Do you use your sick days?

[Whitmore]

I am home today with my sick daughter trying to comfort her and keeping fluids down. This is the 3rd sick day I have used in 21 years of service, Managment has never said anything of how good attendence is and has never recognised or rewarded this issue. Do you think they look at sick days like vacation days and expect folks to use them ??? I ask this because I have historicaly lost or turned back all my hours of sick every year and I am starting to think it is my loss, kinda like as if I earned them and did'nt use them. I am very healthy and will take them if sick but am wondering if I should develope the bug a little more often Opinions wanted... ... ... ... ... Kevin

 

[me4osu]

I have take about three in 13 years. I once worked for a company that let you carry your sick days over. One guy with 15 years had to have knee surgery and spent his recovery on full sick time. He had 67 days saved up.

 

[RHARVEY]

This is no joke. . my boss has over 1800 hours on the books. I have seen him near death and he will come to work...



Rick

 

[RustyJC]

Nope, sick days are sick days. Vacation days are vacation days. If I use a sick day as a vacation day, I'm being dishonest with my employer and myself. If I'm really sick, I'll use a sick day - I guess I've used probably 5-10 in 28 years with my current employer.



Edit - Whitmore, just to clarify, our sick days are to be used in case of personal or immediate family illness, so your use of sick days to care for your child is absolutely legitimate as far as I'm concerned (not that what I think matters. )



Rusty

 

[Dkevdog]

I never let my sick days expire. I use them. Am I sick when I use them? Some of the time yes, some of the time no. Is is dishonest? Maybe, but I have also never called in sick on days in where my absence would be a detriment to production. I once worked at a company though that gave you a certain number of days per year depending on seniority. They said that way you can use your time of for any reason and keeps people from calling in sick when they aren't. I though it to be a pretty good idea!



Kev

 

[ZEEEW]

Last job I had paid money each quarter you had perfect attendance. If you went two in a row, you got paid the second quarter for that quarter, and the first, so each quarter you got more money. only 75 bucks but 750 total, better than nothing. But they moved back vacation after I already had it scheduled and "forgot" I was already approved, so it put me in the hole 1 week. After they screwed me out of my week of vacation, not to mention my last quarter 300 check, all of a sudden I was out of all my saved up sick time. Then I quit. Course there is more to it than that, but that was the last straw.

I never saw myself doing that to an employer, ever.

Job before that I called in sick once in 12 years.

Current job gives you a paid day off if you save up your sick time to 100 hours.

Personally I think if they are going to take it away from you, use it.



Eric

 

[Fireman Dave]

I agree with Rusty.

The way I see it, sick days are a benefit, not a right. I think if you need them - including to care for a sick family member - then you use them. It's a nice way for employers to cut you slack for things out of your control that keep you away from work. To use them just because you get them is taking advantage, in my opinion. I get 10 per year - to accumulate to a max. of 100. I don't get anything for them if I don't use them. But I figure if I don't need them, that's a blessing that I - or my family - haven't been sick. I don't feel ripped off if I don't use them. Vacation is vacation. Just my . 02 cents.

 

[CJ Johansson]

Sick Days?

At my company they ditched sick days about 12 or 14 years ago. They removed the 12 sick days and replaced them with 5 vacation days!!! Now if we're sick, we get to use up our vacation time, of course, if we're not, we have those extra days available for vacation.



I'm still not sure how, exactly, they figured that 5 = 12, even if you can use 'em however you want



-cj

 

[chuck3]

Sick Days.

Rick, I got a boss like that too, comes in sick sits in his office and spends just enough time with us to give us his bug.

Kevin, I have allways saved up sick leave in case something happen that I would need it, but I've seen too many guys I've worked with retire and get 10 cents on the dollar for what they had left, so I have decided to use a little more every year so that when I retire there will be very little left. Dishonest, I don't think so, there have been times they wanted me to work when I didn't feel well and I did it so as not to put them in a bind.

