When is it ok to call in sick?

Hmm perhaps it has something to do with the pathetic 2-week vacation standard in North America. What a joke! We do not have a healthy work/life balance. If employees were happier, they would be healthier and likely more productive. I think about 2 months/year would be about right.

I have called in sick when I could have gone to work, and I do feel entitled to. I work very hard for my employer, but I recognize when I won't produce quality work. I do my best work when I feel my best. I should be able to take a day off if I'm feeling a bit "off". I'm only human after all.

Some employees take days off as they are frustrated by the way their superiors get time off perks for anym little thing or for no reason at all.

They are encouraged to take the max days off when there is no "carry forward" days off clause.

Some take the paid sick days BUT take all the overtime available

DON'T OFFER ANY OVERTIME -- Hire a few more employees. What you save in overtime more than covers the benefit package for the extra employees.

Never use workshare. --- Lay off general non - specific and non technically necessary staff. You can always hire those types anywhere.

In the last two years I have taken only 1 sick day off from work. Was I sick? No. But, I generally work from 6:30am to 4:30 or 5:30 pm every day. Did I feel like I deserved it? Yes, I felt that I deserved that one "mental health" day.
I'm actually thinking another one might not be such a bad idea.

I know for a fact that a 4 day work week would solve this. Our company has been doing for almost 2 years now and eliminated not so sick, sick days. Now when we have someone call in they are sick.

When I need time off and I'm not sick, I just tell my employer I'm taking a day off, and why. They are generally willing to accomodate if it is for a good reason. This way, I save my sick days for when I'm actually sick, (which is rare), so if I do call in sick, they don't doubt me.

I worked over 15 years for a employer, no sick days and going in to work not feeling well, and staying late with no compensation. Down sizing came and I was a casuality.

Swore if I ever got a new job I would take advantage of the benefits such as dental, messages, glasses,yearly checkup ect. I found that the home/worklife was not balanced.

If there is one thing I learned is put you and your family first. Vacations are important with no cell phones, email ect. Don't bring your computer home. Don't travel on your own time, such as Sunday nights. Personal days are a must.
I agree that we should have two months vacation a year. Hire more workers. Forget this do less with more and burn out your employees.
Leave work at work and you will be a better employee and a better husband/wife mother/father.

If a day is required to take off this is not a concern with the employer as the employer is usually noting this as a holiday and you are docked for this . How in god's name can one run a business called a household in the two week vacation given to most of us. I took one day at a time when I needed as I was buying 2 houses and lots of meetings. I intern would not be taking my 2 week vacation but the employer called it absentteeisum well get a grip the boss takes all the time needed to handle personal business so do the Managers and so forth. So what's thebig deal if yo do you work. I think it is a childish way of controlling people and not allowing us all to be big. I think you'd get so much more from the employee. It is called team work but usually they say it is team but really it is just abunch of people frieghten of each other and their jobs.

In our company, you can be terminated after 6 incidents of lates in six months time. One minute late returning from break or lunch or signing in one minute late all count as incidents. The company never looks at the extra times an employee comes in on their day off, they only look at the lates. Some employees who know they cannot make it on time call in sick. The company does not pay and does not question one sick day at a time, but will write you up for the one minute lates followed by a suspension and then by termination. I have been with this company for fifteen years and there are time the lack of employees increases our workload and leads to additional workplace stress.

My husband & I own our own business. I suppose, as employers, we may have a slightly different perspective about calling in sick when you're not! Keep in mind that, very often, when you call in sick because you just don't feel like showing up that day, one of your friends/co-workers gets stuck covering your a** in order to get the day's work done on time.

Those of you that think you are "owed" that time off - here's a newsflash! You're not. You're "owed" your paycheque, your holiday time, your vacation pay, your benefits (if you have them), and possibly overtime if you've done any. But you are most definitely not "owed" a sick day unless you're sick! If you don't like the requirements of your job and the expectation of a 9-5 commitment, find employment elsewhere. And DON'T voluntarily put in extra time and assume it's acceptable to take a day in lieu of payment - if you don't want to do it or you're expecting a bonus for your efforts, make sure your employer realizes you have a personal agenda happening before you take that day off because YOU think you earned it!

That being said, as employers, we'd prefer our employees come to us IN ADVANCE and say they need some downtime. We're quite happy & more than willing to accommodate them. Want that extra day on your weekend? Ask ahead - chances are your boss will be pleased to let you have it. Personally, I'd rather an employee was honest about why / when they don't intend to show up rather than finding out (and we usually do!!) they lied about being ill.

I feel that employers should be more understanding to the fact that EVERY human being does get sick, accidents do happen. Take me for instance, i am one of those extremely clumsy people, Within a month, I sprained my ankle and fell down the stairs. These are 2 very true facts, but did my employer believe me? Of course not, I was threatened saying if I didnt come into work, I would be fired.Of course when he saw the bruises he believed me..but it was too late, i was already at work high off codeine.. Had I missed days before? Of course I had, People get sick and they need to recover. When you are ill and you come to work, you are not only hurting yourself, but your co-workers as well. Your spreading germs and a negative attitude. With that said, Employees should be given mandatory sick days wherever they work. I dont have sick days, so if I am sick, it comes off my pay.. do i deserve the day off if I am ill, OF course..

Yes, I have called in sick MANY times when I wasn't as I worked for many years for minimum wage and put up with a LOT of crap from this company. I knew that I was entitled to MORE than what I was getting, NO doubt. Therefore if I had a day where I was a bit more tired or PMSing, definitely I would take the extra day. They certainly didn't worry about my well-being. The company was bringing is nice profits and certainly NOT giving us anything extra.

