Sick days / mental health days

I'm With Stupid said:
It's apparently pretty common practice in low-paid service industries like restaurants and retail. I've even heard of teachers phoning in sick and being asked to provide a full lesson plan for their cover teacher, CCing in various members of admin staff. You'd wonder how these workplaces would cope if someone was hit by a car and was rushed to hospital.


You tell me. There have been calls of 'no-one wants to work any more' and 'entitled' younger workers that 'lack the necessary skills' since time immemorial. But if I had to guess, I suspect there's a huge difference in motivation between the people who entered the workforce at a time where you were rewarded with a salary and benefits that enabled you to build a comfortable life for yourself, buy a house, save for retirement, pay off your modest student debts, etc, and the people who entered the workforce at a time where the pay barely allows you to afford a shitty rental in the city you work in. Whenever I find myself annoyed at shitty service here in Vietnam, I remind myself that I'd probably be doing a half-arsed job too if I was being paid a pound an hour.

Ultimately there's a huge amount of anti-work sentiment in America right now, so it's not surprising that fewer and fewer people give a shit. The pandemic in particular, but also loads of highly-publicized mass layoffs, taught a lot of people that it's futile to work yourself into the ground for an employer that will drop you at the first sign of trouble. With that background, it's not a massive surprise to see lots of younger workers having the attitude of getting whatever they can out of their employer and then fucking them off at the first sign of a better opportunity.

Personally, I've definitely found myself taking my cue from my employer. I'm a teacher, so I'm fairly free to work when I want other than the actual classes. As a result, I tend to do a fair bit more than my contracted hours. But if my employer starts to get petty about things (as one did after covid), then I will respond likewise and start 'working to the contract.' If my employer started to do things like asking us to fill in a timesheet, I guarantee they would get far less hours out of me than they do currently, and there would be far more, "Sorry, I can't do that. I've already hit my allotted hours this week."

I get that in certain industries, these things are necessary, but you often hear about them in places where it's not. And that's when you end up with stuff like presenteeism, where people boast about how many hours they do or always being in work come rain or shine, without actually getting any more work done than anyone else. Note how none of your criticisms of the younger staff members, for example, are actually about the quality of their work.
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I was saving that last sentence for another thread ha ha.
Two of the fuckers are never off their phones.
 
Not surprised. Over here there is a recognition that certain sectors like health and social care are more likely to cause you to burnout so the contractual holiday and sick entitlement reflects that.

I avoid taking sick days unless I absolutely can't work due to illness because I can always work from home instead. But I've worked in another team that wasn't as flexible and didn't allow you to work from home if sick, and it was actually less important work and not as time critical anyway, so I didn't have the same attitude. Goodwill works both ways.
 
The most annoying thing is when you feel sick, but you go in anyway thinking you'll just take it easy, only for someone else to phone in sick, meaning you have to cover for them too.

I went in recently on a day when I normally only have to teach one class, but I have a couple of cover slots where I can sit at a computer and do a bit of admin instead. I felt like shit, but I figured I'll mainly be sat at a desk, so it wouldn't be too bad. Then one guy decides at lunchtime that he's too ill to carry on because, I shit you not, he "didn't get much sleep last night." Properly hamming it up too, laying the groundwork early, claiming that he was seeing spots in front of his eyes at about 11. And this prick knew I was sick and I'd have to be the one to cover. The next day he's there in the office saying "You know what, after I went home and had some sleep, I felt much better." Yeah, no shit.
 
Mr Kobayashi said:
Not surprised. Over here there is a recognition that certain sectors like health and social care are more likely to cause you to burnout so the contractual holiday and sick entitlement reflects that.

I avoid taking sick days unless I absolutely can't work due to illness because I can always work from home instead. But I've worked in another team that wasn't as flexible and didn't allow you to work from home if sick, and it was actually less important work and not as time critical anyway, so I didn't have the same attitude. Goodwill works both ways.
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When we were working online during covid, I noticed people phoned in sick way less often. There's just something far less daunting about getting through a day when you're feeling ill if you're sat at a desk in your own house, compared to if you're having to go into a workplace all day. And it's not even like you could skive in my job, because you still had to be live for a good chunk of the day.
 
