I think I ate a bad burrito.

September 30, 2005 4:17 AM

Calling in sick: What's the right amount?

I am in my second salaried position. At my previous employer, I was introduced to "sick time is available at your discretion." I subsequently never called in sick, even when I probably should have. Same deal at the new place. The last job was for a very small company that would have really really missed me if I wasn't there. At this job, assuming there aren't any pressing deadlines or presentations, my day-to-day time is pretty much my own. My usual method of using sick time was to take it take it take it - I always found that one day off when I'm starting to feel icky means a much shorter duration of ickiness. But going into autumn and winter, there's going to be a lot of ickiness going on and I don't want to abuse the relaxed atmosphere of my workplace. In addition, other people in the department seem to have a reputation for always taking off, and others drag themselves in in conditions I'd be considering the hospital, so there's no clear co-worker consensus.
A little more info - non-salaried employees receive 5 paid personal days in addition to their vacation time that's to be used for sick time and various dr. appt-y type out of office-ness.

posted by ferociouskitty to work & money (16 comments total)

I think the take it take it take it approach is the right one - if you are genuinely sick. If you're sick, you should stay away from the workplace. The right amount depends on how often you're ill.
I HATE coming in to work to find somone - regardless of how valuable they are in the workplace - coughing and spluttering and generally spreading around germs that are going to make me sick; not just sick so I can't work, but sick so that I can't enjoy the weekend. I've worked in big and smallish offices and I've always ignored "the done thing" when it comes to taking sick leave. If I think resting will help me knock an illness on the head, then I take the day off. If some dodgy seafood has me scared of being more than ten feet from the toilet, then I take the day off. No one ever questioned the validity of my time off because everyone more or less knew that I wasn't a skiver. I do happen to think, though, that along with the "take it take it take it" approach, there is a certain amount of responsibilty to at least TRY to stay well. (It might be worth noting that this attitude has intensified as I've aged - both the readiness to take time off and the grumpiness at those who don't stay home when they should).
posted by bunglin jones at 4:39 AM on September 30, 2005

What bunglin said. People who think they're being all macho and tough by coming into work when sick are actually being inconsiderate and thoughtless because they go and infect a whole bunch of other people. If you're sick, take the leave.

As an aside, this whole concept of having a predefined number of "sick days" is still a thoroughly bizarre concept to Europeans like me. We (and our employers) take the somewhat more rational view that you can't predict illness, so you take precisely as much - or as little - as you need, and so long as absences of more than a couple of days are supported by a doctor's note, that's fine. With the American system of saying you can only have a fixed number of sick days frankly I wouldn't blame an employee for making damned sure they use that allowance whether they're sick or not. It's an irrational and exploitative system. Companies should support their workers whenever they're genuinely ill.

/lefty up the workers rant
posted by Decani at 4:53 AM on September 30, 2005

If you feel ill enough that you worry you could infect your co-workers, take a sick day. If your quality of work wouldn't even be productive, take a sick day. If you won't infect anyone else, and you feel like you can at least be a bit productive, go ahead and go on in.

That's how I've always dealt with it, regardless of actual policy. If you want to show up as much as possible, make sure to take off if you can infect others. It's better for the workplace, and it's only polite.
posted by Saydur at 5:14 AM on September 30, 2005

What everybody said already. If you're sick, you maximize your value to the organization by recovering as quickly as you can, not by spreading disease at work. You say your workplace has a relaxed atmosphere, so it's quite likely your management is enlightened enough to have a good grasp of this particular aspect of the bleedin' obvious.
posted by flabdablet at 5:30 AM on September 30, 2005

I've worked for both companies that give sick pay and those that don't give any. For the companies that do give sick pay, I'm pretty much with Decani and have the 'if I'm sick I'm sick' attitude and would rather knock illness on the head rather than go in and spread the lurgey. I'm in the UK and have you have to have a doc's certificate if you are off for 5 days or more. There are certain people that will abuse the system and take a 'sicky' - repeatedly. You know they are just taking the P. My company has recently introduced 'duvet days' where you can take up to 3 days a year from your annual leave where you can call in last minute if you just don't fancy coming in. This has definitely reduced the number of 'sick days' taken.

For the companies that haven't given sick leave I have the attitude that if they are crap enough to not have the 'decent' policy of allowing sickness then I'm going to go in. I'll spread that lurgey so that everyone else has unpaid sick leave and their workforce is severely depleted! It's just common sense to allow basic human needs.
posted by floanna at 5:41 AM on September 30, 2005

In my experience, the number of sick days anyone takes are only "noticed" if that person is lax in other ways - always late, somewhat lazy, etc.

I take them when I need them (including "clear my head" days) with no apologies because I make up the time.
posted by jamesonandwater at 5:42 AM on September 30, 2005

I rather agree with floanna -- I worked for 2 companies with no sick leave policy, and it was miserable. I think the reasoning behind it was, "If we tell those cubicle monkeys they get 7 sick days a year, they'll take off 7 days a year whether they're sick or not, the treacherous wankers. So no sick day policy! Let 'em fret and stew about every hour they're away from the desk where they belong."

