Sick Days

[Jenn! 918]

Do you take them? How often?

My office culture is pretty much "as long as you get your stuff done, we don't care if you're here or not". I don't hesitate to work from home if I think I'm coming down with something. Very rarely do I take a sick day and not even telecommute for at least half of it.

I know other people are of the "take some sudafed and suck it up" mindset. These are the people that come to the office and get the rest of us sick.

[The_Dude 1,142]

Do you take them? How often?

My office culture is pretty much "as long as you get your stuff done, we don't care if you're here or not". I don't hesitate to work from home if I think I'm coming down with something. Very rarely do I take a sick day and not even telecommute for at least half of it.

I know other people are of the "take some sudafed and suck it up" mindset. These are the people that come to the office and get the rest of us sick.

Telecommuting isn't an option for me. I have always taken sick days at the first hint of illness. There are some functions of my job that have to be done regardless of my illness, so sometimes, I have to come in, no matter how sick I am.

[^_^ 5,021]

We don't have 'sick' days, just a pool of PTO (paid time off) days of which I can only carry over 10 per calendar year. I get 25 total per years so I do have enough to "call in sick" whenever I don't feel like working. But when I'm really sick I will either take a PTO or telecommute depending on the nature of my problem. If I had to guess, I'd guess 90% of the PTO days I called in sick I wasn't actually sick, just sick of working. And I don't really worry about not having enough sick days either. We get 6 months of 100% paid short term disability per calendar year so if I was seriously sick I'd just use that instead of my PTO pool.

[Ban Hammer 13,334]

similar to aj, but our pto (10 days) is now only good for a year - none carried forward, remainder balance is paid out.

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

We dont get sick days either. We get PTO and use it as we please in a calender year. I get 23 days a year and use all of them! I am salary so my job is leniant when it comes to time off. If I need to leave early, come in late, or take the day off I can. It is hard for me to miss work though because it seems my branch falls apart in my absence.

[Marilyn. 340]

my husband gets 12 sick days year but if he doesn't use them they don't carry over to the next year..

he takes sick days sometimes when he isn't sick but he doesn't do it often because you get points for taking sick days..

Edited December 20, 2010 by Marilyn.

[thongd4me 69]

Do you take them? How often?

My office culture is pretty much "as long as you get your stuff done, we don't care if you're here or not". I don't hesitate to work from home if I think I'm coming down with something. Very rarely do I take a sick day and not even telecommute for at least half of it.

I know other people are of the "take some sudafed and suck it up" mindset. These are the people that come to the office and get the rest of us sick.

Actually today I took a (certified) sick day because I had a doc's visit and got the certifying note that my office accepts.

I could have taken an uncertified sick day (entitled to 7 a year) but I want to save those up. I accrue 2 certified sick days

a month but I never use them all; I've been using more now because I want to conserve my vacation and uncertified days.

On retirement I get paid for unused annual leave days up to a certain number, so annual leave (vacation) days are only

taken sparingly.

Others take more leave days than I do so nobody ever complains.

Edited December 20, 2010 by thongd4me

[slim 1,525]

I've never had sick days before so obviously, I've never taken them.

I started a new job recently where I earn sick days so I'll be taking them for medical-related appointments that require me to leave work during work hours. I don't miss work for the sniffles and could give two sh!ts about getting everyone else sick. If you have a weak immune system that's your business.

[Jenn! 918]

I don't miss work for the sniffles and could give two sh!ts about getting everyone else sick.

Lovely sentiment. Of course, I know the mentality is different if staying home means not getting paid. That's a different story.

I think lumping everything together into PTO discourages people from taking sick time when they need it because they see it as a vacation day lost.

We get 20 sick days per year. If you were to use a significant number of these, it would raise eyebrows.

[moroccogirlny 100]

I only get 6 days per year that can't be carried over. I usually save them up for snow days, if I have some left over then I use them for sunny "sick" days now I have to plan my 5 weeks vacation time before I accrue another 5 weeks in February

Edited December 21, 2010 by moroccogirlny

[The_Dude 1,142]

Lovely sentiment. Of course, I know the mentality is different if staying home means not getting paid. That's a different story.

I think lumping everything together into PTO discourages people from taking sick time when they need it because they see it as a vacation day lost.

We get 20 sick days per year. If you were to use a significant number of these, it would raise eyebrows.

I get 16 days of vacation, 16 days of sick time, 4 Personal leave days, and 4 Personal holidays. Whats the difference? I don't really know to be honest, other than which ones you can cash out at the end of the fiscal year, and which ones you can carry and or lose.

As to slim's statement, I guess it is determined by the nature of your job.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Well, I'll speak on behalf of my husband. He works in IT as well and he gets 21 PTO, plus 2 floating holidays and 6 federal holidays - no sick time, no other vacation time - and he can carry over 40 hours, so it is basically you use it or you lose it.

That is a totally different system than I had when I still worked in Canada. I had 11 Federal and Provincial public holidays, 2 1/2 days a month sick time and 15 paid days of vacation a year. None of it carried over.

[trillium13 84]

Damn! My job sucks. I get 5 days "vacation" and 3 "personal" days a year. Which essentially boils down to 8 days a year.

Needless to say I don't call in sick unless I literally can't get up. We get chastised for calling in sick anyway, even if we might be puking or snotting all over everyone.

Yeah, it sucks. Yeah, I need to find something different.

[scandal 951]

10 vac days/year, and up to 10 sick days. Use em or lose em within the year.

Also normally 9 stat holidays, but depending on when the markets are open. This year we don't get a day for New Years so only 8 stat. Last year we didn't get Good Friday, since it was an options expiration Friday so only 8 stat.

I haven't taken a sick day in 2 years there. Sick days are for sissies. We are a high pressure work environment. People work nights and weekends as needed for pizza not for OT pay. The reward isn't time off, the reward is making the firm profitable and earning the bonuses that result. I'll take that payout over time off.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

PTO's make more sense than giving a set amount of sick days, IMO.