I completely see Ralfswife's point of view as an employer trying to run a business. The problem is the poisoned work enviornments that people work in these day. Of course it is wrong to call in sick when you are not sick. That is no brainer to anyone looking at it on paper.

We live in a time where everything is dog-eat-dog. Employers suck everything they can from their employees with the minimum benift packages they can get away with. don't like it - move on and someone else will take your place for less money. Employees watch co-workers suck everything they can from their employers and ask why can they get all that while I simply get my paycheck and they get all that? It's a two way street.

Calling in sick is a symptom of another deeper problem. A societal problem. Individual ability means nothing in our work lives. workers watch co workers with little or no ability promoted based on.. whaterver...hair color..chest size??? Extra effort these days means nothing to employers..It is expected and demanded

Ralfswife...ask yourself..if you could hire all your employees and get away with offering no benefits would you do it? If the answer is no then you are a rare bread these days and I congratualte you and ask if I can send you my resume. lol People need sick days. They need to be able to buy medications for their families and eye glasses...

Dudley, you sound very disillusioned as an employee! To clarify, as an employer, we CHOSE to bring in benefits. We are a small business in a small town - I can assure you, it wasn't necessary. We did it because, quite honestly, without our employees we have no business! Our business started out without benefits - WE added them without employee input.

As for people needing sick days, you're 100% right. But in my opinion, sick days taken without a legitimate illness to back that up is NOT something an employee is entitled to. Being able to buy meds & eyeglasses has absolutely nothing to do with a sick day. Benefits, if provided, accommodate those requirements. If you don't receive a benefits package in your job & you don't feel you're paid enough to cover these costs without one, find a job that provides it.

I firmly believe that an employee who feels the need to call in regularly because they're miserable, as some of the above seem to do, needs to look elsewhere for employment. Clearly, some people are far too unhappy in their jobs to give their best - or even their worst! - to their employer. If that's the case, move on. Stop screwing your employer over, and making yourself miserable.

I'll say it again - your employer owes you a paycheque. Period. Beyond that, it's your call. Respect is also a 2 way street. We know each & every employee who has faked a sick day - I can assure you, when your coworkers have to cover for you often enough, they'll start howling to the boss! What do you think we'll want to expend as far as respect, bonuses, additional perks for employees that lie to us? Exactly as much as they give us in honesty......

I've been on both sides of this particular street. As an employee, I did my job & did it to the best of my ability. I didn't cheat or lie, nor did I steal - and taking a sick day when you're not ill is stealing time from your employer, not to mention screwing over the people who work beside you. Does anybody think for one second that these people - who make the same as you & put in the same time & energy - want to do your job as well as theirs??? Those employees who call in & still get paid (salaried) are stealing more than time. And as an employer in this regard, I think I've been pretty clear how I feel about that kind of individual!

Poisoned work environments are often a product of the employees. How can any work environment be anything BUT poisoned when so many workers feel it's appropriate to be blatantly dishonest? You're quite right when you say that, if you don't like it, move on - but you're quite wrong when you say someone will come in & take your job for less money. In many industries - like ours - we have no alternative but to pay a competitive wage, and offer a similar benefits package to our competition. Even if we thought it was appropriate to reduce wage costs & pay less to an incoming worker, we'd find ourselves without a soul working for us!

And we DO reward extra effort. One of our employees is taking his wife to Vegas for 4 days on us - because he's honest, shows up consistently, is a diligent & reliable worker, and helps out even when it's not part of his job description. A valued employee. Hopefully, his coworkers will get the message.

I am wondering if Ralph's wife is really a business owner, or just a wife of a business owner. You write a lot, so you should respect youself with your unique identity, not just as wifey of Ralph.

Very observant, Fred Jones. :-) Actually, I no longer work daily at the company, only a few days a month. I DO write a lot because that's what I do now and have done for quite some time - freelance. However, my unique identity is linked closely with that of my husband - I'm very proud of him & what he's accomplished, as well as what we've accomplished as a team. Not to mention we've been together a long time! But I definitely respect my singular accomplishments.

But I do own half the company & I also know my contributions to it are valued & necessary. In most cases, the wife of a business owner is also part owner of that business, or at the very least a vocal contributor after 5 PM! I don't feel that a wife of a business owner should ever be referred to as "just the wife" - a spouse in the background is often a driving force behind what one sees in the foreground.

I'm probably more of an observer of disillusioned and bitter employees than one myself. It's quite interesting actually. But I think my point is off topic and wider than the conversation of the article. Are some companies run better than some? of course. Are some employees better than others? Of course.

Are sick days wrong when you aren't sick? Yes, of course they are.

I am very fortunate to have 30 sick days a year where I work (a university) and I imagine it's because of students.. don't want to make them sick, as well as getting sick more often being around them. But up until a couple months ago when I got this job, when I was sick it came off my pay or I "had" to come to work cause nobody could cover my shift. Then of course everyone else gets sick because I have to go to work to make money. I find that now, since I have the ability to take a sick day with no questions (unless it's more than 7 days then we need a note!) we are sick less often and we don't use up all of our days. The comfort of knowing we can be sick in our own home is a real boost to the mind and body - whereas before when I would start to feel sick I would worry myself that I would be at work under the weather and just get worse. Some people I work with still work from home even when they take a sick day.. because you actually WANT to work.