Sick Days - How sick is sick enough?

[dps]

Either too sick to work or too contagious to wander around the office are enough.
An exception is taking medication or suffering symptoms that make driving a hazard. That alone makes me stay at home.

Pretty much the same here.

[Barrister]

Depends entirely on what I'm doing in a day.

If I'm in court (in particular if I'm scheduled to do a trial), I'd better be near death to miss work.

If I'm just in the office?  Meh, I'll stay home with little more than sniffles.  Not that I often do, but I have once or twice.

[grumbler]

Does that mean you'd rather fuck one of your students than enlighten them, grumbler?

four point two.

[grumbler]

What's the most rewarding feeling inside sex?

If you have to ask, you cannot understand the answer.

[CountDeMoney]

For the record, I went home early today for a nasty head cold, and tomorrow will be my first sick day in years.  First time I've had the sniffles in ages.
Rather annoying, as I was beginning to enjoy collecting my little "perfect attendance" pins.

[Martinus]

Anyway, I find the whole "sick days per year" and "calling in sick" system pretty strange and unfair. It's funny how so many people seem to take it for granted when talking about this thing, whereas it is so completely different here, in terms of how it works.

[Syt]

Unless I have diarrhea or fever I usually go to the office. Even if I get only one hour productive work done it beats having to clean up the mile high piles of stuff to do if I miss days at work. Which is also why I usually limit vacations to a day or two.

[Barrister]

Unless I have diarrhea or fever I usually go to the office. Even if I get only one hour productive work done it beats having to clean up the mile high piles of stuff to do if I miss days at work. Which is also why I usually limit vacations to a day or two.

Get. A. New. Job.

[Richard Hakluyt]

I used to take a week or two off each year, but then.......I never really liked paid employment. In my new role I have to ask for help about one day every two years or so.

My wife, who has a well-developed sense of duty, has had fewer than 5 days off in total in the past 20 years.

My father would only drink heavily when the next day was a working day, "what's the point of having a hangover on a day off?"   

[Syt]

Get. A. New. Job.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that it ain't much better elsewhere these days.

[Barrister]

Get. A. New. Job.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that it ain't much better elsewhere these days.

Anecdotal evidence from you suggests the contrary.

[Maladict]

I'm home with the flu. First time I called in sick this year, so I'm not feeling guilty or anything.
I share an office with four people, no point in getting them all infected.

[Grey Fox]

When I feel sick enough that I Know I'll spend the day just wasting tissues. Also the work can wait. If it can't, well I have a boss, that's his job to find someone to take care of it.

[Mr.Penguin]

I have the week of, however here mid week am I starting have flu symptoms, bugger...

Staying home sick for a week, with the fly, quite ok. extending you week of by calling in sick, big no no. So matter how sick I am, do I have to show up Monday morning at work...

[Martinus]

For the record, Poland appears to have a completely different system for "sick days" than the US - it's one I'd consider more "fair" (in that it does not penalize people with relatively poor health) but less "free" (in that it limits the person's ability to call in sick).

Effectively, out of our annual holiday allowance (which is between 18 and 26 working days, depending on the tenure and some other factors), we have 4 "immediate holiday" days which we can use to "call in sick" the way Americans do - i.e. you can just call in the morning and say you are not coming to work on that day, for whatever reason. And when you do, you can do whatever you want - it's essentially a normal holiday.

Now, when you are actually sick, the way it works, you go to your GP and he then examines you and based on the results, writes you a medical statement saying that you are unable to work for an X number of days as a result of your disease. He also states on it whether you are required to stay home, stay in bed, walk etc. On the basis of it, you are free not to work but have to follow the instructions or you may be fired (so if you were told by the doctor you have to stay in bed but someone sees you in a theatre, you can get fired, etc.) When you are on a sick leave like this, you are being paid by social security and not your employer, but you retain your right to be paid (i.e. your social security company - membership in one is obligatory - is paying you the same amount you would get from your employer).

Now, you cannot be fired while you are on a sick leave, however your employer can terminate the employment if the duration of sick leave in a given year is particularly long (but it is very long 6-9 months depending on circumstances), since it means you are pretty much unable to work at all. Also, as already stated, you can be fired for abusing the system.