Calling in sick to work

[SandyinMonterey]

That's really odd.

I don't know why. I didn't go over my sick days by any means. This was the mid 90's. I remember her telling me to come to office and notifying me. I was shocked. I responded that I needed surgery, yes not an emergency but still that day, and I had it there (where I worked). All she said was, "yes, I know."

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

The only relevant story I have to this topic is the time I "risked it" despite feeling funny in the morning. By mid day I was miserable and went to my boss to tell him I was going home early. He told me that to leave early I had to go see the nurse and get approval. I felt awful and going to see this nurse ended up adding 45 minutes to my departure time.

I never went into work at that employer feeling iffy again. There were a couple times that I felt fine at 10am but I had already called out so their loss. For whatever reason they didn't give us laptops either so working from home wasn't an option.

I'm really hopeful that the pandemic has broken the "crawl into work" badge of honor that seems to be part of American culture. Getting 1/2 the office sick just to prove your toughness isn't impressing anyone.

Then start a business and don’t complain. That’s if you already haven’t. Best way is to start one. Build it. Then sell it. Then do it again.

You sound way too close to the American in the story of the Mexican fisherman.
https://bemorewithless.com/the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/

And I don't really know anyone who money isn't at least somewhat of a motivating factor. Not everyone wants to get rich. But everyone wants to make money. Thats the very basis of your 1st statement. "maybe there should be profit sharing" would indicated that wanting money is in fact a driving force. Do you really know anyone who makes the kind of personal and financial sacrifices it takes to open an business that wants to lose money? No because that would be stupid. No one would have a business if they didn't want to make a profit.

Want to know what doesn't make a profit? A closed restaurant.

The funniest example of this I can think of is Cedar Point. They were having hiring issues in May and had to limit park hours because of it. Know what they did? Upped the pay to $20/hour. Suddenly it wasn't hard to find people to work.

 

[dez1978]

The only relevant story I have to this topic is the time I "risked it" despite feeling funny in the morning. By mid day I was miserable and went to my boss to tell him I was going home early. He told me that to leave early I had to go see the nurse and get approval. I felt awful and going to see this nurse ended up adding 45 minutes to my departure time.

I never went into work at that employer feeling iffy again. There were a couple times that I felt fine at 10am but I had already called out so their loss. For whatever reason they didn't give us laptops either so working from home wasn't an option.

I'm really hopeful that the pandemic has broken the "crawl into work" badge of honor that seems to be part of American culture. Getting 1/2 the office sick just to prove your toughness isn't impressing anyone.

You sound way too close to the American in the story of the Mexican fisherman.
https://bemorewithless.com/the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherman/
Want to know what doesn't make a profit? A closed restaurant.

The funniest example of this I can think of is Cedar Point. They were having hiring issues in May and had to limit park hours because of it. Know what they did? Upped the pay to $20/hour. Suddenly it wasn't hard to find people to work.

You can't compare an amusement park that has an annual revenue of almost 200 mil a year to a business that might have 4 mil a year. You can't think they can possibly both pay the same. And this has and will hurt other businesses who can't compete with that pay. Also, I know newsmax isn't the best source, but this same article is on Cleveland dot com, but I dont have a subscription to be able to link it.

https://www.newsmax.com/us/cedar-point-ohio-wage-economy/2021/06/14/id/1025050/

 

[Keli]

I have to watch myself carefully with my team that I don't let things that happened with former, bad, employees make me jaded. There was one coworker that called in sick constantly, she didn't work a full week in I don't know how long. And it was so frustrating because I was working a ton of hours to pick up her slack. It crept up slowly and I find myself really scrutinizing when someone calls in sick because a part of me is worried we are going down the same path with this coworker as we did with the previous one. Thankfully I am aware this is unfair and I work hard to keep a balanced view on coworkers sick time but I know the cause was coworkers that abused sick time and were leaving me with the lion's share of the work.

 

[NYCgrrl]

@Lilsia, Sorry you had to go thru this in addition to feeling ill.

My last job I was the boss and my office was in my home. All anyone who was sick had to do was call my home answering machine or text to say they weren’t coming in. Maybe I’d communicate with them later in the day, maybe I didn’t.

Still, neither of us had to go through the awkwardness of speaking about how this would effect the workday thus it was a win-win.

