach flu.

 

[Corran Horn]

I have like 200 sick hours I never use :/

At this job i worked at for 9 years, Ive called out sick once...and for a week and half I missed work due to Mono which basically requires you to be removed. Fucking wish I could call out more but rules are so shitty, if you dont call out like 3 hours beforehand your considered "No show" which can get you fired if you have prior stuff or calling out too much will get you in trouble or your bosses will schedule you less.

 

[Yaweee]

With sick days being limited and/or severely punished, don't blame the people that choose to come in when they'd probably be better off staying home.

Also, don't assume you know the most contagious periods for various diseases, or that the path of infection from person to person is always so clear. Shit's complicated, yo.

 

[paparazzo]

I've been sick since Tuesday and woke up with fever yesterday and still went to work where I was on my feet for hours. Never again. Granted, the meds I took helped the fever go away but I was in agony after the first three hours or so. Desperately wanted to call in but I don't get paid for not coming in (retail) and don't want to look bad and have my hours cut. Had to call in today though since I can't handle that crap again. I've learned my lesson.

 

[ethic]

Don't use this. It creates super-germs that will kill us all.

 

[ToxicAdam]

The reason I show up to work sick is because if I don't, I have twice the amount of work waiting for me the next day when I am 'healthy'.

Anyways, by the time the symptoms of illness show themselves, they've already been spreading that shit around the day before.

 

[Jeramii]

i work for ikea.

my work won't allow you to call in sick. and because we are hired on an "at will basis" they will fire if you call in sick more than once in a year/on the busier days of the year... though they offer sick time which they only allow you to use in few situations.

so basically. everyone at my work is sick all the time, and it just gets passed in circles... so i'm ill on a monthly basis because of this.

to make things better the heating in the building doesn't work which causes the temp. to be anything from 40-60 in the front half of the building. soooo that doesn't help at all.

 

[ryutaro's mama]

haven't gotten majorly sick in years

That's me as well.

 

[Uncle]

How does Europe deal with sick days? Don't you Europeans get a lot of vacation/sick time?

In Finland it depends on the.. uh... collective bargaining agreement (I have no idea how to translate the exact term, wikpedia led me to the collective bargaining part) used in the field. It defines how long you get paid. E.g in real estate services (cleaning, janitorial stuff and such) it goes like this:

If you've been in the company for:
over 1 month, under 3 years - 28 (calendar) days
over 3 y, under 5 y - 35 days
over 5 y, under 10 y - 42 days
over 10 y - 56 days

If you've been in the company for less than 2 years the first day isn't paid, unless the absence lasts for longer than 10 days (mon-sat not counting holidays), unless it's due to a work accident.

After the sick leave lasts longer than 1+9 days (mon-sat) the company can get a compensation from the state. If the employee doesn't get paid by the company, the employee gets the compensation.

Usually you don't need a note from the doctor for a short sick leave, but that's up to the company to decide.

I'm not sure if this makes any sense. I'm pretty tired.

 

[way more]

LOL, sick days. Why not just surrender to the Japanese right now?

 

[slit]

Jesus Christ.

I don't want to offend Americans but it seems like your system needs changing! If people are working 70 hour weeks (which is ridiculous anyway, you could reduce unemployment by working a normal 40 hour week and employing someone to do the 30 hours on flexi-time!) with flu then something is wrong.

Here in the UK we're encouraged not to come in if we're ill. You aren't gonna be working to full productivity if you're ill and you'll be reducing everyone elses by getting them ill as well. You yanks are working too hard!

P.S. I'm working on Valentine's day, while my single colleagues have a day off. Shit should be illegal.

You're not offending anybody. The culture here in the U.S. is one that basically says since it's my company I can treat my workers anyway I want and fire them for any reason with only a few exceptions. That is what has lead to this stupidity.

 

[captmorgan]

At my last job my foreman loved it when people called in sick or took vacation days.
It was a great opportunity to bring in contract workers, and see if any of them were better/more skilled/ faster than the person who took time off. Basically used it as interview time, and if he found someone better he would hire them full time then get rid of the other person. Personally I found it to be a good reminder that there is always some better than you, willing to do your job faster for less money. Keeps me on my toes

 

[WyndhamPrice]

I haven't been super sick since senior year of high school but I've learned since then that it's okay to take a day off here and there if you feel you need it.

Luckily in all the jobs I've had, including the current one, I've never had an issue taking a day off. Like right now I work in the Comm department for a med school, they're the last ones that would rag on you for taking time off if you feel ill.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

LOL, sick days. Why not just surrender to the Japanese right now?

Best post ever.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

its not like you can just miss as many days as you want to get over being sick.

Yeah, this is absolutely as much about management attitudes as it is inconsiderate co-workers. Sucks but there isn't really an easy solution when the rules have to cover the full spectrum of employee behaviour.

 

[graywolf323]

Blame the work culture where it is not ok now for people to take sick days. Until you have management types who are cool with their workers taking days off for sickness, you will get people coming into work because they are scared that not showing up will make them look bad. Sick days shouldn't be looked down upon but they sadly are.

yep this is the problem

when I used to be a cashier at a grocery store is was rather scary how many people would come to work sick... but if you didn't management would be pissed at you unless you actually found someone to cover your shift (otherwise they have to find someone or be understaffed)

 

[TxdoHawk]

My company had a very smart solution to this: Instead of sick days and vacation days, all days are now "paid time off" days. Any day you don't take off sick is a vacation day, so you're expected to use them all, guilt-free.

