Do you work with someone who is out sick freequently?

[Kteacher]

..............or is it just me I'm not talking about a major illness which would make missing work necessary, but every little cough ,sniffle, ache, or pain, to the point where it's at least once a week. ( of course, now I feel guilty for resenting being asked to "hold down the fort" so often )

 

[aprilgail2]

We havea point system at work...if you are out more than 5 times in any 12 month period you are written up and have to go to trial...first offense is a slap on the wrist...next is a week off no pay, next 2 weeks off, next 30 days off, then 60 then 90 then you are canned....I was written up once when I was pregnant and out during childbirth.

 

[believe]

aprilgail2....does that include 'real' sickness? I know right now many individuals who are out several days for the flu, which was confirmed as the flu...would you get written up for that?

We do have individuals like that at our work. It is easier here since we aren't given an actual amount of sick days, if you are sick then you are sick. The individuals in my actual work group aren't like that. The thing is if you are out then the work waits for you, you don't actually get out of anything....just feel more pressured when you return to get caught up.

 

[Princess Michelle]

There is a girl that I work with who is constantly out with some excuse. I think she has worked maybe 2 full weeks since she's been there. She always is either leaving early, coming in late or just not coming in at all. She does a good job when she is there and hers is not a job people are jumping through hoops to take which is the only reason she hasn't been fired. If someone is honestly, truly sick or in so much pain that it would not be benificial for them or anyone else that they come in to work then that is fine, but when someone is out that much you have to wonder if they are really sick or if they just don't want to work. She also has constant excuses like she overslept, or her car broke down. It does get very frustrating and puts a strain on everyone else in the office that has to do her job when she isn't there.

 

[Griggle]

I wish our PTO policy included "unexcused" or without a dr's note absences against a bank! Right now, the way our policy is written, your acceptable absence rate is up the to discretion of your supervisor. So, if you have a boss that doesn't care or somehow notice - whooooppppeee for you

I share an admin that is out at least once a month....drives me crazy. What drives me even more crazy is that she thinks that I don't see more often than not it's the first Wednesday of every month

When it was written into her performance review this year (finally), she was upset and said she didn't know if she could continue to work in such a "hostile atmosphere"....HUH???

BTW - we get 4 weeks vacation. Every year she takes 3 straight weeks in the summer w/o any grief. I think she's had a pretty good ride of it for a loooong time....It was hard not to outwardly LMAO @ the Hostile Atmosphere comment.....

 

[antnee]

I worked at a company once where this woman was out indefinitely. She had some made up illness. Turned out she had moved to Florida and took another job and was receiving 2 paychecks for almost 3 months. Needless to say the company viewed all future illnesses with a microscope after that.

AprilGail2 that point system seems a bit harsh and unfair

 

[Wish Upon A Star]

I do I do!!

I am sick and tired (no pun intended) of my co-worker who is constantly abusing her sick time.

We work at a high school for administrators and we are in the same office (there are only 2 of us) and when she is out, I have to take over her students problems, etc. It makes it very tough on me to have to do her work as well as mine.

She never gets written up and I don't know why. I sent an anonyomous letter to the Superintendent of Schools telling her to look into this person's abuse of time. In 2003 this co-worker was out 31 sick days, 20 vacation days 13 paid holidays and 3 personal days. We only get 18 1/2 sick days per year so most of her time off she went without pay. The BOE even allowed this abuser of time to take an advance of 5 vacation days during the holidays because she had no time off left, and she gave this big sob story about how she has nobody to watch her son.

So its a new year, right? Well we just got back to work 1/5/04 and she took 1/2 a sick day yesterday. She will receive only 15 vacation days on her anniversary date of February because she already borrowed the 5 days for December 2003. So I can only imagine how many days off she'll take this year without reprecussion.

 

[MeanLaureen]

I used to have the problem with employees calling in sick for little things like the sniffles but I kind of cured it unknowingly..lol Ever since I got sick and they see me coming in to work in a lot of pain they feel too bad to call out sick unless they are seriously sick - like the flu. Only good thing I got outta this whole thing as far as work is concerned..lol

 

[Chuck-PA]

I have a serious illness and have missed alot of time at work since my diagnosis two years ago.
I have many doctor's appointments during the year. I see many specialist's that only have day hours, so I have to leave work early and come in late.
My disability is not a visible one, so just looking at me you would not know that I am sickly.

My boss knows my situation, but I do not feel that I have to tell everyone in my office my business.

This could also be the case of some of your coworkers.

This is just my .02

 

[Poohbear123]

Yep, goes on ALL the time at my job, but If I did it, I would have been fired by now! I had a co-worker take off EVERY day after the Holiday this year,, and they had me "fill" in for her! After she said she needed New Years Day off, when I requested it off, I told them NOPE! And stood my ground....I got it off!

 

[DisneyObsessed]

Yes I do. She is always out with something or she always seems to "hurt herself" at work so that she needs to go home. And no one ever sees her actually get hurt. She has been written up and put on suspensions for this. Why they haven't fired her is beyond me. If I tried this, I would be out the door, I'm sure.

