Sick Time

[thefadedone]

The flu epidemic is pretty bad here right now. Hospitals are closed off to all visitors and anyone going to the ER has to wear a mask after signing in. Doctors are advising all flu victims to stay home and out of work. For some people it's not the simple though when every single cent of that paycheck is needed.

So what do you do when you suddenly get sick?
Do you go in to work despite the fact that you feel like **** and are contagious?
Do you obey doctor's (and your body's) orders and stay home, rest up, and hope that you'll be able to pay your bills?

You're pretty much screwed either way. If you go in to work sick you risk getting even sicker and also spreading your illness to your coworkers. If you stay home you can rest up and get better but you risk finding yourself eating ramen in the dark while wearing five layers of clothing because you can't afford groceries or to pay your bills.

 

[RabbitLuvr]

Personally, if I'm not vomiting I go to work.
My work doesn't have "sick time" but we have "personal time" that functions in basically the same way. I've used all mine for scheduled doctor's appointments so I can't miss work without penalty right now.

I haven't gotten the flu this year, but it's been around here so I wouldn't be surprised if I got it. I have a mortgage and five rabbits to feed, so I'll go to work as long as I'm not vomiting, even if I might be contagious.

 

[Wolfie]

Our sick time and vacation time are all rolled into one. I am lucky though. I get a decent amount of time even though I've only been at my current job 5 months. I can't remember the last time I called in sick though. It's been years. Now I probably just jinxed myself and will get sick.

I feel bad for those who have to make that choice. Drag themselves in contagious and feeling like crap or not pay the bills. The job I had before this one was like that. We didn't get crap for sick or vacation time.

 

[Second Summer]

Dude, you guys live in a rough society! Over here, I can be off sick three (or four?) times (times, not days!) a year, after that I can be off sick more if I have a note from my doctor. And none of this affects my 25 days of annual leave.

 

[yally]

I don't get sick pay, if I need time off it comes out of my holiday allowance

Also if I can't work I need to find cover so I need to be pretty much bed ridden to not go in.

 

[Moll Flanders]

Dude, you guys live in a rough society!

Seriously!

 

[shyvas]

I get 90 days per year with full salary, for sick leave. I also get 29 days for annual holiday plus bank holidays.

 

[Lord Snot]

If employers/businesses had any sense, they would encourage people to stay off work when they were ill. When one person comes in with a cold or whatever you could put money on it that a handful more will be off sick in the coming weeks, I've seen it this winter and I'm sure many more of us have. You're infectious before you get symptoms in many cases so it can't be completely avoided, but as soon as someone starts coughing or sneezing more than normal they should be sent home (on full pay) until they're better to save the company losing even more money.

 

[KLS52]

I've been at my job 10 years so I have accumulated quite a bit of time as I rarely call in sick and I don't usually use my vacation in blocks of a week or two at a time, but rather, 2-3 days to make long weekends so I get to roll it over.

It is a dilemma, whether or not to go into work, when you're not feeling well, especially for people who don't get paid sick time. I do believe if you have something other than a common cold, that it isn't fair to your co-workers to go into work and risk infecting them. But at the same time, I understand that the person may desperately need the money.

There is no excuse for people where I work, IMO. We have good benefits. Entry level positions start you out with 10 sick days, 10 vacation, and 2 personal.

One woman was out for a few days with flu like symptoms. She came back to work when she wasn't quite better yet. Refused to see a doctor. Got progressively worse until she almost collapsed on Thursday and finally went to the doctor. She has pneumonia. So she's out for another week but not before spreading her germs to everyone around her, including me.

IMO, she was very stubborn and should have taken better care and seen her doctor sooner. She refused the free flu shot, which is totally her prerogative, and then waited three weeks before seeking medical care when she was complaining the whole time about how badly she was feeling and how she didn't understand why it was taking so long for her to get better.

Wow...that was long...I don't usually go on so much when I'm on my phone. My skills must be improving.