Be your best and don’t fret too much about this.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

You can't compare an amusement park that has an annual revenue of almost 200 mil a year to a business that might have 4 mil a year. You can't think they can possibly both pay the same.

Potential employees are making that comparison so choices are pretty limited for the business owner. You either compete or deal with what you can get. A business may no longer be viable with recent increases in wages but that's life as a business owner. The only constant is change.

And this has and will hurt other businesses who can't compete with that pay. Also, I know newsmax isn't the best source, but this same article is on Cleveland dot com, but I dont have a subscription to be able to link it.

https://www.newsmax.com/us/cedar-point-ohio-wage-economy/2021/06/14/id/1025050/

To be frank: I don't have much sympathy for low wage employers. Most of them treat their employees poorly (part time, constantly changing schedules, no benefits, etc) and have a business model that only works on below living wage labor. The world will be better off with a few less McDonald's.

 

[Lilsia]

Potential employees are making that comparison so choices are pretty limited for the business owner. You either compete or deal with what you can get. A business may no longer be viable with recent increases in wages but that's life as a business owner. The only constant is change.

To be frank: I don't have much sympathy for low wage employers. Most of them treat their employees poorly (part time, constantly changing schedules, no benefits, etc) and have a business model that only works on below living wage labor. The world will be better off with a few less McDonald's.

I worked at a place about 5 years ago where they paid around $9- $10/ hour. The owner came out and said that he pays everyone "so well" and that we should be grateful. I am not saying that people should not be grateful for what they have, but come on, $20,000 a year, with no paid vacations, is not really living the high life.

 

[Tink3815]

Bosses or owners rarely miss work due to illness. So I guess it’s hard for them to believe. One thing is feeling ill and another is being sick. So many call off feeling ill but are in the next day. If a person is going to not feel well they might as well feel that way at work. Another is being sick and under a doctors care.

If you are not feeling well, stay home. A lesson we all should of learned from Covid.

 

[dez1978]

Potential employees are making that comparison so choices are pretty limited for the business owner. You either compete or deal with what you can get. A business may no longer be viable with recent increases in wages but that's life as a business owner. The only constant is change.

To be frank: I don't have much sympathy for low wage employers. Most of them treat their employees poorly (part time, constantly changing schedules, no benefits, etc) and have a business model that only works on below living wage labor. The world will be better off with a few less McDonald's.

Don't worry, at this rate there will be far fewer restaurants of all kinds. Because the same people who scream about low wages are also the same people who will refuse to pay a dollar more for their meals to offset that wage, because apparently business owners who want to make any money at all are selfish, horrible people. Where we live, most places are paying $4-5 above minimum wage already, in an area where the Pew research says the livable wage for a single adult is $13.26/hr. So the $14-15 an hour to start in a casual or fast food place is not really low wage here. Not to mention the sign on bonuses and raises. Heck thats as much as corrections officers get paid here and they have a much harder, more dangerous job than the teenager bringing the food to your car at sonic. I know, because I've done both. And tipped employees.. I don't know any servers who would choose to get paid $15/hr with no tips over $3.00/hr with tips.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Don't worry, at this rate there will be far fewer restaurants of all kinds. Because the same people who scream about low wages are also the same people who will refuse to pay a dollar more for their meals to offset that wage, because apparently business owners who want to make any money at all are selfish, horrible people. Where we live, most places are paying $4-5 above minimum wage already, in an area where the Pew research says the livable wage for a single adult is $13.26/hr. So the $14-15 an hour to start in a casual or fast food place is not really low wage here. Not to mention the sign on bonuses and raises. Heck thats as much as corrections officers get paid here and they have a much harder, more dangerous job than the teenager bringing the food to your car at sonic. I know, because I've done both. And tipped employees.. I don't know any servers who would choose to get paid $15/hr with no tips over $3.00/hr with tips.

Just pointing out the Pew report for your region lists the livable wage for a single adult at $13.26 per hour but doesn’t say if that would be the same for a family of four, another norm. As for signing bonuses that in my opinion is a temporary panacea that merely masks the economic problem.

