What's your attitude to sick leave?

[Bumperstump Cummerbund]

Inspired by a recent thread

Do you take sick leave when you need it? I hear all the time that some people don't in order to 'do the right thing' towards their boss. I don't understand that - for me, if I'm sick, and I know I won't be able to work, I will call in sick. Last week I texted my manager at 6am because I woke up with a migraine. Yesterday I didn't go in because DH was very sick, and I was too worried about him to leave him. I won't 'chuck a sickie', but if I need the time off legitimately, I will take it.

I wonder if attitude is affected by industry? I used to be a receptionist, and even though I provided medical certificates for sick days, I copped a lot of flak for taking sick days, because I was 'the face of the company'. My response was always that I am entitled to sick leave, I obtained a doctors certificate, and I would never take one wrongfully - but they are there for a reason.

So, do you take sick days?

[Sopdet]

I take sick days. I have dragged myself into work a few times when I've been sick to last a few hours and head home.

I have a high-pressure job and I know I'm not doing my job the best when I'm not 100%, so I've learnt to take the time off if I need to. I used to be really bad and take work home with me if I was sick, but now I force myself not to do that, to crawl into bed and sleep.

[~me~]

If I am sick I take a sick day as everyone should..I don't want to spread my germs through a whole office who may end up alot worse off than me.
If one of the kids are sick, either DH or I will take leave, I get Carer's leave so it is usually me.
I don't take days of willy nilly as you just never know what is around the corner. I have worked with people who as soon as they have enough sick leave, the take a day off reguardless.
So yep, like you legitimate sick leave only. I try and scheduule Dr's appt's on a day off or the weekend, or early in the morning and then go in after.
If the thread you got the idea of is the one I am thinking...If I was going to leave my job..I would not go and take any sick leave I had accrued just beacause I was leaving

[briggsy's girl]

i work in a call centre and it drives me batty when people come into work sick - we work closely, often have to share desks - and you can guarantee the bugs sweep through the place.

i will firstly try and swap days if i can, if i can't, then i'll call in sick. i have to make decisions that impact peoples lives daily, and if i'm not all there, it's not doing the best by them (if i make the wrong decision, people can end up with thousands of dollars of debt VERY easily) - i weigh up what i'm feeling and go with that. migraine is a no go, flu is a no go. queasy - i'll see how i go for the day. snuffles - depends on how bad it is - and i take the antiseptic stuff with me to clean down every surface as often as i can!

[Nettie]

I'm a supervisor and everyone one of my staff know that if they have something contagious - I don't want to see them until they're better. However, when I'm sick, I often go in to make sure everything is ok and then head home. Although I do try to keep to my own rules and if it's a virus or something, I stay away.

Sick leave is there for a reason...

[Indadhanu]

I won't chuck a sickie (we get one RDO a month so that takes care of it hahaha) but I will take one if I'm sick enough. People don't want you to look after their kids when you're sick so i guess it's better.

Oh, I also take sick leave if Shel is sick, so I can look after Jazz (and her I guess haha). Not that I have had to at this job yet but I will.

I do feel terrible to do it though.

[Mak]

If you are sick you should stay home - I work with people who have compromised immunity so we should definitely stay home, however you tend to get looked down on if you do. Unfortunately staying home with your kids is seen as even worse - as if it is ****tails and croquet rather than the messy reality. My kids have had an awful gastro bug (with DD in at the RCH today) so I am off for my working week, having said that I rarely ever had sick leave before the kids!

[Nai]

I'm a nasty HR Manager and I will send people home when they come in sick and spreading germs I don't know how many times I have had to tell people that them coming in to work results in so many others getting sick and them losing time as well - not to mention they then make their kids sick and have to take even more time. I think I am finally getting through to some people. It is there for a reason - if you need to use it, then use it.

[PumpkinZulu]

Not on topic, but omg nai, your avi!!!

[Fleur]

Not on topic, but omg nai, your avi!!!