 

[gimmmick]

I save my points for the days I actually need the day off. Everyone comes into work sick anyway... it's so sad because I work in the food and beverage industry =\

 

[stressboy]

yep this is the problem

when I used to be a cashier at a grocery store is was rather scary how many people would come to work sick... but if you didn't management would be pissed at you unless you actually found someone to cover your shift (otherwise they have to find someone or be understaffed)

When I worked at a grocery store, if you called in sick the manager would call you every hour telling you that they needed you to come in.

 

[UltimaKilo]

This. Combine with overdosing on Vitamin C and lots, LOTS of water. Emergen-C is my favorite way. Buy yourself some Oust for your office.

There's always the few with no office etiquette...

 

[gimmmick]

My company had a very smart solution to this: Instead of sick days and vacation days, all days are now "paid time off" days. Any day you don't take off sick is a vacation day, so you're expected to use them all, guilt-free.

We have that system within the company I work (mgm resorts international). Well it's only our hotel (mgm grand) and it's this thing called flex time. Basically you accumulate a certain amount of ours of flex time and you can use it throughout the year. It just has to be approved by your supervisors. There have been plenty of times I have called out on fridays or saturdays because I knew I wasn't going to get the day off. By union rules they have to approve it but you get a point for calling out that day. The same can be said if you are sick, just bring in a doctors note and you will get those day you are off paid for by using your flex hours.

 

[CornBurrito]

Don't use this. It creates super-germs that will kill us all.

No it doesn't. It isn't antibacterial shit. Hand Sanitizer is just some type of alcohol. Usually Isopropyl alcohol. No germ of virus is going to become immune to that.

 

[PflargBlarg]

In Canada here. The company I work for will pretty much make you go home if you come in sick. It's not actually forced but very very highly encouraged. At PAX 2009 I came back pretty sick (you WILL eventually get sick at a convention if you go every year) and was out for the entire week after. Not a problem at all for me to take those 4 sick days.

 

[.GqueB.]

This has more to do with the way the current companies are setup. Two examples:

1) I only get 5 sick days a year. If I dont come in, I dont get paid. So after a few days Im going to come in whether Im feeling better or not. I simply have no choice and many bosses simply "dont wanna hear it." Aka theyre fucking dumb.

2) My job is set up where you basically handle your own clients and your own work so when you take days off, someone else has to take up your slack and its annoying. So automatically you start to feel guilty for taking too many days off. So you come in when you start feeling even a little better.

Of course every company in the world isnt like this but many are. And there's also a lack of knowledge on how disease is actually spread. A lot of people seem to think that if they simply cough away from someone or into their hand everything is fine. Which obviously isnt the case. The MTA actually started putting signs on trains about this very subject.

 

[elwes]

My job is the exact opposite of all of your jobs. As long as someone is there to do the work and word doesn't get back to my boss (i.e. If I don't see it, it might as well have not happened), we can take off as many days as we'd like. If it starts to get excessive, he feels it's going to piss someone off that isn't taking off a lot of days, and they will come tell him. It's childish and juvenile and leads to slacker lazy asses taking off days for anything, and I mean anything.

I'm entirely for taking off days if you're sick so you don't spread the sickness. What ends up happening, though, is that when those slacker employees are taking off days and saying they're sick when they most likely aren't, on the days that they are sick, nobody really believes them. It breeds a lack of trust and dependability and I seriously wish my boss enforced sick day policy. There was a guy who took off the other day (2 days, actually) because his shoulder was sore. :l

And since my current position sees me working with only one other person every single shift, when BOTH of the employees I'm working with are lazy slackers who don't like to work, it translates into me doing the work of two people for the majority of time that I'm working.

Edit: Oh, and I wanted to add that my job is salary and all vacation/sick days are paid leave. So when you combine that with people not being kept in line about their sick days, it's like free fucking money.

 

[Like the hat?]

every job I've had, if you are out three days, you aren't coming back unless you have a note from your doctor.

not that this guy couldn't have gotten one probably, of course.

 

[Seth C]

My company had a very smart solution to this: Instead of sick days and vacation days, all days are now "paid time off" days. Any day you don't take off sick is a vacation day, so you're expected to use them all, guilt-free.

People just come to work sick and enjoy the bonus vacation.

 

[mAcOdIn]

I don't get sick days and have no health insurance, I will come in unless I'm actually incapacitated, and even then I'll at most miss one day and force myself to come in on the others. It's hard enough to make ends meet without missing a day or two of pay, but missing three and then having to also pay for a doctor out of pocket to give me a note saying that yes I was or am still indeed sick, that'd about throw me on the street.

I'm the only one not married or living at home so everyone's like "how do you have no money?" Well damnit, if I had mom and dad paying for everything or had someone else bringing in a second income I'd be doing just dandy too!

 

[Red]

I had pneumonia for nearly eight weeks last year while working two jobs. Couldn't afford not to go in. Didn't have insurance at the time, so I didn't want to go to an ER (I hoped it would eventually go away). Finally it became too much and I ended up being prescribed a couple weeks of steroids and breathing treatments. I'm still paying hospital bills :/

You people who don't get sick are very lucky. I've had a weak immune system my entire life. I get sick like once every couple months

Might note that when I had pneumonia I was working at a restaurant (as cook) and a hospital (different one than where I was treated, working in dietary). I was around food, directly in contact with customers and patients, and I was still expected to come in.

 

[TylerD]

My company had a very smart solution to this: Instead of sick days and vacation days, all days are now "paid time off" days. Any day you don't take off sick is a vacation day, so you're expected to use them all, guilt-free.

This is great and is what the company that I am currently going through the application process provides (4 weeks/yr use it or lose it). They even said if you take a 4 week vacation and come down ill they would be able to work with me. Somebody pinch me.