Calling in "sick"...

[Tinker'n'Fun]

I voted other, and honestly I voted for DH. I am disabled, so I don't have to call in anymore. DH would NEVER call in if he had his way for himself, but wouldn't blink an eye to stay home to take care of me or the kids. I try to not let that happen often, he really likes his no call in record.

 

[Sarah_Rose]

I did, once! I was teaching at a school in England and they had a development day near the end of the school year to plan the next year - I was going back to Canada at the end of my contract, so there was no point in me being there. This happened to fall on the same day as the big Canada Day celebrations in London...

So DH took the day off (unpaid) and I called in sick and we took the train to London and spent a beautiful sunny day in Trafalgar Square drinking Moosehead beer and listening to Canadian bands perform. It was one of the best days I had while living in England.

But that's it. Other than that I save my sick days for when I'm sick.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

We have multi-purpose PTO days where I work. I get 6 weeks a year. I've never used one for a mental health day. They are generally saved for vacations or used for things like school functions (field trips, plays, etc).

In the past, I've worked for companies with sick time. I never called in sick when I wasn't. If I had felt the need, I would have used a vacation day. Fortunately, I've had good jobs for virtually my entire career and never felt the need for a mental health day.

I worked at one company that had unlimited sick days. If you were sick, you stayed home. There was no pre-defined limit. You could even call in sick while you were on vacation and not lose your vacation time.

Personally, I like the PTO method. There is much less grousing by childless people about people using sick time for sick kids. There is much less grousing about people who take mental health days or have a very low threshold for what is sick. It also makes it easier for me to stay home when I'm sick because I'm not stuck trying to judge whether I'm really sick enough to justify a sick day.

 

[Owlpost23]

Only if I'm really sick.Otherwise,you screw up everyone else's day because they have to cover your absence.

 

[brasswillow]

With my jobs it is too much hassle to take an unscheduled day off. There is either a lot of prep that goes into taking a day off or too much catch up afterwards to make it worth while to call in when I'm really not sick.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I work per diem, so when I want a day off (for whatever reason) I just don't look on the sub system. - Of course, that also means I don't get paid, so it's a trade-off.

 

[Dolce27]

I was in that situation too but my company lets us cash unused PTO out which is nice. Of all the places I've worked my current job is the most liberal with PTO and with their time off policies and by far it's the place where people abuse it the least. Being less restrictive with time off is a win-win for the employee and employer IMO.

My company used to be like that but they changed the rules last year.

 

[angelmav]

Yeah from time to time. I just wish we could cash in unused sick days. They figure them as part of our compensation but you lose them if you dont take them and they dont roll over. Seems kind of pointless to let the paid time go to waste, but its something where every company handles it differently that probably makes the difference.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

leave is leave. who cares why you take it if you have the days to take?

Ditto.

DH gets "PTO" hours (paid time off). He accrues 10 hours a month to use whenever/however (for a total of 15 days off a year). His boss used to differentiate between sick and personal leave, but decided it was a hassle and that he really didn't care why they were gone anyway.

I am a teacher and I get 10 substitute days a year. Again, no one really cares why I'm gone so I use them when I need them. Sometimes I'm sick, sometimes my kids are, sometimes I have personal business to attend and sometimes I just need a day off.

I am not at all one of those people who likes to compare the US to Europe, but we Americans really are slaves to our jobs sometimes. Not only do we get much less time off than many other comparable developed nations, but we then feel guilty for taking the time we're given.

 

[ChrizJen]

I picked "other" because I could vote the first two. Only when I'm really sick, or when I have a sick child.

Well, our sick policy includes asick child or immedate family member that needs care as a valid use for a sick day. Other than that I would not call in if I wasn't truly sick.

Yeah I thought about that after I posted the poll. I forgot that some companies will allow you to take sick time for a sick child. Our company's policy is that you only take sick time when you are sick. Use of sick time is not allowed for a sick child. Most of the departments are descretionary with it, and will allow it anyway, but it's the one beef I have with the policy in our company.

