Do you go to work when you're sick?

I have good health insurance, but I go to work sick because my employer says I can't take sick days. You practically have to be dead before you can take a sick day, and if you DO take one, when you come back to work, you get the third degree for being gone! (sometimes you even get  disciplinary action!!)  All this, just for really being ill, or having a doctor's appointment. So it is no wonder that at our office, one or two get sick, and a few days later, the supervisors wonder why there are 15 sick people working there, but don't really care, because they are THERE working! 

I used every bit of my sick leave. We could accumulate the leave as well and I still used all of my leave because that's what it is for. There was nothing worse than being made ill by someone who refused to call in sick and I never put up with any crap from my boss about calling in either. Thank God for the protection of a Union contract. People should not have to work sick. What good is a neogtiated benefit if you can't ever use it for anything? When my wife had a baby, I took 30 days off to get her and my daughter off to a good start. What an unfortunate country the United States has become. Wage slavery is wrong and corporations have become degenerate entities that only care about their shareholders and not the people who provide the very means for them to profit: their employees. Lately there is a perception that people should be grateful to have a job, any job and that is ridiculous. Labor, management and business owners cannot exist without each other. Any other take on the process of doing business is a step backwards into the hellish past of Labor. Most of the benefits that people take for granted were paid for with the blood, sweat and tears of Workers who courageously stood up to the big bosses of their era. They were beaten and killed in droves by their own state militias and police, along with the goons the companies hired. People don't know anything about the brave people who brought you the eight hour day, the weekend and no child labor. Business pushes back on these hard won rights constantly and for what? For some fat cat to put another gallon of diesel in his yacht, so he can motor over to the Cayman islands and visit the money for which he pays no tax. Money is worthless unless it's spread around, encouraging the young and the entreprenuer. The piles of cash the rich are sitting on can only buy so many things and then what good is it to anyone? So you're damn right I called in sick. I worked like a dog for 30 years and had parts of my body replaced. I'm so worn out now that I will be lucky to live long enough to enjoy my hard won retirement. Americans have turned into a bunch of aggressive mice and the fat cats are making you jump at every turn.

As a former shift Supervisor and then a Manager I look at the problem a bit differently. Dishonesty is one, this counts against the creditabilty of that employee. As a Shift Supervisor with a rotating Job assignment schedule this was always a problem. Though each employee had 2 weeks of sick leave given to them a year you had employees who regularly took 3 day weekends. Or called in sick on every third Thursday, these people developed a patten of bascially lying. The Unions supported this dishonesty by trying but failing to get it supported by these employee's co-workers that Sick leave could be used for anything. Not So. That is why it is called sick leave. The average employee also accured 14 days of vacation a year which they could use if they just wanted a day off. Sick leave could be used for Doctors and Dentists appointments as well as taking Mom or Dad or a child to the Doctor All you had to do was ask preferable a couple of days in advance, not a problem.. The problem is, the people who generally are calling in and lying about being sick have used up most or all of their available time up and have become a "issue" with co-workers who complain about having to always pick up the extra work load for these people and why doesn't the Supervisor or Manager do something about it.. Generally these are very selfish self centered people and have co-worker problems because of it. As a Manager trying to meet various Targets and Dates and keeping the overtime Budget down these people were a problem. And these people generally were the first ones to whine, point fingers, create hostile work atmospheres and or file greviances if they did not get promoted. I had a number of instances where I had dedicated employees come to work sick, who I promptly sent home. I did not want them infecting others, but they would rather come in than stay at home. Mostly this was due to a good inner worth ethic than out of fear of their Supervisor thinking something else. You have people, and you know who they are, who are always slackers, liars, scammers, schemers, gossipers, finger pointers and sick leave abusers and generally the same person exemplifies all these same characteristics. If your works site is Union, it can take a long time and about six inches of documetation to get rid of these people. Private Companies have to do the same but not to the same degree they can terminate for "cause" which usually means lying which calling in sick and then going to play golf is, dishonesty, it is lying..Even our President sets the example with his dishonesty and failure to uphold the rules, so what kind of example does he set for the workers of America? To stop this abuse, generous employers stopped granting sick leave altogether making everyone else suffer for the indescretions of others who ruined it for everyone. So if you call in sick, you don't get paid, call in to often and your fired..And because of Unions, and Lawyers sueing everyone left and right, Management CANNOT make an exception no matter how wonderful an employee you were, those who came before you ruined it for everyone...

I have never had sick day benefits from any employer, and I can't afford to stay home unless I'm very sick.  My solution to avoiding missed time at work: in the past few years, I've found that by taking better care of myself (eating healthy foods and giving up the junk, sugary and fried foods) I seldom get sick now.  It doesn't really cost more to eat lots of veggies if you buy the basic inexpensive ones... cabbage, carrots, frozen beans, etc. We grow some of our food, too.

It is very sad that there are people who take advantage of sick leave....like maybe they were out the night before, had too much to drink and are now hungover....while those who are truly ill force themselves to go to work and therefore infect EVERYONE.  There has to be some type of system set up within companies that will not chastise those who need the sick time versus those who take advantage. 

BTW--going to work while sick with the flu or some other type of serious illness, let alone the common cold, not only endangers the other employees, but their families as well...it is a vicious circle and people need to use common sense when ill.

I would like to add, when I retired a few years ago, I had 341 days of sick leave accumulation on the books and 147 days of vacation accrued. Comp time totaled of 900 hours or another 112 days . And yes I had the normal flu and colds and other health issues. So my final payroll check was a hefty sum totalling nearly two years of salary which was a fine parting gift.....

I am very very lucky to have sick leave and to be able to use it. Many years ago I was in the military and there is no sick leave in the military, that is one of the reasons I didn't make the military a career. I have also worked as a temp w/o sick leave, but I have always been fortunate that I could make my income stretch far enough to cover the time I took off.

My son was once written up on a job for taking off under a doctors orders for pneumonia.

The only jobs I ever had that had sick leave were unionized positions. I don't know if that is a good thing or not any more.

It really is saddening to hear of the lack of compassion and commensense on the part of so many employers. My heart goes out to those who cannot take time off work when ill. My job offers great insurance benefits and plenty of sick leave and annual leave (govt). Only thing odd is if we are off for 3+ days we have to have a doctors note - makes us feel like we are in school again. I do not understand why employers are so cold and ignorant - when one sick person goes in, others generally tend to catch whatever it is. Productivity goes down and I am pretty sure the employees would have a vv bad attitude which doesn't lead to any better productivity. That story about the grandfather who saved his grandkids from a shark sort of brings this home. If what I read is correct, he was on sick leave due to stress from his job (sounded reasonable) and he got fired for going on a vacation while out. I think his employers were wrong in their approach and they could have disciplined him but there it is. My hope for you folks with callous employers is that you can either get the system changed or find a job where the worker is respected and given appropriate leave times.

 

Good luck and God Bless.