 

[Lilsia]

Don't worry, at this rate there will be far fewer restaurants of all kinds. Because the same people who scream about low wages are also the same people who will refuse to pay a dollar more for their meals to offset that wage, because apparently business owners who want to make any money at all are selfish, horrible people. Where we live, most places are paying $4-5 above minimum wage already, in an area where the Pew research says the livable wage for a single adult is $13.26/hr. So the $14-15 an hour to start in a casual or fast food place is not really low wage here. Not to mention the sign on bonuses and raises. Heck thats as much as corrections officers get paid here and they have a much harder, more dangerous job than the teenager bringing the food to your car at sonic. I know, because I've done both. And tipped employees.. I don't know any servers who would choose to get paid $15/hr with no tips over $3.00/hr with tips.

I have worked in the service industry for over 30 years. I can, with all confidence, tell you that the amount of money a person gets paid, in relation to cost of living, is nowhere near comparable to what it was 15+ years ago. And I can also tell you that one of the main reasons that people are sick of these jobs is the way that they are being treated. I even changed my job to doing online shopping at a store just so that I can avoid people as much as possible. I just can't take the harassment anymore. People have changed and not for the better. And PLEASE educate yourself. These jobs are not just "teenagers bringing your food". Foodservice is HARD. It does not take a degree, but I have known many with a college education that could not handle the job. It is a physically draining job and mentally draining dealing with the public. Most food service workers do not fall into the "waiter" category either. A majority of these jobs require you to be at least 18 and certified for safety. There are health and safety codes that you have to go by. You also don't realize that there is a salary cap on most of these positions that is extremely low. Most of these jobs you get capped out after a couple of years and no matter how hard you work, you are not able to make more money like in other industries.

 

[RogueX]

Depends on the job. I can do my job 100% from home already (even though pre-pandemic I did not). I have IBS. My job is 30 miles away in traffic. Not good if you've got cramps and getting-to-the-toilet issues. Also, who wants to go into a office where you need to be in a public bathroom every few hours having cramping diarrheah? It's embarrassing. But in between the time, I'm feeling okay. So at home, I don't have to worry about a commute and I have my own private bathroom to take care of matters.

Same with a bad cold or cough. I might feel well enough to sit up and work but staying home lets me cough and sneeze with abandon and I don't have to worry about annoying or infecting my cube mates.

I'm not quite in the same boat with my own medical issues, but I was actually put into full remote work well over a year before Covid hit. I have such bad migraines, I actually will lose part of my eyesight. Once I started having seizures, it was deemed that it would be best to keep me home. I can do my job, but this allows me to sign off early at the start of a migraine. Seizures are just unpredictable. Though my current boss said he can tell when I'm likely to have a migraine...apparently I sound like a cross between the Mad Hatter and Jack Sparrow.

 

[dez1978]

I have worked in the service industry for over 30 years. I can, with all confidence, tell you that the amount of money a person gets paid, in relation to cost of living, is nowhere near comparable to what it was 15+ years ago. And I can also tell you that one of the main reasons that people are sick of these jobs is the way that they are being treated. I even changed my job to doing online shopping at a store just so that I can avoid people as much as possible. I just can't take the harassment anymore. People have changed and not for the better. And PLEASE educate yourself. These jobs are not just "teenagers bringing your food". Foodservice is HARD. It does not take a degree, but I have known many with a college education that could not handle the job. It is a physically draining job and mentally draining dealing with the public. Most food service workers do not fall into the "waiter" category either. A majority of these jobs require you to be at least 18 and certified for safety. There are health and safety codes that you have to go by. You also don't realize that there is a salary cap on most of these positions that is extremely low. Most of these jobs you get capped out after a couple of years and no matter how hard you work, you are not able to make more money like in other industries.

Why on earth would you think I don't know what it's like to work in food service? I've done it in one form or another for 20 years. From a hot cook to a GM and lots in between. I know that not all jobs are teenagers and I never said they were. That was simply an example. I am well aware of all of the jobs within a restaurant. And you are right, the public is awful. I don't deny that at all. Here most staff do not need to be 18, unless you are serving alcohol, and they do not need any certification for health/safety things. Not even managers. I am not saying it is easy in any shape or form. BUT it is certainly safer and less physically and mentally draining than a job where you are in a housing unit alone with 75 inmates who are all serving 25+ years, who are calling you names you'd never even heard of, throwing urine and feces at you, wondering if you are going to get your head stomped in today and the only thing you have to defend yourself with is pepper spray. Food service jobs absolutely are hard, no doubt. SO yes, I do in fact realize about salary ranges, but every place I've ever worked has continued to give out raises as long as you meet the expectations of your job.