 

[Doc Tinker]

I had over 70 sick days banked when I was removed from my old job and placed in the new one. They took those days away and then gave me 180 per year, that can't be banked. Didn't bother me one bit



What did bother me, was when they said I was going to lose the 36 vacation days I had saved up. I won that argument though, and I'll be using 15 of them in Florida next month



Doc

 

[DonS]

Vacation vs. sick time...



Where I work, they're combined and called "PTO" (paid time off). We get between 4 and 6 weeks per year depending on length of employment, and we can accrue up to 7 weeks.



In California, this policy has a little bonus for the employee: if the employer doesn't distinguish between "sick leave" and "vacation", then the State treats it all as vacation. CA also treats vacation time as "deferred wages" - something you've earned that can't be taken away. So, when you leave your job (it doesn't matter if you quit or were fired), the employer must pay you for your vested vacation time at your final pay rate (Cal Labor Code 227. 3).



There used to be something in the Cal Constitution regarding public employees - they couldn't be paid later for services provided in the past. This had some implications for accrued overtime, but I don't know if it affected vacation time.

 

[Champane Flight]

Benefit

We have what they call UAB (Unavoidable Absence Benefits). It is one of the best sick plans I have ever seen. It annually renews and starts after 90 days of service. You start with four weeks"Full Pay". It then goes up with years of service. At ten years of service you are at 18 weeks of sick pay!Right now with my 16 years I am eligible for 23 weeks!I never use it unless I am close to death. We don't get paid for it if we don't use it. This benefit saved my bacon five years ago when I needed it. I do not wish to ever abuse it. Oh by the way after you delete the full pay,it goes to half pay for another 18 weeks!

 

[Mark_Kendrick]

My current company uses Paid Time Off. I get 20 days a year. Sick , vacation. . However I wanna use it. and If I get over 200 hrs saved up I quiit accruing, so I use it

 

[Kimrey]

Right or wrong is up to you. At my firestation we can use them for what we want. But if you use more than 6 in a year you can't get an excellent on your PA. On the up side, we can accumalate all you want. In other words if I put in 25 years and have say 400 sick days, then we get payed for 200 days. Nice check! We get about 1 day per month. I use an average of 3 days a year. I have a child as well, I know what you mean. Take care!

 

[BigDaddy]

My company pay's our 5 sick days, 1 birthday holiday, and vacation time up front. It is up to you, if you use the time or not.



The time is there if I need it and the money is already in my pocket

 

[The patriot]

I dont get any sick days, per say. The company has been paying them, but we dont carry any on record.

I think I was sick 3-4 days last year.

Eric

 

['956Wheel]

sick, you bet!

I had seen my Dad put 38 years in, same company, as a mechanical engineer and NEVER took off a sick day. The company "laid off" the old timers to hire college kids at less than 1/2 the pay , and tried to screw the old timers out of the investments they held in the company. The result was a BIG court battle that was won just a few months before Dad passed away. Loyalty is a good thing, however beware of the big fat CEO's and such.



I have always had near perfect attendance, upon getting hurt at work, resulting in a back surgery, and then treated like crap upon return to work has changed my way of thinking, ie, if I am not feeling up to work I do not go there. do not get me wrong, the last time I took time off was last April... if that is not good enough Phuck um!



In closing, I feel loyal employers are a thing of the past... for the most part. IMO.



Mike

 

[C Schomer]

I usually take 1-2 days/year for mental health when the politics get to deep. I'm not in the political war but the cr@p trickles down to me a lot! I think mental health days are fair play when that happens.

 

[JSoloman]

In 85 I had 6 weeks worth saved up in time for me to have emergency surgery. Since then, I'm up to 7 1/2 months worth again. I'll keep building them up til the next time I need up. The vacation leave is a use it or lose it thing after 350 hrs. So, I use them instead.

 

[emarsh]

Well the way I look at it, its a time vs. money issue. I used to get sick time and I used it, a few times I was simply sick of the job. The bottom lin for me was time at my age is the most precious of items, something that you normally can NOT purchase. So I generally used all of my sick time by December of each year, but just what I was allowed.

Why should you be made to feel guilty when the perfect attender's got payed for the (sick) time they did not take?



Like they say, it's your money!