Lol, I noticed it too..very nice

I'm casual, so don't get sick days. but I do usually go in when I'm sick not because of the pay factor (I can make up my hours at home through the week) but because I feel like it impacts badly on me if I'm not there
and it's reallly hard if the kids are sick - Pie is coming down with every sniffle atm, and there have been comments made about my time off - keeping her home so as not to spread it - then I go into FDC & there are kids there with a runny nose
Sorry, bit of an OT vent

[lilima]

I very rarely take sick days. I work 0.5 so I swap days sometimes. When I left my last job, I left months and momths of sick leave. That was a bummer. But the upside was, that when I was preg with DS I took a faor bit of time off coz of morning sickness, and I had a heap of leave so it was no problem.

when my dad retired he left behind something like 600 ish sick days!!!
When my mum got cancer, she had something like 5 months sick leave, so you never know when you will need it

[butterfly_warrior]

I guess my thinking on sick days is that mental health counts as well as a cold.

BW

[Cherished]

I am rarely sick, I don't remember the last time I had a day off work due to being sick, it must be at least 8 years ago. BUT I have stayed home about 4 years ago (chucked a sickie) to spend the day with dh when I just didn't want to face my boss cause he was a crazy person! and I have taken the afternoon off work at my current job after a big disagreement with my boss cause if I had of gone back I would have quit and regretted it later lol It does annoy me though that my current employer doesn't have any 'back up' in case i was to call in sick, what would he do???? As a business owner you need to have people in place to fill in at short notice, if you have that than it shouldn't matter if your staff call in sick and use their rightful sick days.

[lilima]

BW - So true.

Really as long as people have the appropriate certificates required, you can do whatever you want with your sick days. They are your right, and you don't have to justify why you need to take a day off!!!

[sconeonamission]

I feel bad if I take a sick day and I'm not sick. I recently had an exam on a day that I would normally work and work had not yet granted me annual leave. Because it's my regular day, I couldn't just say I wasn't available that day, I actually had to take leave. One of the supervisors (who would have been my supervisor on the day anyway) told me to call in sick the day before. I felt so guilty even thinking about it! Thankfully, it didn't come to that.

ds is sick today and I almost called in sick to take care of him. Good thing I didn't, becuase we were down 2 people.

In our work place, if you're sick, you stay away. It's as much for the residents as for the staff

[Just Me]

When I was working, I used my sick days when I was sick. My DH manages a branch here and doesn't like it when his staff come in sick because they make other staff sick and end up needing more sick days all up than if the sick person just took time off in the first place. Having said that, DH has his own office so if he is sick but needs to get some stuff done at work, he heads in and goes straight into his office and keeps himself away from the rest of his staff. He usually only goes in for a bit and then works from home for the rest of the day.

He was talking to another manager who was saying that they have recently swapped sick leave over to personal leave. Everyone is entitled to 10 days of personal leave a year on top of their annual leave as a replacement for sick leave. If they are sick they have to use their personal leave, but they can plan to take a day of personal leave if they need it for anything because it is easier for the company to managed planned days off then to deal with people calling up at the last minute. It also keeps their work place a lot more honest and people can say that they are having leave without having to bung on being sick. I think it sounds great as long as people can manage their leave well enough to still take time off when they are actually sick but most people have a few weeks of sick leave owing to them within the first couple of years of working so it sounds like a good way to let them use it to me

[mbear]

Ive worked in private and public sector. Public has your RDO once a month....you could actually 'bank' them and use them up to 3 up at once at the time. Private, you just got x no. of days for how long you had been there. People were always, always sick in private sector in ths particular company i worked for...Monday itis was a biggie...i can honestly say, in the public dept i worked, people never, ever had sickies...unless genuinly sick.

[AnyDream]

Everyone spare a thought for those who work in Defence...when they are sick, they have to drag themselves into work, for a "sick parade" where they wait to be seen first by a medic and - only if deemed necessary - then a dr, who finally gives them a "chit" to go home and be sick. (!!!!)

My own feeling about sick leave is it's there to be taken when you need it. I don't pull sickies but like BW I do think mental health is important too.