 

[Moliphino]

Potential employees are making that comparison so choices are pretty limited for the business owner. You either compete or deal with what you can get. A business may no longer be viable with recent increases in wages but that's life as a business owner. The only constant is change.

To be frank: I don't have much sympathy for low wage employers. Most of them treat their employees poorly (part time, constantly changing schedules, no benefits, etc) and have a business model that only works on below living wage labor. The world will be better off with a few less McDonald's.

EXACTLY! Employees shouldn't accept lower wages, bad/no benefits, or poor treatment just because you want to own a business.

 

[Lilsia]

Why on earth would you think I don't know what it's like to work in food service? I've done it in one form or another for 20 years. From a hot cook to a GM and lots in between. I know that not all jobs are teenagers and I never said they were. That was simply an example. I am well aware of all of the jobs within a restaurant. And you are right, the public is awful. I don't deny that at all. Here most staff do not need to be 18, unless you are serving alcohol, and they do not need any certification for health/safety things. Not even managers. I am not saying it is easy in any shape or form. BUT it is certainly safer and less physically and mentally draining than a job where you are in a housing unit alone with 75 inmates who are all serving 25+ years, who are calling you names you'd never even heard of, throwing urine and feces at you, wondering if you are going to get your head stomped in today and the only thing you have to defend yourself with is pepper spray. Food service jobs absolutely are hard, no doubt. SO yes, I do in fact realize about salary ranges, but every place I've ever worked has continued to give out raises as long as you meet the expectations of your job.

So your solution to prison guards being underpaid, is to have other "easier" jobs be paid even less? How about you fight for better pay for the guards so that EVERYONE can have a living wage? Your "argument" is a bit twisted.

 

[spiders]

Every now and then somebody tries to identify sick leave abuse but it never works out. I personally feel a person's sick leave is a person's sick leave and I don't really care how they use it. What I will also add is that I have seen a decent amount of people who like to abuse sick leave who then end up with some serious issues ranging from accidents to cancer. In all of those situations, I have zero sympathy when the "sick leave donation" requests come in. I don't save my leave just so I can give it away to an abuser later on.

As for the livable wage -- I've always felt that was a really poor argument. A livable wage can be a number of different things depending on personal circumstances but most of those have absolutely no bearing on what the job actually pays. Sure, cost of living definitely needs to be taken into account -- a locale where the average 1BR is $800 is certainly different than a place where the average 1BR is $1100. But just because you have 3 kids and the other person has 0 kids doesn't mean a thing when it comes to compensation. I remember too many kids in college saying they were "following their passion" and then chose majors that had abysmal job prospects. You can follow your passion all day long but your passion better support the minimum lifestyle you want or otherwise it better be your hobby.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Why on earth would you think I don't know what it's like to work in food service? I've done it in one form or another for 20 years. From a hot cook to a GM and lots in between. I know that not all jobs are teenagers and I never said they were. That was simply an example. I am well aware of all of the jobs within a restaurant. And you are right, the public is awful. I don't deny that at all. Here most staff do not need to be 18, unless you are serving alcohol, and they do not need any certification for health/safety things. Not even managers. I am not saying it is easy in any shape or form. BUT it is certainly safer and less physically and mentally draining than a job where you are in a housing unit alone with 75 inmates who are all serving 25+ years, who are calling you names you'd never even heard of, throwing urine and feces at you, wondering if you are going to get your head stomped in today and the only thing you have to defend yourself with is pepper spray. Food service jobs absolutely are hard, no doubt. SO yes, I do in fact realize about salary ranges, but every place I've ever worked has continued to give out raises as long as you meet the expectations of your job.

Who controls the salary of the corrections officers?

Typically speaking many people are talking about private businesses that set their own pay rate. The local detention center in my area is a county job and thus is controlled by the county. Then you've got federal facilities and state-owned facilities. But the sonic employee is normally under the franchisee's (which is the majority of the sonics) pay rate.

