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As I watch certain fellow employees get a virtual extra week of vacation every year by calling in sick, I am more and more beginning to think that company "sick pay" is a bad idea.
What would you do if you hired somebody- let's say a painter to paint your house. He says he will paint it Monday but then he calls you on Sunday and says he won't be able to come tomorrow because he is sick. But then on Tuesday he shows up demanding that you pay him.
Paying employees for being ill is pretty much the same thing in my view. A business pays people to work and not to be ill. Now, have I taken it myself? Yes. 3 days in the last 15 years. Once for a toothache and emergency dental appointment to stop the pain and once for the flu.
But others seem to have the idea that sick pay is like "extra vacation" time. They take it every year. If I ran a business, there would be no "sick pay". If you were sick, your options would be:
1. Use your vacation days
2. You can elect to put 1 hour of pay each 2 weeks into a "sick account" that will give you about 3 days every year in an account you can draw from if you are sick. You can save as many days as you wish and if you don't use them, you will get the money back when you leave or retire.
3. You can elect to purchase "sick insurance" that will pay you when you are ill and cannot work.
I disagree.
I have several employees in my medical practice. I personally am NEVER sick, with the exception of chemotherapy last year (I worked for the majority of that time). However, I realize that people DO GET SICK or have medical problems and it is a little cold to not be understanding of thier plight.
Sure there are going to be those who game the system. But I would rather have sick employees stay home and have the knowlege and comfort that they do not have to work when they are sick. Further, I would offer that their performance will be diminished when they are sick and I would rather have a temp who as "at the top of thier game".
There needs to be some incentive for sick people to stay home rather than come to work and spread the illness to others. I HATE it when a sick person comes to work and then others get sick as well. However, there are those who abuse the policy and use sick time when they are not sick. At the previous company I worked at for nine years you just called in sick when you were sick and stayed home. You got paid because we were all salary. There was no limit on days you could be sick. One guy abused the policy a lot but it was a big company so he got away with it; he still works there are far as I know.
I always felt bad for companies that had a limited number of sick days but I guess they had encountered too many people who had abused more lenient systems.
I'm surprised by the original poster, KevK a notorious liberal, took the position he did. Usually libs are in favor of paying people not to work (i.e. unions). I guess even a lib can have their eyes opened when they see the the abuse in front of their eyes.
As I watch certain fellow employees get a virtual extra week of vacation every year by calling in sick, I am more and more beginning to think that company "sick pay" is a bad idea.
What would you do if you hired somebody- let's say a painter to paint your house. He says he will paint it Monday but then he calls you on Sunday and says he won't be able to come tomorrow because he is sick. But then on Tuesday he shows up demanding that you pay him.
Paying employees for being ill is pretty much the same thing in my view. A business pays people to work and not to be ill. Now, have I taken it myself? Yes. 3 days in the last 15 years. Once for a toothache and emergency dental appointment to stop the pain and once for the flu.
But others seem to have the idea that sick pay is like "extra vacation" time. They take it every year. If I ran a business, there would be no "sick pay". If you were sick, your options would be:
1. Use your vacation days
2. You can elect to put 1 hour of pay each 2 weeks into a "sick account" that will give you about 3 days every year in an account you can draw from if you are sick. You can save as many days as you wish and if you don't use them, you will get the money back when you leave or retire.
3. You can elect to purchase "sick insurance" that will pay you when you are ill and cannot work.
When you own the company, go ahead and put an end to this gravy train.
Or at the next management meeting, propose a policy change for the company.
Sheesh...why are people still talking about "sick days'....ALL companies I know have EARNED PAID DAYS OFF...they are considered part of the benefits package. The longer you're there the more you get. They are E A R N E D ...look that up in a bloody dictionary!
It is NO one's business , not your fellow employees, not your boss, not the company's business what you use them for.
YES, people are people and will abuse the system and WHEN they do they should be "counseled".
Abuse would consist of repeatedly calling in on the same day you're out ....supervisors appreciate a warning for planning purposes.
A lot of people that call out sick conveniently do so on a Monday or a Friday, giving themselves a tidy three day weekend. It's funny how no one ever seems to be sick on a Tuesday or Wednesday.
We have flex days at my company.... all sick/vacation days are pooled into one benefit and we can take them off as wanted. Never get sick? You get a few extra vacation days to use. Always sick or call in frivolously? Your days will disappear quickly.
Personally, I have at least 120 hours saved up because I do have medical problems and tend to hoard my days for 'just in case' situations.
There needs to be some incentive for sick people to stay home rather than come to work and spread the illness to others. I HATE it when a sick person comes to work and then others get sick as well. However, there are those who abuse the policy and use sick time when they are not sick. At the previous company I worked at for nine years you just called in sick when you were sick and stayed home. You got paid because we were all salary. There was no limit on days you could be sick. One guy abused the policy a lot but it was a big company so he got away with it; he still works there are far as I know.
I always felt bad for companies that had a limited number of sick days but I guess they had encountered too many people who had abused more lenient systems.
I'm surprised by the original poster, KevK a notorious liberal, took the position he did. Usually libs are in favor of paying people not to work (i.e. unions). I guess even a lib can have their eyes opened when they see the the abuse in front of their eyes.
A few decades ago (I believe about 4), when we were very young workers, my BFF asked for some time off when she didn't have any accrued. She asked if she could just take time off w/o pay, and her boss said if they didn't need her, she wouldn't be working there. It took a long time for me to wrap my mind around that comment, coming as I did from a very conservative family and having little work experience at the time, particularly very little professional experience. But the boss had a point. You need to account for the time you're not at work when you are supposed to be there. In an extreme circumstance, I can see time off w/o pay, but if you're taking a lot of it, you're probably not necessary for the operation of your company. This is particularly true if you're working fairly independently, e.g. on projects that someone else can't just pick up and run with.
Sick pay is everything that its supporters on this thread have said. It's a "perk" to the employee to not lose pay when s/he is sick. It's a way to encourgage people to stay home when they should and not make others sick and not work at 1/2 your regular performance level (if that).
People that routinely call in on a Mon or Friday need to be "counseled", and if necessary, disciplined. People that abuse the system in other ways need the same thing. I like PTO b/c it discourages lying and saying you're sick to get a day off for personal business, and if you don't use a lot of sick days, you can get more vacation days.
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Why Should YOU Get PAID For Being SICK?
