confoozled.com - irresponsible sick leave policies

This weekend I came down with the cold that Chris tried hard not to give me, but when you live with someone and sleep in the same bed, it's inevitable. It robbed me of my weekend, because I had to stay home and do absolutely nothing all weekend. I even stayed home from a christening we were supposed to attend, because even though I felt well enough to go, I didn't want to get anyone else sick.

But today, despite feeling worse, I'm at work. And why am I at work? Because my employer only allows two paid sick days per year, and even though my boss had been lenient about this in the past, he recently decided he was going to make me give back the two extra days I have used in the past three years, which he had previously let slide, which means I have no more paid sick time until my four-year hire anniversary this coming March. So if I stayed home today, I would not get paid. I simply can't afford that.

The web is full of articles about why sick employees should stay home, like this one and this one and this one. But all of these refer to the employee who goes to work sick as the selfish/irresponsible one. The truth is, most people go to work sick because their employers give them no other choice. Most of us can't afford to lose any of our pay. And what about the employers who choose to lay off those employees who have taken the most sick time when it's time for a reduction in force, or those who offer special rewards and bonuses for "perfect attendance"? Why are we not calling any of them irresponsible? Where are the articles telling employers why they should offer reasonable paid sick leave, and encourage their employees to stay home when sick?

I don't want my coworkers coming in sick and passing their germs to me, any more than I want to be at work myself when I'm sick. It's not just about me feeling lousy and wanting the excuse to stay home; it's about being responsible and not getting everyone else sick. I've heard that there is a push for federal legislation to mandate all companies to offer a reasonable amount of paid sick leave. Businesses oppose it because they think it's just lazy employees wanting something for nothing. That's not what it's about at all, and I would vote yes on such legislation in a heartbeat.

irresponsible sick leave policies	Mon 10/06/2008 2:24 PM
This weekend I came down with the cold that Chris tried hard not to give me, but when you live with someone and sleep in the same bed, it's inevitable. It robbed me of my weekend, because I had to stay home and do absolutely nothing all weekend. I even stayed home from a christening we were supposed to attend, because even though I felt well enough to go, I didn't want to get anyone else sick. But today, despite feeling worse, I'm at work. And why am I at work? Because my employer only allows two paid sick days per year, and even though my boss had been lenient about this in the past, he recently decided he was going to make me give back the two extra days I have used in the past three years, which he had previously let slide, which means I have no more paid sick time until my four-year hire anniversary this coming March. So if I stayed home today, I would not get paid. I simply can't afford that. The web is full of articles about why sick employees should stay home, like this one and this one and this one. But all of these refer to the employee who goes to work sick as the selfish/irresponsible one. The truth is, most people go to work sick because their employers give them no other choice. Most of us can't afford to lose any of our pay. And what about the employers who choose to lay off those employees who have taken the most sick time when it's time for a reduction in force, or those who offer special rewards and bonuses for "perfect attendance"? Why are we not calling any of them irresponsible? Where are the articles telling employers why they should offer reasonable paid sick leave, and encourage their employees to stay home when sick? I don't want my coworkers coming in sick and passing their germs to me, any more than I want to be at work myself when I'm sick. It's not just about me feeling lousy and wanting the excuse to stay home; it's about being responsible and not getting everyone else sick. I've heard that there is a push for federal legislation to mandate all companies to offer a reasonable amount of paid sick leave. Businesses oppose it because they think it's just lazy employees wanting something for nothing. That's not what it's about at all, and I would vote yes on such legislation in a heartbeat. << prev • home • next >>
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2 comments/trackbacks
comment: from Crystal Our company doesn't even give us sick days. We get vacation and 2 extra personal days, which are supposed to be used to make up for time we miss coming in late/leaving early for any reason, but end up being used for sick days. Sad thing is, we're a pharmacy, and if we're sick we're constantly coughing, sneezing, and blowing our noses for 8 hours, all while we're about 3' from your meds. And then they bitch if we do call out, because there's no one who can cover anyone else's shifts, but if we're sick and not productive enough, they bitch about that. Mon 10/06/2008 8:01 PM comment: from HelloKit @Crystal: Totally unacceptable, isn't it? Especially in a healthcare company. They can pay for one employee to stay home for a day or two, or they can pay for countless hours of lost productivity as an illness spreads from one employee to the next. A healthcare company has a responsibility not just to their other employees, but to their patients as well. Tue 10/07/2008 8:20 AM
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