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Currently I have half of my staff gone the week of Christmas, going to their parents. 5 of them have family in other states where they came from. .
My workplace started just giving us the days in between Christmas and New Year's off (rather than us having to use 3 days of PTO.) It improved morale a lot to know that people can travel and rest without having to think about coverage or saving up PTO to use during what's normally a super slow time at work anyway.
I have a different prospective. Gen-x'er here, BTW.
IMO, a sick day can be used not only when a person is physically ill but also just needs a break from the grind to rest and relax. And it's time that has been earned.
On the occasion I use a sick day when I'm not physically sick (FWIW, my company uses the term medical leave and it can be used for medical/dental appointments, to care for sick spouses, and kids, too), I just say I'm taking medical leave for the day. There's no lying or cheating.
I'm strategic about it so that it doesn't put a hardship on my co-workers. And the work my company pays me to do, still gets done - just not on that day.
You left 26 weeks on the table. 130 days. 1,040 hours. Those are days and hours that you earned and could have been spent on yourself, on your family. Hours that you'll never get back. Hours that you gave to your employer who in all likelihood, wasn't really concerned about you as a person just as a producer.
I've been in the workforce for 30 years and have about 26 more before I reach retirement. I am going to use the PTO that I've earned (of course, I bank a few weeks - I'm never at 0) because when I do reach retirement, I doubt I'll look back and think "I wish I had spent more time at work".
I do think there is a difference in how generations view the use of sick leave and what constitutes sick/medical has evolved. I think that is has evolved to the better. I know that my prospective has changed over time and it's quite liberating.
My recommendation is that employees refrain from oversharing with their employers. I am not in the habit of telling my employer what I need to use PTO for - it's none of their business.
When I put in a leave request - and that's being generous because in most instances, I am giving notice of when I'm taking my leave, not requesting to use it (and to be clear, I do not use leave when my presence is essential unless on the super rare occasion I am very sick and/or contagious) - I specify it's vacation, personal, a floating holiday, or medical. That's it - that's all they need to know.
I am at the point in my life and career where I have stopped caring more about my employer than they care about me. It's a transactional relationship. They pay me to produce XYZ so I produce XYZ. And it will be solid, quality work done within the needed timeframe but no more and no less.
Agree with the bolded above. It's not the boss's business why I am taking time off (except in the case of calling in sick, and I say I am sick..no other detail is required)
I've been a Supervisor or Manager for nearly 20 years now.. I always encourage my team to call off when they don't feel well, or just need a day off. All of the people I have managed have had a bucket of time to use, and they know the consequences of running out of that time.
Myself.. I used to never call out, I would go years without calling out.. Now, I probably call out 5-6 times a year.. some of those I am sick, and some of those I have anal glaucoma.
maybe not a 'generational' thing since one can find examples of these perspectives across generations.
However, I do feel there are a lot of "old adages" that don't really matter as much these days. Yet - people still refer to them like a badge of honor.
Things like "first one in, last one out", or perfect attendance, never using a sick day, never been late, etc.
And I get that these notions may have had more meaning back in the day when you had to be present in order to do your job. But still.... the one thing none of these really speak to is - how much work was actually done? Joe can be the first one in and the last one out... and do very little work in between.
THIS
Gotta love when those same people respond to their e-mails late at night and pretend they're "working". That's fine if there's a reason for responding but if it can wait until the next day, it's obvious that they're just trying to "impress" management and manipulate them into thinking they're hard at work.
For whatever reason, I feel really guilty when I call off work.
I've only called off a handful of times in my working career. I've had jobs where I never called off.
Until a couple years ago, I went over a decade without calling off. I ended up having to call off due to a medical issue. I felt bad about that even though it was something beyond my control.
I have had co-workers (even bosses) who call off multiple times a year and there's no repercussion.
This isn't to brag because it's not really something to brag about. Just kinda wondering if anyone has the same reluctance to call off and where it comes from. Maybe it goes back to my school days where I was strongly discouraged to stay home unless I was really sick. Or maybe it goes back to working in fast food when me calling off would mean that someone else is inconvenienced and has to do my job, whether it be another employee or manager. Or a similar thing when I worked shift work, if I called off then someone else would have to adjust their schedule.
Is it usually accepted by management in this day and age that an employee may call off several times in a year?
Yes, management knows people take off for personal reasons or no reason at all. IMHO, I take off when I feel like it. Maybe I'm sick, running personal errands or mental health day. Don't lose a wink a sleep over it. Nobody cares if you never take off in 30 years plus on the job. As a matter of fact, it's a joke to the rank and file when an occasion comes up to celebrate an employee with such exemplary "high standards."
Yes OP I feel guilty. BUT I am in a position that if I call off unexpectedly it does 100% place a burden on a co-worker or it creates a loss of revenue if I can't be replaced on short notice. I have to be pretty incapacitated to call off without notice, and I schedule mental health days (PTO) at least a few days out if I'm starting to feel overly burnt out.
I've been a Supervisor or Manager for nearly 20 years now.. I always encourage my team to call off when they don't feel well, or just need a day off...
... I used to never call out, I would go years without calling out.. Now, I probably call out 5-6 times a year.. some of those I am sick, and some of those I have anal glaucoma.
LOL! anal glaucoma - Had to look that up on Urban Dictionary, that's funny!
Anyways, never taking a day off is not something to be proud of. I guess some some people's attitude is "I'm irreplaceable"
It is advisable to use the sick time and/or PTO offered by your company, taking a day off when you need it can help you recharge and come back to work more productive.
I agree. Sick days are not extra free vacation days.
I would say there's a difference between asking for some time off and using vacation days than just calling in sick to play hookey.
Depends on whether you told them what you need and used a vacation day. "Mental health days" are a misuse of sick days when it's really just an extra vacation day.
I worked at a bank, actually I worked at a few banks. And you could not take a vacation day unless you had more than two weeks available. There was a rule in place at the bank that I worked at that appeared to be a general policy at most places. It was every employee had to take two weeks off in a row. If you only had two weeks you took your two weeks. If you had three you could split one week up but you took your two weeks.
The idea behind that was that an email feasance Would show up while you were on your two weeks. And I can say without a doubt it did work. Saw it in action twice.
So we had I guess what people would now call PTO, but we called them sick days that you earned. Your vacation was a gift given to you via employment but you’re sick days were earned by if I recall correctly every so many hours you worked you earned an hour of sick time. If you earned eight hours of sick time that was a sick day.
And there was also an employee who the second she had a sick day she took it. It was like a month of work and you earned a sick day. And she was the only reason I knew about this policy of sick date. I now think they call them paid time off — PTO. I have been out of the normal workforce since 1998. A lot of things have changed. And owning your own businesses a whole different ball of wax…. I highly recommend it.
__________________ Solly says — Be nice!
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Solly says — Be nice!