 

[yally]

I get 90 days per year with full salary, for sick leave. I also get 29 days for annual holiday plus bank holidays.

When do you work??!

 

[shyvas]

When do you work??!

Far too much for my liking.

 

[ledboots]

No one should go to work if they have a fever, diarrhea, or vomiting. Taking ibuprofen to knock down the fever doesn't count; you are still contagious.

Influenza is pretty widespread in the states this year. What is the worst is the sick kids going to school because the parents have to work. And the public schools are funded partly on attendance, so they want the sick kids in the seats.

 

[thefadedone]

I get 90 days per year with full salary, for sick leave. I also get 29 days for annual holiday plus bank holidays.

90 days?? That's awesome.

 

[ledboots]

I get 90 days per year with full salary, for sick leave. I also get 29 days for annual holiday plus bank holidays.

That is 1/3 of a year off! How does the company make any money, lol?

 

[Moll Flanders]

Maybe Shyvas works in a school, my brother gets lots of time off in his job but he says the teachers he works with have a lot of extra preparation work they do outside their official hours.

One woman was out for a few days with flu like symptoms. She came back to work when she wasn't quite better yet. Refused to see a doctor. Got progressively worse until she almost collapsed on Thursday and finally went to the doctor. She has pneumonia. So she's out for another week but not before spreading her germs to everyone around her, including me.
IMO, she was very stubborn and should have taken better care and seen her doctor sooner. She refused the free flu shot, which is totally her prerogative, and then waited three weeks before seeking medical care when she was complaining the whole time about how badly she was feeling and how she didn't understand why it was taking so long for her to get better.

How annoying! I hope she's better now though.

 

[beancounter]

I get 8 days of sick time pet year. Any unused time can be rolled over to the next year. Plus there is an additional 2 personal days I could use for sick time if needed. Plus if I had to, I could used vacation time as sick time. I currently get 3 weeks vacation. And if worse came to worse, I'm also covered for both short term and long term disability.

 

[AeryFairy]

We're allowed to call in sick pretty much whenever, although anything serious requires a doctor's note and if you do it too often they might call you on it. I've been off sick a reasonable amount since I started my job; viruses go around that place constantly because despite having full pay for sick leave, people still try to come in and soldier on. And then I catch it. I can't believe some people don't get sick pay, and have to choose between making money or getting better

 

[SummerRain]

I only have a casual job (although I still get holiday pay, and I can take any time off I want, so it's a good deal), but my bf's work are pretty harsh, and I'm fairly sure sometimes illegal when it comes to how they deal with sick-leave. If he's off sick more than twice a year he gets a "disciplinary". In theory it could be anything from a slap on the wrist to a firing, but in reality they're short staffed and in his case it's always been a "no further action" type of thing. However they told a women who had MS and was in hospital she might loose her job because she wasn't allowed any more time off work, in the end they back-tracked and said they were wrong and she could have it off, but she spent all that time in hospital thinking she could loose her job. :s

 

[RabbitLuvr]

My personal/sick time is accrued at a rate of about 0.9 hours per two weeks worked, and we're capped at 40 hours.
There have been many times in my life when I've had a fever but just taken tylenol or something and gone in to work. If I get the flu now, I'll go in unless I'm vomiting.


My work makes people who get FMLA use up all their personal and vacation time for medical things before having unpaid time off, and people frequently get fired just after their FMLA is up. It's especially a problem for new mothers, who have to use up their vacation after giving birth, then if they or the baby is sick after they come back to work they don't have any time to use, so they end up being fired for attendance points. I worked full-time through all of my cancer treatments; only took two days for each chemo and three for surgery (I scheduled it over a holiday to get the extra day); got radiation scheduled over lunch and came in early/stayed late to make up for the extra time it took. I pretty much had to choose between resting properly or staying employed.

 

[Lord Snot]

That is 1/3 of a year off! How does the company make any money, lol?

I doubt many employees need 90 sick days a year