H1N1 and how much Sick Leave do you get at work.

[disney1990]

According to the news story below, studies show that a person needs to stay home for a week or more after symptoms of H1N1, instead of when their fever is gone. Lots of people that I know, have 5 days or less of sick leave where they work. I can see, people returning to work before they should because they "need" the money or they are afraid that they are going to lose their job.

One more thing, if you don't enough sick leave, what will you do if you get H1N1?


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32845926/ns/health-swine_flu/

SAN FRANCISCO - New studies show that many people spread swine flu for a week or more after symptoms first appear, and doctors say coughing may be a better sign than fever for telling who is contagious.

 

[golfgal]

I work for myself so I get however many sick days I need. I know in MN the governement has asked employers to ease sick day regulations so people don't go to work sick. It is in the best interest of companies to do that so most of them probably will. Hopefully other states follow suit.

 

[disney1990]

After these comments and the ones that you made about health insurance coverage in MN, I might have to pick up and move from Maryland to MN (not really).

I am out of work and recently interviewed at a well established company -- over 45 years in business. The benefits that they offered, a total of 10 days of leave a year (including vacation, sick and personal). I didn't get the job. But, I can only imagine how many of those employees are going to be going to work sick.

I know that CDC has also been encourage businesses to ease up on employees that are sick, but lots of companies, I am sure, won't be doing that, at least not at the beginning -- maybe after the flu starts spreading like wildfire at their companies.

I can say that, at the college where my daughter goes, many of the professors have already told the students to NOT come to class sick -- even the professors that are known to be hard on students that miss class.

 

[aprilgail2]

We get 12 days a year but they accumulate year to year so most people where I work have 50+ days in their banks- those are full pay days. After I use those then you go to these 60 percent pay days we have and I get 72 of them a year -I have only used a few of them once in the 25 years I have been there, they are for long term sickness after you use all your sick days, vacation days, personal days and birthday day. So if you run out of sick days you have to use all your other time before the 60 percent days kick in.
We don't like to use all of our sick time because when you retire they buy half of what you have back from you so you can get a lump payment of 12,000+ when you retire.

 

[shellybaxter]

I voted for 20 plus - because right now I've "saved up" over 5 and a half weeks of sick leave. We actually get 12 days per years and then their is more for big issues (both paid and unpaid)

 

[Shutterbug]

sadly I know alot of employees where I work who use their personal days and sick days to have fun. Then when they are really sick they come to work cause if they dont they will get written up or fired.
Those are union employees though.

I myself am not union so I dont get paid days off but if I need to be off for an extended period I believe I could file under the family medical leave act....although am not sure.

 

[C.Ann]

DD's DH gets no sick time at all.. He is the sole project estimator for a multi-million dollar commercial construction firm and if he doesn't work (estimate the projects and win the bids), 100+ other people won't be able to work.. There is no possible way that he could be out of work for more than a day or two - especially at this time of year.. Winning winter bids to have enough work for the firm to last until spring is crucial..

If he gets this flu, I really don't know how he and his employer will be able to handle it.. The one thing that I know for sure is that he won't be able to stay home from work for a week or more.. He also has a very, very severe phobia when it comes to needles (not just your normal "fear"), so I think it's highly unlikely that he will go for the vaccination..

 

[FireDancer]

We are on a PTO system so all of our PTO days can be sick or vacation days. I currently have about 65 (it is based on hours, not days). I am not all that worried about the H1N1 flu, I have a pretty darn good immune system and still believe it to be mostly hype.

 

[aprilgail2]

The one thing that I know for sure is that he won't be able to stay home from work for a week or more..

Thats bunk. If he was sick and in the hospital he would be able to stay home for a week or more, he would have no choice. And for him to have an illness like the swine flu and go into work without staying home the proper time would be totally irresponsible of him.

 

[goofy!]

According to the news story below, studies show that a person needs to stay home for a week or more after symptoms of H1N1, instead of when their fever is gone. Lots of people that I know, have 5 days or less of sick leave where they work. I can see, people returning to work before they should because they "need" the money or they are afraid that they are going to lose their job.

One more thing, if you don't enough sick leave, what will you do if you get H1N1?


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32845926/ns/health-swine_flu/

SAN FRANCISCO - New studies show that many people spread swine flu for a week or more after symptoms first appear, and doctors say coughing may be a better sign than fever for telling who is contagious.

My son just tested positive about an hour ago for H1N1. The doc told him he only needed to stay off campus for 3-5 days.

 

[DebbieB]

I work for an insurance company and that's a hard question to answer. We don't really have "sick days". We have PTO, which covers sick days and vacation days. I have 30 days because I've been with the company over 25 years. If you are out more than 5 days with an illness, short term disability starts, then after 13 weeks it goes into long term disability. So you are charged with 5 PTO before it goes to short term disability. Because of that, people drag themselves in sick and spread it all around, they don't want to use PTO. We got a memo today that said if you are exhibiting flu symptoms, you will be sent home. It will be interesting to see how that works out. People will deny they are really sick. We have one person who at least once each winter comes in sick as a dog. Ironically, she has the maximum PTO (min is 20, max is 30 depending on years of service, plus you can buy 5).