It reflects an innate distrust of workers on the part of management, and creates an atmosphere where being sick amounts to disloyalty to the company.

If your company really is relaxed about sick leave policy, then pick a number of sick days per year that you think is reasonable and stick to that. If you have to work thru a bout of illness this fall to get critical projects done, then reward yourself with a day or two of "mental health" break afterwards. Just stick to your own leave policy.
posted by junkbox at 6:25 AM on September 30, 2005

I've worked with people who take every single sick day, and it's a drag to not be able to count on them. Then they come in when they should have stayed out for several days because they have no sick time accrued.

If you're contagious, stay home. If you're sick, stay home and get better. If you're not sick, or if you have just a slight headache, or indigestion from eating too much, or something minor, go to work. If you're salaried, and you can do some work from home, great.

Once in a while, and only once in a while, if life's a mess, you were up all night with a crying baby/spouse/self, you are overwhelmed by how much you hate your job/boss/coworkers, take a mental health day. Use the time wisely to reduce your stress, create an action plan, or just chill out. It can make you much more productive.

I had a boss who tried to discipline me for taking sick time to care for my child, and being sick. He's a jackass, he couldn't prove it, and he ended up looking like a fool, but it sucked. It's not a bad idea to keep documentation of why you were out, just a note in your calendar will do it I've learned the hard way that there really are treacherous coworkers and bosses.
posted by theora55 at 6:35 AM on September 30, 2005

Calling in sick allthedamntime seems to work for some people I've worked with.

I think if you take like two sick days a quarter, that's alright. You know, if you're really sick. Of course, no one calls in sick just to get the day off, right?
posted by xmutex at 8:03 AM on September 30, 2005

It reflects an innate distrust of workers on the part of management, and creates an atmosphere where being sick amounts to disloyalty to the company.


I agree. In the first two jobs I ever worked in, I NEVER called in sick. Didn't matter that I had the flu and mt nose started to bleed from blowing it so much. But, that comes from my parents and what others have mentioned: a culture where it's a sin to call in sick. Since then, I've begun to take the approach that, hey, my life does not revolve around work. Now, when I feel like utter crap (and especially contagious crap), I call in. If they still want you to come in, tell them this: But, if I come in, chances are I'll get others sick, they'll call in sick, and then we'll loose more productivity in the end. Wouldn't it just be better for me to call in this one or two days to prevent the flu from spreading around?
posted by jmd82 at 8:22 AM on September 30, 2005

When I was a kid we'd always get to stay home from school no questions asked if we had a fever. Of course, we could stay home other times as well but a fever was a free ride. I've brought this approach to me to my jobs. If I have a fever or something that I think could possibly be caught by someone else in the office I stay home and don't even think twice about it. If I feel sickness coming on, or if I ate a bad burrito, I usually give myself half the day to see how I feel, but think about coming in in the afternoon if I rally. I had a boss who was pretty okay about all of this [we got something like 10 sick days per year in our union contract] and a big boss who was grudging and irritating about it, so I learned to tune her out or stress "I have a FEVER I'm keeping myself home for alll our sakes." As far as mental health days, my average was maybe 2-3 days a year IF I had no pressing things to get done at work. Stress can creep into your life as illness if you don't pay enough attention to mitigating it.

Just the fact that you are aware that this is a potential problem area indicates that you're fairly likely to be prudent about it. If you're not otherwise a slacker then the time you take off shouldn't raise any eyebrows.
posted by jessamyn at 8:39 AM on September 30, 2005

I anxiously await the day when some stinking employer gets sued all up and down, because they made some poor sick employee come to work, who then spread the dreaded whatevers to others there, who then take it home and infect their families.

I am pleased to see so many here aware of the issue of spreading flu and whatever at work. I've seldom heard that side of this issue mentioned. Thanks folks.
posted by Goofyy at 10:37 AM on September 30, 2005

One really stupid example I saw was at a previous employer where sick time increased along with vacation time with the length of employment with the company.

It meant that someone new coming into the office had almost no sick time, at a point where they were entering a community that had already shared most of their diseases and the new hire was most likely to get sick. People who had been there a while were given more sick time when they needed it less than the new hires, generally.

IMO, sick time is a silly concept. Bringing new contagions to the office just because you've had a few previous contagions and have no sick time left helps absolutely no one. If the problem is that people abuse their sick time and use when they shouldn't, well that's when that employee continued employment needs to be reevaluated. This is akin to an inflexible 'zero-tolerance' policy than excludes any ability for managers to use common sense.

...

Ok, I'm done ranting now. :)
posted by Kickstart70 at 11:17 AM on September 30, 2005

I always used the formula of: call in sick slightly less than the guy who calls in sick all the time.
posted by dipolemoment at 12:05 PM on September 30, 2005

Just don't be the guy who gives everyone else his damned flu.

Any reasonable manager would rather you take the day off (or at a minimum, work from home) if you're actually sick.
posted by I Love Tacos at 12:57 PM on September 30, 2005

What's really odd is the combined paid time off (PTO) that's popular now: sick and vacation combined. OK, do I take vacation, or not? Will I get sick? Hell if I know!
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 12:15 AM on October 2, 2005