On the flip side I think arguments can be made all day long about this job and that job so it's not so much that my comments are hung up over the corrections officers just using your comments in relation to it.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

You’d have to pay me at least 100k a year to ever work in the food industry again. Did it as a teenager and humans are horrible. Hardest work I ever did and I was paid minimum wage. $5 an hour 20 years ago. Did it for two years. No wonder they can’t find employees. I was reading about the great resignation in the food and hospitality industry. I believe it was 4 million people in April alone resigned. No surprise. It’s not worth it.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

Don't worry, at this rate there will be far fewer restaurants of all kinds. Because the same people who scream about low wages are also the same people who will refuse to pay a dollar more for their meals to offset that wage, because apparently business owners who want to make any money at all are selfish, horrible people.

I have 5 McDonald's restaurants within 4 miles of my house. One of those closing would just move traffic to other locations.

Where we live, most places are paying $4-5 above minimum wage already, in an area where the Pew research says the livable wage for a single adult is $13.26/hr. So the $14-15 an hour to start in a casual or fast food place is not really low wage here.

That "livable wage" is assuming full time work. Good luck getting that from most low wage employers.

Not to mention the sign on bonuses and raises.

How many of these jobs give a pay increase that is more than a COL adjustment? A 2-3% raise is not moving you ahead, it's just keeping up with inflation.

Heck thats as much as corrections officers get paid here and they have a much harder, more dangerous job than the teenager bringing the food to your car at sonic. I know, because I've done both. And tipped employees.. I don't know any servers who would choose to get paid $15/hr with no tips over $3.00/hr with tips.

Sounds like your corrections officers are underpaid as well. A rising tide lifts all boats.

 

[dez1978]

I have 5 McDonald's restaurants within 4 miles of my house. One of those closing would just move traffic to other locations.

That "livable wage" is assuming full time work. Good luck getting that from most low wage employers.

How many of these jobs give a pay increase that is more than a COL adjustment? A 2-3% raise is not moving you ahead, it's just keeping up with inflation.

Sounds like your corrections officers are underpaid as well. A rising tide lifts all boats.

Oh I agree that they are underpaid for the work they do. But my point is is $15/hr is a GOOD wage in this part of the county. Sure, in areas like California it's not even close. But here, it's not bad. Also I would hate to live anywhere with enough people to need 5 McDonalds in any area. Heck our state capital isn't even big enough to have 5 in the whole town. I don't think a rising tide necessarily lifts all boats. Sure a boost in min wage would raise some. But as we've seen, as evidenced by the comments regarding getting full time positions, it will cost others. When the ACA came into play, how many places started hiring more part time employees instead of paying costly benefits for full time employees? So while some minimum wage workers will get a boost, other workers will be eliminated. How many businesses have already said they are raising the prices of their goods to cover the cost of increased wages? So while some may make more money, it may price goods to where others can no longer fit those in their budget, and others may not have a job at all.

So your solution to prison guards being underpaid, is to have other "easier" jobs be paid even less? How about you fight for better pay for the guards so that EVERYONE can have a living wage? Your "argument" is a bit twisted.

Maybe where you live thats not a good wage, but it is here. I don't disagree that corrections officers deserve more money. But then which part of the state budget gets cut? Who do we take that money from to pay 12,000 people more? Do we take it from the education budget? Maybe from medicaid? Health and Senior Services? Raise taxes? Likely what would happen is that in order to cover that raise, the state would lower the amount they pay towards employee benefits, so their insurance premiums go up. Thats what actually happens most years the state employees get a 2-3% raise. You get a raise and between the extra taxes and the next years insurance premium, you are lucky to get an extra $20/every 2 weeks. 2 years ago Corrections officers actually got the largest increase in state history. 4% and a 1% for every 2 years of service and then the 2% all state employees got. What is the point of taking that money away from another budget if it isn't going to make any difference to the people who are getting it?

Really I absolutely agree, people should get paid more money. But that money has to come from somewhere and to give to 1 person means it comes from someone else and most people aren't willing to vote for higher taxes to pay state employees more. Or willing to pay higher prices for a meal, or maybe those higher prices price people out of those goods. Our state voters have refused to allow casinos even tho those bring in a TON of money with the exception of river boats. The capital city voters keep rejecting a convention center and a river boat, both of which would create jobs and tourism $ for the economy. It's like everyone agrees that we need more mental health care facilities, or transitional housing for inmates to help them transition into society and be successful, but no one wants on in their back yard. Everyone knows it's an issue but people aren't willing to make the changes for it to happen.