 

[MiniGirl]

I'm not working outside the home now. When I did though, I would not call in sick if I wasn't. With a couple of jobs, it just wasn't necessary. If I couldn't come in for whatever reason, I would just call and let them know. Of course, it was all unpaid. The only job where I had paid sick leave was very strict. Abuse of sick time got so bad among employees that they started requiring that you either bring in a note from your personal physician (just stating that you had been in, not why you were there) or you had to go in and see the company doctor. Talk about a PITB, so no. I did not call in if I wasn't sick.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

Yeah from time to time. I just wish we could cash in unused sick days. They figure them as part of our compensation but you lose them if you dont take them and they dont roll over. Seems kind of pointless to let the paid time go to waste, but its something where every company handles it differently that probably makes the difference.

Generally, only union jobs allow employees to "cash in" unused sick days, and with good reason. People should be encouraged to stay home when they are sick. They are much less productive, and they are often contagious. To keep a company "healthy", we have learned that it is best to have sick days (or other personal days) that are used or lost.

 

[lyncecelia]

I get sick so often, I don't dare use up sick time for any other reason. I feel bad calling in now as it is. I'm actually avoiding calling in today even though I'm extremely dizzy because I called in the other day....LOL

 

[tlbwriter]

leave is leave. who cares why you take it if you have the days to take?

My employer cares. We have separate vacation time and sick leave. Sick leave can be used for doctor appointments and a certain percentage of it can be used for taking care of sick children or other family members. If I left my job today, I'd be paid for my unused vacation time, so in my situation, where vacation time = money, it would be dishonest and unethical to call in "sick" when I'm really taking a vacation day.

 

[TnTsParty]

We don't have our time off broken up between sick days, vacation days, personal days, ect. We have PTO and all of those pull from the same pool. I've never called in sick when I wasn't, at least not post college, but I've called in the morning and told my boss I'm going to just take a personal day that day.

If you just need a mental health day or a day off for your sick kid tell them that, no need to lie. As long as you had the time here no one would care, just don't lie. There is no excuse for that.

That's the same way it is where I work - except its called ETO (Earned Time Off) it all comes out of the same pool of days. Everyone needs a mental health day now and then or else we would end up crazy - but like Frank said as long as you are honest and have the time it usually is not problem.

 

[acourtwdw]

I used my sick days to take a 7 night Disney Cruise. My boss was fine with it. God, I miss working for that company.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

leave is leave. who cares why you take it if you have the days to take?

I think that the logic is something like this. No one knows how many sick days they will need in a year. If we estimate that average number of sick days used in a year and give out that, half the people will need more days off and will have to substitute vacation for sick days or worse, take off time without pay. If we estimate on the high side, we'll get significantly lower productivity because people will work many fewer days. One strategy for dealing with that is to offer a relatively large number of sick days (2 weeks is common) with the stipulation that people can only use the days when they are sick. Most people will use far fewer than they are allotted, so more sick days can be granted.

When we converted from sick days to PTO days, we got fewer PTO days than sick days. The company new that people were much more likely to take all of their PTO days than sick days. For people that took a lot of sick days, it was a bad deal. For those of us that rarely took any sick days, it was a great deal.

 

[tvguy]

Big issue at my place now is people not taking all their vacation time. We can carry some over, half what you earn each year, but now they are mad at folks because they want us to take at least half hour vacation before June 30 each year. Problem is, a number of folks that halve more than half of their vacation still unused DID try to talk half their vacation before June 30, and they have the rejected vacation requests to prove it.
You can't make a requirement if you won't allow your employees to comply with it.

 

[RockAndRollBallerina]

There are no sick days when you are on the road touring. The show must go on.

 

[m&m's mom]

I have been at my company for 20 years and only "called in sick" 2 days the entire time so no, I don't use mental health days.
We were raised w/ a very strong work ethic and none of my siblings use sick days either.
I get paid to work- not be home sick. I am very healthy and so are my kids. They have never missed a day of school due to illness. The joke in our neighborhood is my whole family could drink a gallon of H1N1 and we STILL would not get it.