Sick Policy

[powerboy]

No it is not illegal. I have worked for a couple of places, that had that rule.

[Jester]

I have found in my life that whatever the sick policy is, if you hardly ever call in sick, you can get away with murder when you do.

Which is why I had no problem and did not get in trouble when I called in sick the day before the Super Bowl to the brewpub. And yes, that was the year the Super Bowl was in Phoenix.

1. I virtually never call in sick.
2. I am very damn convincing on the phone when I want to be.

Me and my buddy Bird (now married to my best friend Neets) then promptly went out and partied our asses off at all the Super Bowl events.

[Ringtail Z28]

Where I work any more than three consecutive sick days require a doctor's note, which isn't bad. Calling itself is a snap, just leave a voicemail message saying that you aren't coming in.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Would it be unreasonable or maybe even illegal to make it policy that if you're calling in sick, barring certain emergencies, you'd better be on your way to the ER? I'm getting sick of people calling in sick with a case of the sniffles or some heartburn.

Illegal? Probably not.
Unreasonable? Hell yes!

What if I come down with a case of the stomach flu that can be cured with prayers to the Porcelain God, Pepto Bismol and bed rest? Is that enough of an "emergency" to allow a day off?

I see you clarified your stance, but the way you originally presented it was much too strict.

You'll get no argument from me that there are many people who will take advantage of sick time and call in sick when they really aren't. But your original policy goes too far in the other direction trying to prevent it.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

If you are trying to cut down on call outs by making sick people come to work, that policy is going to bite you in the butt when 3/4ths of your staff are out sick because you forced a contageous person to work and start an epidemic.

[Catwoman2965]

I have found in my life that whatever the sick policy is, if you hardly ever call in sick, you can get away with murder when you do.

Which is why I had no problem and did not get in trouble when I called in sick the day before the Super Bowl to the brewpub. And yes, that was the year the Super Bowl was in Phoenix.

1. I virtually never call in sick.
2. I am very damn convincing on the phone when I want to be.

Me and my buddy Bird (now married to my best friend Neets) then promptly went out and partied our asses off at all the Super Bowl events.

Oh me too...I have myself called in sick about once a year, for the last few years...just becuase. I needed a day to do nothing and be lazy. I'm really convincing too, but i also make it a point to call in before i know by boss is in, so i can leave voicemail, and if you do so as soon as you wake up, your voice is all gravelly, etc. and its WAY more convincing!

But i honestly don't make a habit of it...and in my part time job of almost 2 years, the only time i called in was when i sprained my ankle, and the dr. said, stay off it for X days.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I don't see where requiring a doctor's note would be good. If the company provides health insurance, they're not only missing an employee for the day, they're also paying for a (usually) unnecessary doctor visit.

When I worked in the store we had to have a doctor's note if we called out more than 2 shifts in a row. I don't know about now that I work in the office, but I have X amount of sick days. It's a small office but really one person missing doesn't affect anyone else's workload, for the most part (except maybe the 2 who do 3D imaging, since the rest of us can't do their stuff).

[Broomjockey]

Theatre 2 had the least evenly enforced sick policy ever. People got away with murder. They could call in an hour before their shift every day for a week, and it'd be fine. I tried to call in 4 hours before my shift (as soon as I actually *had* the note), and said "I can't work today" and was promptly told "No, it's too late, either find someone to cover your shift, or you're coming in." I told her "No, I have a doctor's note, and I won't be in tomorrow either."

And yes, that was the first time I'd called in sick at that job.

[Primer]

My school allows adjunct (part-time) instructors to miss 2 meetings per class per semester. I've never* missed more than that, so I do not know the consequences. This semester, I'm full-time, but have not been able to find out what's allowed. Probably the same.

*Except for last fall when I was rear-ended by an 18-wheeler--then I missed two weeks--4 meetings per class. However, I was not docked any pay, so I assume that they understood that it was extraordinary circumstances.

I always manage to get through the required syllabus, so after 18 years of teaching, I don't think they're too concerned about me.

[Bandit]

I just had to call into work sick for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I was coughing up my lungs to the point where my ribs hurt. For the current shop, it's 5 days and then a note, then 30 days is STD. In that case, I showed up for one day in the two weeks when I was starting to feel a bit better. Didn't help the Head Cold From Hell, but it kept the paperwork down.

That said, I know Ive been taking a lot of sick time recently as I am having the joy of Lupus to deal with now, so there are lots of quacks to visit and quite simply days when dragging myself out of bed to get the cell phone off the charger, call in, and crawl back to bed.

Now, when I hear people hacking, sneezing, etc, I do wish they had stayed home, as I don't want to catch that cold. As was mentioned in the thread earlier, it helps nobody when 1/2 to 3/4 of a department gets infected.

B

[blas]

I've had to call in sick once or twice every few months (which equals only one occurance every quarter, and we are allowed 3 before written warning, woot!) because I have kidney and liver problems. I don't really want to discuss why, but I do.

It may seem like I'm playing sick because let's say Thursday night/Friday morning, I was bouncing around and chatterboxing and appearing just fine. Then I have the weekend off and I wake up Sunday evening and I can't stop going to the bathroom. Warning: overshare. Like, I have to pee literally every 5 minutes and I still don't feel relieved.

Either that or I'll wake up with this god awful pain on my left side down by my adnomen. It's unbearable to the point where it makes me dizzy. Too dizzy to stand up long enough to shower. I've had to crawl out of the shower into my bedroom, get dressed, and crawl to the phone.

Fortunately, that only happens once or twice every few months and my supervisor is aware of it.

[SubwayGirl]

I very rarely have to cover a shift because of people calling in sick because of a few policies I have (to be honest, it is probably because all of my employees are so great). I always go over these policies during orientation.

1. If you are sick, you need to call me as soon as possible and you need to find your own replacement.

2. If you are really really sick and are going to be out for a few days just bring me a doctors' excuse.

3. If you just are generally not feeling well, come on into work. Either working will get your mind off of it, or barring that, if I see you are not feeling that well I will send you home early.

I have never had to cover a shift myself. My staff is all pretty good about covering for someone who is sick (knock on wood). It also helps that I have never called in sick myself.

[Jester]

...if you do so as soon as you wake up, your voice is all gravelly, etc. and its WAY more convincing!

RIGHT! My voice is naturally like that in the morning EVERY morning. And yet, the few times my mom calls me in the morning (I finally have trained her not to do that!), she always asks if I'm sick. Even though she's known me MY ENTIRE LIFE and KNOWS I sound like that in the morning!

But yeah, when I call in sick, I do it HOURS before the shift (10 am for a 430 shift, as an example), and I am VERY convincing. Since I almost never call in sick without having someone cover my shift, and they have SEEN me working when I was clearly not feeling at all well, the few times I do fake it I get away with it Every Bloody Time.

Damn, I'm good!

[AirHostess]

I was off all the time when I flew. I got lots of colds and ear infections and you aren't meant to fly with that as your ear drum can burst resulting in weeks off work.

In my current job you can have 7 days off and then a doctors note.

If you have more than 3 occasions in 6 months you get called in for a friendly chat.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I only ever take time off if I'm either down with flu or a stomach bug, or have a migraine. My migraine's are caused by humidity and always start early in the morning, so if I'm working early it's a no go.

I've actually only pulled one sicky, and it was to go see Alice Cooper; perfectly good reason, and since that and before, no sickies.