 

[C.Ann]

Thats bunk. If he was sick and in the hospital he would be able to stay home for a week or more, he would have no choice. And for him to have an illness like the swine flu and go into work without staying home the proper time would be totally irresponsible of him.

It would not be his "choice".. It would be his employers choice.. There are only 3 other employees in the office - the president of the company himself (the "boss"); his wife; and the vice president.. All of the other employees (the crews) are scattered around the state on various work sites.. If the president of the company chooses to demand he be there and expose himself, his wife, and the VP to the flu, then I would say that's his problem.. Perhaps the "boss" should re-think his policy in the weeks ahead..

Unfortunately not everyone works where there are numerous employees that can cover for them or in situations where they have the luxury of just not going to work..

 

[Stacerita]

I have PTO with is sick/vaction/personal days all in one. Currently I have about 6 weeks worth saved up.

 

[horseshowmom]

I'm at home now with H1N1. I had 104 temp last Thursday. Now it's down to around a 100 (comes and goes). I still have a terrible cough. My doctor told me not to go back to work until Monday, the 21st.

I have lots of sick days saved up, but I would have stayed home regardless. I work in a school (librarian), so I see every child in the school at least once a week. The week leading up to my getting sick, I watched class after class of kids come in coughing and sneezing (from one third to half the class in each case). One child informed me that his cousin has swine flu (as he couged and sneezed ). I kept my hands washed with soap or Purell and tried to be very careful, but I still got sick.

We've done all kinds of activities with the kids to try to teach them about covering their mouths/noses when coughing/sneezing and washing their hands, but what we really need is for parents to stop sending kids to school who are sick. I know that in many cases it is hard for them to miss work, and I do have sympathy for them, but sick kids don't need to be at school where they can spread whatever they have to others.

 

[Nancy]

I work in health insurance, we have PTO days which are used as sick days. It adds up to about 18 days a year. After a week it is short term disability..but that is really really minimum pay. We have been told if we have "flu like" symptoms to say home. Plus they are disinfecting all over the place which is driving my allergies crazy.

 

[Piecey]

I'm answering for the company I'm still technically employed for (but not going back once maternity leave termination is done)

Anyway, I got 6 sick days. 10 vacation days. 2 personal days. 2 "floating" days... if I worked a holiday, I got any other day off.

 

[3boymthr]

I'm going to follow this thread with interest as right now we have six or seven clients debating how to handle this very issue as relates to h1n1. A few are thinking of adding STD which would kick in as soon as the sick time is over. A few are thinking of temporarily extending sick time for this illness only.

I personally only get 5 days and I already used that many days and more (I ruptured my eardrum due to a virulent infection and got a really bad bout of bronchitis) but my boss is a real germophobe (if someone even touches something that's his even a pencil he'll throw it away) so if I get this he's not going to want me coming in to work. Of course, I have a laptop and the capability of working at least part of my scheduled hours from home (can't print or access the network, but can send e-mail, etc.). If this disease ramps up to the levels they say I think this is an option a lot of employers that have laptops in their offices are going to be exploring.

 

[Feralpeg]

This is going to be a major problem. Even if folks have enough sick leave to cover their personal illness, they probably won't have enough to cover their kids being sick as well. I think we will see a lot of people at work when they are sick because they don't have enough sick leave to cover their needs.

I'm lucky in that I am retired. I do know that if it turns out that this flu is really wide spread, I'll be staying away from WDW property. It is not the guests that I am worried about. I'm worried about the sick CMs.

Part time CMS, which is the majority of the CMs at Disney, do not get sick days. If they call in sick, they get a point. If they do not return to work after three days (I believe that is the correct number), they must have a doctor's note or they get additional points. If they get too many points, they can loose their job. Since many don't have insurance, I doubt that many will want to spend the money to go to a doctor. I believe that a lot of them will go to work ill. Not a good thing.

 

[disney1990]

This is going to be a major problem. Even if folks have enough sick leave to cover their personal illness, they probably won't have enough to cover their kids being sick as well. I think we will see a lot of people at work when they are sick because they don't have enough sick leave to cover their needs.

I'm lucky in that I am retired. I do know that if it turns out that this flu is really wide spread, I'll be staying away from WDW property. It is not the guests that I am worried about. I'm worried about the sick CMs.

Part time CMS, which is the majority of the CMs at Disney, do not get sick days. If they call in sick, they get a point. If they do not return to work after three days (I believe that is the correct number), they must have a doctor's note or they get additional points. If they get too many points, they can lose their job. Since many don't have insurance, I doubt that many will want to spend the money to go to a doctor. I believe that a lot of them will go to work ill. Not a good thing.

Yes, I have seen far too many CMs working sick over the years. Let's hope that Disney also steps up and decides that it is best for all if these people stay home while sick.

 

[Darcy03231]

I didn't vote because mine is "other". I work in a small office any my employer's policy is unlimited sick time, unless it becomes an issue. Most employees here are either not out sick at all during the year or only a couple of days. We had one long time employee who got very sick and was in the hospital for a week in addition to being home for two weeks. He paid her the whole time she was out.