I feel a lot of pressure to come in to work unless I'm knocking on death's door. My sweetie is able to use sick leave whenever needed -- little or no pressure to be present.
How is your workplace about sick leave? Do you have paid sick days? Are they lumped in with vacation? Any rules or expectations about how early you give notice that you'll be out? Are you encouraged to stay home when sick? To come in despite illness?
51 votes
cantaloupe / 6692 posts
Only 2 in the past year and they were both pregnancy related. Before that, I never called in except for a family emergency. I really don't ever get sick. I don't get any paid sick days, as I'm a seasonal employee. 
Here's how it goes at my work.
Coworker texts (we are a small office of 3 people. We text) and says she's taking a sick day, not feeling good.
Me: "Oh I hope you get better! Take a good rest day. You deserve one."
I text my coworker and boss because I puked my guts out all morning and finally gave up trying to get ready.
Boss: "ok."
Coworker: no response.
Frustrating.
honeydew / 7667 posts
I don't have sick days I have yearly billing requirements.
My office encourages employees to stay home so they do not get others sick.
GOLD / coconut / 8266 posts
I'm a teacher and, according to my CBA, I receive two personal days and 12 (I think) sick days a year. Any leftover personal days become sick days for the next school year. All sick days roll over to the next year. ETA - We need a doctor's note to be out for more than four sick days in a row so we are encouraged to stay home sick but it's a hassle to be "too" sick 
I was out over 8 days this past school year because of pregnancy issues that led to early morning appointments.
hostess / wonderful apple seed / 16729 posts
I don't ever get sick. I think I've been sick about 1 day a year.
I do have 10 paid sick days a year and I do call out sick for mental health and to take car of my husband when he has bad asthma attacks that could put him in the hospital.
I am a workaholic so I'll only call out on days that I can. Some days I can't but some days I can and I'll take it. I'm actually due for a mental health sick day. Just need to make sure it won't affect my work load.
I don't work in the service industry so that's why I have some flexibility. My company and boss are happy as long as I get my work done. If I need to work a 12 hour day instead of the usual 8 hour day and then I'll do it.
wonderful olive / 19353 posts
I don't get sick days. I have to use PTO when I'm sick and can't work from home. It sucks because I only have 16 days off so if I have to use it for when I'm sick, I feel jipped.
cantaloupe / 6885 posts
I get 15 sick days a year but have to use them for appointments as well as when I'm sick...last year I used quite a bit for all of my prenatal appointments but I have a lot banked from past years, maybe 50 days? I hardly ever get sick, knock on wood!
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
I voted 0 sick days, but I am a contractor, not a permie, so I am paid only for the days I work. I get a higher hourly rate but I get no paid vacations, sick days or benefits.
pear / 1823 posts
I'm a teacher as well. I get 12 sick days per year plus 2 personal/vacation days. I used a bunch of them this year doing fertility stuff, but other than that I tried to save them for my maternity leave...
hostess / papaya / 10219 posts
I said 8+ but I had the flu. I'm a teacher and its hard to take off.
honeydew / 7303 posts
I only get 5 sick days a year. It feels extremely minimal to me. I get 4 weeks of annual/ce leave though so maybe they were trying to make up for that.
that said, I never get sick and usually use my sick time for my LO or routine drs appts.
pear / 1879 posts
I get about 12 sick days a year and I use these for doctors appointments (for LO and for me), in addition to being sick. I can often work from home if I feel lousy and take a partial sick day, but I try to hold onto my days as long as I can. I'm a bit of a PTO hoarder
persimmon / 1420 posts
I get 12 sick days a year, but they are damn near impossible to use. If you're sick on a Friday or Monday, you need to have a doctor's note. If you're sick more than 3 days, you need a doctor's note. If you are sick when you wake up, you have to scramble to plan the day for a substitute, which you might not be able to get because our district refuses to hire enough. It is just easier to come in.
pomegranate / 3231 posts
I have 20 PTO days and no sick days. But I have a lot of flexibility to work from home. So, if I am sick I just wfh and probably work a bit less than usual. Only once have I just been so sick that I actually sacrificed a vacation day.
pear / 1697 posts
@elbiekay - I have really mixed feeling about pooled PTO. I think it does wonders for discouraging abuse of sick days. But, for people who don't have the work-from-home flexibility that you have, it is just one more incentive for people to share contagious illnesses at work.
My work does have separate banks of sick leave and vacation leave...but everyone is under a lot of pressure to come in unless they absolutely can't. I'm pretty sure I've ended up being ill (both at work and home sick) more often because of exposure to my workmates.
pear / 1961 posts
We can WFH as much or as little as we want, so I tend to do that if I'm sick so as not to waste my PTO.
watermelon / 14467 posts
I get 10 sick days per year and they do not roll over. We aren't required to have a doctor's note and my company has allowed me to use them to care for my husband (he's diabetic and shouldn't be left alone in case he passes out when he's ill). I hate that they don't roll over because it feels like we're being punished for being healthy.
So far, I've used 3 days to take care of my husband (hand surgery and two bouts of food poisoning), and 4.5 days for pregnancy related appointments.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
I can't really vote because ours is a little different.
If we take a sick day, we get what's called "an occurrence" which is like a demerit. We also get half of one for being late, and a whole one for missing work. We are only allowed 3 occurrences in a 6 month period. Because of that alone, it keeps me from calling in. I have called in once, because I was vomiting so I wouldn't have been able to perform my job duties.
When we do take a sick day, it also comes out of our accrued PTO. Since I'm somewhat new, I only have about 20 hours accrued. I worked 10 hour days, so that is only two days I could take.
My husband though, has several sick days a year. On the few days our nanny has called in sick, he is the one to stay home because his policy is more lenient.
pomegranate / 3401 posts
I usually never call in sick....I'm a pretty healthy person! And I was very lucky not to have any morning sickness. Additionally, our company has an unlimited sick day policy (I know!!) It is completely separate from our PTO. but even though it's unlimited I never see people taking advantage of it, which is really nice.
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
Our sick and vacation time is lumped together, so its rare that ill waste vacation time on being sick. But we gave a very flexible work from home policy that people will take advantage of to avoid spreading around too many germs. I was very grateful when people were extra careful about that while I was pregnant.
Other depts aren't as flexible with wah and then it does lead to sick people bringing their germs into the office. Not cool.
persimmon / 1304 posts
We don't have sick days, just have to use PTO when sick. When we are not feeling well, it's okay to work from home (to avoid spreading germs!), but when someone is really sick we are encouraged to take a day off, with the assumption we wouldn't be able to give our work 100%.
I have taken only 1 day off due to sickness since I joined the workforce full time 6 years ago! Luckily I just don't get sick too often!
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
Sick days and Vacation days are looped together as PTO for me. I would think sick days could be used for doctor appointments.
persimmon / 1223 posts
We get a lot of sick time at my work (I accumulate a little over 14 hours per month). Since we work with cancer patients who have compromised immune systems we are highly encouraged to stay home when sick. I don't get sick that often though so I usually end up using it more for medical appointments and it helped to cover the pay during my maternity leave.
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