Mental Health Days?

[disney junky]

Justified use for a sick day?

 

[GeorgeG]

I voted no, but only because most always someone taking a "mental health" day is perfectly healthy. Also, I've seen enough people use that excuse to the extent they basically turned it into an extra week or two of vacation they did not earn. I just believe in honesty.

 

[laurie31]

Hmmm...I couldn't really vote yes or no without more details.

On the one hand, sometimes you just get so stressed at work that you need a day off, and you come back refreshed and everyone benefits. In fact, we are strongly encouraged to take all our time off for this very reason.

On the other hand, I believe such days should be planned, so there is time to cover your absence. If you call in "sick" that morning, then you can leave your co-workers in a bind. But if you have a job where you can be gone a day and no one else is going to have to bust their tail to cover your position (you will just have the work waiting when you get back) then it's not that big a deal.

So yes, I think it's a valid use of your time off, but I don't think it should be done in a way that makes more work for others.

 

[Mom2Nick]

No. If you want a day off schedule a vacation day.

 

[TimothyQMouse]

It really depends on company policy, but I voted no because most company policies on sick leave require that you actually be sick. Vacation is for regaining mental health.

An increasing number of companies appear to be dealing with the issue by having "paid time off" instead of sick and vacation days. They combine the two, usually drop the number a bit, and then let the employees use it however they see fit.

 

[Darsa]

My boss, who is out "sick" a LOT, is out sick today and isn't sure about tomorrow... which are reported to be the two best days of the year so far, weather-wise.

So unfortunately I get the crap end of the "mental health days" thing... tho all these days she's taken don't seem to be helping...

Our company has sick time, vacation time, and personal time; two days, plus an additional day on (or after) your birthday. We accrue enough time here that we really shouldn't have to take sick time as time off unless we're sick.

Although, I *DO* believe that in some positions, a mental health day now and then is important; NOT taking them would probably result in a lot MORE missed time when you're committed!

 

[BCDisneyFanatic]

when I was teaching, I very rarely (once or twice a year) took a mental health day. We couldn't book off for vacation, and sometimes the workload and minor illnesses caught up with me. I would make sure that I called for a sub early enough the day before so that I was covered, and I planned lessons that required minimal instruction/supervision. I would spend the day at home marking, lesson planning, and taking a nap. I think it really helped me be a better (and more prepared) teacher the rest of the year.

On the other hand, I know some teachers in my school who booked a mental health day at least once a month...that seemed a little much to me - if you can't handle the regular work schedule, then it might be time to find a new line of employment or to take some stress leave.

 

[Rora]

As a teacher, I am a firm believer in mental health days for both me AND my students.

 

[kingcrab]

with the economy, and job market as it is I dont think it is smart to take a mental health day.

With that said, back when the market was better, and had a different job I took them, and thought it was ok. At my current job unscheduled days off of work are frowned upon, and not worth the consequences.

I have not taken an unsecheduled day off, a sick day, or a personal day off since October of 2006, when I took a couple days off when my daughter was born.

 

[shellybaxter]

Mental Illness is just that - an illness. Many times when people are dealing with depression or other mental illnesses they can not cope with daily life. This is a legitimate use of "mental health" days as sick days. Just calling in because you want a day off and calling it a "mental health"day is not.

 

[HsvTeacher]

I voted yes. As a teacher, we don't get vacation days. We get paid for the actual number of days we work. However, we do get one sick day per month we are in school.

My principal encourages us to use sick days as mental health days when we really need a break. Most of us rarely use them, though. I'm using two mental health days next week, because we're going to WDW. Tomorrow was supposed to be our last day, but we have two make-up days for the swine flu hysteria. My principal told me to GO!

 

[Chicago526]

I voted "yes" but I have a qualification. If you are so stressed out, mentaly exhausted, etc. that taking a day off if essential to your overall health and sanity, and you come back rested and ready to go, then I feel it's a justified use of a day. My boss, her boss, and the higher ups in my company all would agree, and they give us generous sick and vacation time so we can do that as needed. I've only had one co-worker take advantage of it, and she was later fired (and taking off too much time after she had exhausted her PTO was one of the reasons). I'd say just about everyone at my company uses their PTO in a responsible way.

