Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The employee controls many employment situations. Not the employer. The employer is "lucky" to have the employee. Just ask them!
It's a new world.
In my world, you want time off, you take a vacation/personal day. You use sick time when you are sick. If you burn all your sick time screwing around, when you really need to take time off you use vacation, or you take days without pay.
You also don't last long in the real world. Maybe retail or fast food puts up with that crap; not in a professional environment.
You also don't last long in the real world. Maybe retail or fast food puts up with that crap; not in a professional environment.
Quite the opposite.
Crappy jobs that usually require customer interaction at the lowest level are more strict with taking off and using sick time (if they even offer it) because you not being there effects the day-to-day operations.
In a professional enviornment you generally have more freedom and work-life-balance depending on the time of the month, quarter, year, whatever. As long as you do your work by the required deadlines or meet desired goals, most managers do not care how you use your sick time.
I've had 3 good paying positions in corporate Accounting in the private sector, and it is generally understood that people use sick leave when they aren't sick. As long as it doesn't effect the team, goals, or deadlines, who cares?
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,570 posts, read 81,167,557 times
Reputation: 57798
This is not anything new that started recently. I have been a supervisor or manager since the early 1980s and we had plenty of sick leave abuse, tardiness, and fake job injuries back then. Currently it's not a problem because here we have PTO which can be used for either illness or vacation, and we promote work-life balance. Almost every time someone calls in
the same morning and asks for the day off I approve it, without knowing or even asking the reason. It's none of my business, as long as they have earned PTO to use.
When I was hourly I would accrue sick time and personal time under the same account, there was no distinction between the two. If you were sick and called out you would get docked the 8 hours and get a "free" day no points or marks against your attendance didn't matter if you were really sick or not when you called in you simply had to say I wasn't going to be in today and you didn't have to lie. Of course you could schedule personal time in advance which is what I usually did. The policy was pretty liberal only the major violators would get fired for attendance.
Now with the same company in a different division as salaried I see how some of these people are just crazy with their personal time and we tend to terminate most for attendance issues. The policy is still the same and would be considered liberal by most, but most of the employees will just use there personal/sick time the week they accrue it, once a month they are paid out 4 hours, and they won't even take a full day they will just ask for a half day. It is insane to put your job in that kind of risk.
Does it really matter if they take a sick day without being sick? Sometimes people just need a day off. So what? If they have the time, they should be able to take it. I get 6 days that are for sick/personal use. If I don't use them, they go away at the end of the year. That's just foolish to let that happen.
Does it really matter if they take a sick day without being sick? Sometimes people just need a day off. So what? If they have the time, they should be able to take it. I get 6 days that are for sick/personal use. If I don't use them, they go away at the end of the year. That's just foolish to let that happen.
This.
People like I said are just nosey, bitter, or have antiquated theories on what 'personal integrity' in the work place really is.
Personal integrity is negated by using sick hours for personal use while working for a large corporation in which the main goal is to benefit its shareholders? Really? Just because you know people who use sick leave and then come into work sick doesn't mean everyone who uses sick leave once in a while for their own personal use fall into this category. I also know people who have your mentality in the work place, but are completely inefficient at their job responsibilities.
My personal integrity revolves around being a good person, treating others with respect, and not doing anything that will negatively affect another person.
If my work is done when it has to be and it doesn't affect my team or coworkers, I will absolutely use my sick hours if I know the end of the year is coming and they will go away if I don't.
Personal integrity is doing the right thing regardless of whether you can get away with doing the wrong thing or not, whether or not it is better for you personally to do it. You took the job knowing you had a thing called sick pay, not personal time off, sick pay. If you felt you deserved a job with personal time off you should have negotiated that in your current job or held out for one that gave it. It really is that simple.
Psst. Your taking paid sick leave when you are not sick does negatively impact someone, although granted it may just be the few nickles less a shareholder receives. Anytime you get something tangible and finite, especially if it involves money, that was not supposed to be yours someone else doesn't get what they were supposed to get. Whether you personally know the person or not is not part of the equation.
It matters not to me what you personally choose to do, I doubt our paths cross at all, but you asked why you wouldn't and I gave a reason. Just because you don't like that answer, or it doesn't fit your agenda, doesn't make it untrue.
__________________
When I post in bold red that is moderator action and, per the TOS, can only be discussed through Direct Message.
Do these companies specifically describe what constitutes sick? Is it "Two sneezes, four coughs, and a vomit"? Does it explicitly state mental health not being allowed to be defined as 'sick'? Or does it simply say "sick day" (or the like)?
The definition of sick covers both mental and physical well-being. The boss mentioned in the OP was wrong and thankfully the courts settled it.
I don't know why you think this is a new thing or why you think it is widespread.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