 

[scarlett873]

we have a guy here in our office who finds any reason at all to be off from work. his nose drips and suddenly he's too sick to be here. or he's late everyday...or he has some excuse NOT to be here at work...drives me INSANE...in the 2 years i've been here, i've NEVER called in sick. no matter how crummy i may feel, i still hike it in here to work 5 days a week AND i'm on time. there has been a total of 2 days that i actually went home maybe an hour early due to a horrific headache...and i don't even get to go home if i leave early. we only have one car and my hubby and i work less than 2 miles apart, but we live about 20 miles away...it would be silly for me to go all the way home only to turn around and come to get him! so i'd drive to his office and lay down in the car until he could leave.

hey...thanks for the chance to whine a bit about it! i feel better now...

 

[Lewski709]

This is a sensitive subject. I am a supervisor and while it is easy to cast judgement by looking at things on the outside, people don't know the behind the scene details and it really isn't their business.

My place, salaried employees, get 3 sick/personal days and 10 vacation days, unless you have been here for 10yrs and then you get 15 vacation days........whoopee. That isn't a whole lot!

People's kids get sick, they get sick, we are all overworked and underpaid. I miss more than 3 days sick/personal. When I do miss for some reason or another, I try to get in for 1/2 day, some in early, stay late or I make up time on lunches. Not because I HAVE to but because I feel guilty and I have work to do.

It is the supervisor and employee who work it out. If there is abuse, don't think it goes unnoticed. BUT.....don't pretend that you know everything about the situation either.

 

[TIGGERSMOM]

Yep - me.

I am out sick an average of 1 day a week and probably will be for the next year. My father is a cancer patient, he is 78 so is my mother so being the only child able to help, I do.

Can they touch me at work nope, I have filed for FMLA. I did get grief from one co-worker. Asked if she would like to trade spots and watch her father go from 185 lbs and very vibrant life of the party to 110 and bed ridden on oxygen, she never complained again. Another time asked just how long I intended to keep taking days, easy answer my family leave ends with bereavement leave.

Does this place a bit of a burden on co-workers, yep. All I can say is a I hope they never have to walk in my shoes but if they ever do they will have a volunteer to work for them anytime.

So not all sick "abusers" are happy about it. I do agree there are those who do abuse sick time but some of us frequent fliers (our term here) are legit and would love to work a full week.

 

[preshi]

Just happened today... co worker says he suffers from migraines but he wont do a darn thing about it. He's gone probably once every 2 weeks. It's starting to irritate me actually I have to do his job while he is gone and I have enough to deal with. Funniest part? Yesterday he said he wasn't going to come in because he was going to have a hangover (joking around) and here he is not here... very irritating!

 

[disykat]

Maybe your coworker has seen all the threads here upset when someone goes to work with a cough or a sniffle and is afraid to show up at work!

 

[aprilgail2]

Originally posted by believe
aprilgail2....does that include 'real' sickness? I know right now many individuals who are out several days for the flu, which was confirmed as the flu...would you get written up for that?

No, it goes by times, not days...you can be out 10 days in a row and that is just one time.... but if you took 2 days here and 5 days there and 3 days another time that is only 3 so that is fine...its once you go over 5 times that is trouble.
When my daughter was born she was born with dislocated hip so we spent a lot of time at the Dr and gettting ultrasounds of her hips and they were only tehre from 9-3 Tue, Wed and Thurs so I had to take off work to take her there ( I am a single parent) so I filed for Family Leave and then I cold take off the days I needed to and not get penalized for it at all....on the other hand we do get 12 paid sick days a year, 5 personal days and 5 weeks vacation...so you can always use a personal day here or there if you go over your 5 times and you are sick....

 

[KatelynnsAuntie]

There are a few threads that I just HAVE to post on. This is one of them.

Yes, I definately work with someone like that. She uses her sick time as fast as she earns it. We both started working here at the same time - just three weeks apart. I have about 200 hours of sick time saved. She has about 6.

She is definately one of those who calls in for every little sniffle, stubbed toe, bump or bruise. But it's also things like, "my sons started college today and I'm having a breakdown so I won't be in." Mind you, her sons both live at home and go to a junior college in town. Drives us CRAZY. It's always usually on a Friday or Monday when she is "sick" (yes, including yesterday!), or she'll go home after being at work for an hour. She is one of those attention seekers though and that is a BIG part of it. There is a long running joke in the office that she hasn't worked a full 40 hour week since the first week she was here.

It is very frustrating. We work for attorneys so when she's out, we all have to cover her attorneys as well as our own (I alone already work for 5). No one ever says anything to her about it. EVERYONE knows it's a problem, including all the higher ups, but no one does anything about it.

 

[Kteacher]

just had to reply because she called to let me know she won't be in tomorrow either, and isn't sure about the rest of the week. This is the situation- I am the aide in her classroom. She often leaves no lesson plans when she is out, so I have to scramble to come up with something. She has already missed a third of this year due to illness, workshops, and personal days. I'm not making any where near what she is making, but I'm running the class a lot of the time, and I get no extra pay for coming up with lesson plans, or coming in early and staying late to set up the classroom. I know this woman quite well, and know why she is out, so it is not because of a catastrophic illness. If she has the sniffles, she will be out. If she has a headache, she will be out. She does not have kids, so she's not out due to family illness. I know her husband and other family members, and they are healthy. When she called to tell me she wouldn't be in she didn't offer any suggestions for lesson plans for the week (looks like it will be a lot of long days for me this week ) To top it off , I have parents making comments to me about her absences- it is very awkward. Sorry for the long vent