 

[gymboqueenkaylee]

I'm a firm believer too in mental health days. In fact, I took one two weeks ago...HEHEHE!! All of our sick/vacation time comes out of the same "bank" so it doesn't matter where it really comes from in terms of sick or vacation, it's just time off.

 

[mickeyboat]

If all personal time comes out of the same pool, then I think it's fine - call it a personal day. But if sick days and vacation / personal days are separate (as they are where I work), I don't think it is right to call it a sick day - especially if you are using it to take a vacation.

 

[disney1990]

I absolutely believe in "mental health" days. People in this country do not take their mental health serious enough. It's not just an excuse; it is a sometimes needed relief from the stress of work and life.

 

[chesterpdt186]

I belive in metal heath days but, they can be detramental to buisness

My wife took one the other week so her and i could go to the park and get away together for a bit. she is a teacher and has like 15 days saved up.

So if you are not an abuser , and hard worker, taking a day a quarter can be better not just for you but the buisness to if you come back with your heart in the job.

 

[SeaSpray]

I didn't vote, but my manager basically TOLD me, on Tuesday, to take Wednesday and Thursday off (hence why I'm on the DIS right now. lol). She "left it up to me" of course, because legally she could not TELL me to take off 2 days (unpaid, because we get a whopping 3 sick days which I needed to use last fall when my DS was in the hospital. My calendar year runs July-July, which is why I don't have any new vacation days this year yet).

Anyway... in the end, I'm glad she TOLD me to take these 2 days off. I had a family emergency come up last weekend, which is still ongoing. It's been nice to do what I've had to do yesterday, and later today, without the stress of running back and forth to work.

It actually left a LOT of work for her and my co-worker, but she felt that the "distraction" of me having to come in late yesterday, and leave early today, was worse than me being there for a few hours each day.

By the way, I'm a part-time employee. I'm only obligated to work 30 hours per week, 9am - 3:30pm. However, since I was moved to the Accounting Department 21 months ago (a promotion, by the way), I've averaged 35 hours per week, mainly to make sure that the work gets done in the department.

The company has drastically down-sized in the last year. Once upon a time there were 5 full-timers doing the same work that now 2 full-timers (the manager and my co-worker), plus me, do.

I'm tempted to take off tomorrow too, but then I wouldn't get the paid holiday for Monday. Not sure what to do

I'm going to vote afterall... I'm going to vote "yes" because if you really do have a situation where having the day(s) off would benefit you (emotionally, logistically, physically, etc), then I feel it's a legitimate sick day.

If someone just wants to go to the beach for the day, rather than work, then I'd vote "no".

 

[luvmy3jewels]

I voted yes because it was asking if you would take a mental health day as a sick day. In my mind this is totally different than using sick leave for a vacation. There have been a couple of times in my career that I have been so stressed out mentally that it began to affect my physical health. In those cases I took a sick day and stayed at home (usually in bed) because I felt my body needed some down time to recover. I have to deal with the public and have found that when I get extremely stressed out, it affects my job performance and my ability to deal with people and difficult situations. (By the way, as a supervisor, I would much rather have an employee take a mental health day when they really need it than deal with the fall out of someone coming in stressed out and taking it out on everyone around them).

I really try to avoid getting to that point where I need to take a mental health day. In my current job, I usually feel the stress gradually building up and at that point take a couple of vacation days to unwind and re-charge myself.

 

[OK!]

I vote yes, only because sometimes the stress can get to be so overwhelming that actually being at work can be counterproductive. One of my former coworkers used to refer to taking leave for mental health as "going out on 'nutty," e.g. "I've got to go out on nutty soon or I'm going to strangle Cindy the next time she cracks her gum."

 

[legalsea]

If, at any of my prior jobs, I told my boss that I needed to take a mental health day off in order to ease the mental stress of working, said boss would have relieved me of all work-related stress by firing my butt.

Nevertheless, I vote 'yes'. I can certainly imagine several occupations (air traffic controller, for one) that would justify such days.

However, as I said, when I was a stocker for K-Mart I doubt that would have gone down well.