When i first got ME i was bed bound and my company ended up giving me a year on sick leave, full pay , i kept the car, computer and car phone and if i could i would use the computer to help my teamates arrange functions and book them appointments. Call and chat with the drs and nurses on my patch , my customers

My manager would visit me once a month and i had to go and see the company dr every month , mr k had to take a day off work to take me , it was a long way away and set me back every time

The first time my manager visited me i was bed bound weighing six stone so it was obvious i was terribly ill . It was a major big pharma company so they could do that for me and i was one of the entire sales forces top performer

After a year we agreed a phased return to work, one morning a week for a couple of weeks then two mornings and so on . I just couldnt get anywhere near part time even , i adored the job but i was so frustrated . I left and went self employed , mr k and a friend did the heavy work for me and i muddled along for about eight years till the car accident and it was all too much and i gave up work

Sometimes life gives you lemons
 
kaz7 said:
When i first got ME i was bed bound and my company ended up giving me a year on sick leave, full pay , i kept the car, computer and car phone and if i could i would use the computer to help my teamates arrange functions and book them appointments. Call and chat with the drs and nurses on my patch , my customers

My manager would visit me once a month and i had to go and see the company dr every month , mr k had to take a day off work to take me , it was a long way away and set me back every time

The first time my manager visited me i was bed bound weighing six stone so it was obvious i was terribly ill . It was a major big pharma company so they could do that for me and i was one of the entire sales forces top performer

After a year we agreed a phased return to work, one morning a week for a couple of weeks then two mornings and so on . I just couldnt get anywhere near part time even , i adored the job but i was so frustrated . I left and went self employed , mr k and a friend did the heavy work for me and i muddled along for about eight years till the car accident and it was all too much and i gave up work

Sometimes life gives you lemons
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My mum had a similar experience. She was a nurse and then got ME. Tried to go in part time for a bit, but couldn't. Always refused to claim any benefits for it either for some reason, because she didn't want to have to deal with all of the associated bullshit, especially for a disability that is not physically obvious. I think in the end, my step dad was able to put her as a receptionist for him as a self-employed electrician, meaning he could save a bit of tax.

She still blames Mt. Teide on Tenerife.

You wonder how many people have been labelled as useless or lazy throughout history because of stuff like this. Probably the same as the number of 'problem children' in schools in the past when we didn't understand certain conditions.
 
I'm With Stupid said:
My mum had a similar experience. She was a nurse and then got ME. Tried to go in part time for a bit, but couldn't. Always refused to claim any benefits for it either for some reason, because she didn't want to have to deal with all of the associated bullshit, especially for a disability that is not physically obvious. I think in the end, my step dad was able to put her as a receptionist for him as a self-employed electrician, meaning he could save a bit of tax.

She still blames Mt. Teide on Tenerife.

You wonder how many people have been labelled as useless or lazy throughout history because of stuff like this. Probably the same as the number of 'problem children' in schools in the past when we didn't understand certain conditions.
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When i got ill it was called yuppy flu, the first dr i saw said it is stress and to sweat it out playing tennis , which was what i loved doing at the time , i started a game ,collapsed and an ambulance took me to hospital where they never believed it was an actual illness

My then gp came back from holiday to find me in a heap, he said he had an 18 yr old patient , in a wheelchair, with similar symptoms and we learnt about it together and he was a good support but couldnt really help me . The only thing that was talked about then was magesium, so i had a six week course of injections but they were agony and i was so thin the needle was hitting my bones

Post viral illness has come to the fore post covid and i hope people affected get a more sympathetic response from the medical bods .ME and fibro are now recognised by the dwp but that is a relatively new addition but better late than never
 
kaz7 said:
When i got ill it was called yuppy flu, the first dr i saw said it is stress and to sweat it out playing tennis , which was what i loved doing at the time , i started a game ,collapsed and an ambulance took me to hospital where they never believed it was an actual illness

My then gp came back from holiday to find me in a heap, he said he had an 18 yr old patient , in a wheelchair, with similar symptoms and we learnt about it together and he was a good support but couldnt really help me . The only thing that was talked about then was magesium, so i had a six week course of injections but they were agony and i was so thin the needle was hitting my bones

Post viral illness has come to the fore post covid and i hope people affected get a more sympathetic response from the medical bods .ME and fibro are now recognised by the dwp but that is a relatively new addition but better late than never
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The rag Billy Garton had it, again very early days like you did when it was called Yuppie Flu and not taken seriously.
Hope you enjoy your Xmas Kaz
 
Scottyboi said:
15 days off a year I don't blame them for using the mental health days, shite that. For reference I get 6 months full sick pay 3 months full pay paternity, 35 days holiday including birthday off and 5 volunteer days.
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How many? I get 20 days' annual leave, plus bank holidays (9 of them). The company doesn't do sick pay.
 
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