Paid sick leave

[heehee]

Originally Posted by GermanyChris

Where do you live?

Canada. Im lucky to get my 3 weeks of vacation without being judged.

[GermanyChris]

Originally Posted by heehee

Canada. Im lucky to get my 3 weeks of vacation without being judged.

Non-Americans tend to get more sick leave and actual leave than Americans.

I earn 1 day of sick leave per month and well as 12hrs of regular leave working for the Government. My wife who works half time for German government get about the same number of hrs leave as I do but roughly twice the sick leave.

[prostuff1]

My sick and vacation time is all lumped into PTO.

I don't mind it this way, but I don't have kids or anything of that sort yet.

I tend to not use much of my PTO as it is and will have to start using more since my company recently revised there handbook so that we could not carry over any unused time and we can't cash it in either.

[JoshMKB24]

I think it really depends. We don't get sick days, just Paid Time Off(PTO) and can use them for sick days or vacation days. From what I see though, most people just keep coming into the office sick and use PTO for vacation or just extra days off. I can understand wanting to come in while sick, because it sucks being miserable at home and people don't like losing pay. That does expose the rest of the office though to illness, yeah it could be costly for a company to pay 1 person a full wage to stay home for a day, but it'd be more costly if you are operating at 50% efficiency with a full staff, because everyone is sick.

[rhett7660]

Originally Posted by Huntn

It is. Having your life turned up side down because you are sick and not being paid would suck. Yes there are cases of abuse.

I think that can be said about pretty much any type of leave.

I am all for paid sick leave. One does not need to worry about being ill and on top of that need to worry about being paid because they are ill.

[aerok]

I strongly think that seperate sick days should be given to employees that is seperate from their vacation time. For full-timers, at 5 days/year should be given. I personaly have 10 per year and I never use them up.

Don't forget that in Canada, paid maternity leave is 50 weeks for the mother and 4 weeks for the father. Most Americans don't even get a week (Depending on the company they work for).

[j.dstasio]

Originally Posted by elistan

Forced? No. But it's in the company's own best interest, IMO, regardless of size.

This.

I would never consider working for a company that does not offer paid sick time. To me an employee it just says the company doesn't value me as an employee. I don't want to work around people when they are sick.

My company (very large multi-national) offers PTO time. My sick days, personal days, and vacation days are packaged together & I can take them how I wish. I also have the option to just work from home if I can. With the recent flu spreading, I have lost count of the number of emails I've seen from corporate encouraging people to work from home or stay home if they are sick.

The state of NJ also has a couple of paid leave (66% IIRC) short term disability programs for for things like surgery, serious illness, caring for a family member, or to bond with a newborn or newly adopted child. This is paid by employee contributions to an insurance like program.

I took advantage of this last year for 4-5 weeks I was out of work to care for my partner who was diagnosed with cancer and had a couple major surgeries. All states should look into this. It was a huge help to us since this was unexpected & I ran through the balance of my PTO time pretty quickly.

[aerok]

Originally Posted by j.dstasio

This.
I would never consider working for a company that does not offer paid sick time. To me an employee it just says the company doesn't value me as an employee. I don't want to work around people when they are sick.

True but unfortunately a lot of people don't really have the choice, it's hard enough to find a job nowadays.

[PracticalMac]

Employees get X number of paid days off per year to use as needed.
Sick, vacation, being lazy.

A few extra days off for major medical issues (cancer, compound fractures, organ transplants, etc)

Fair?

[iStudentUK]

Originally Posted by PracticalMac

Employees get X number of paid days off per year to use as needed.
Sick, vacation, being lazy.

A few extra days off for major medical issues (cancer, compound fractures, organ transplants, etc)

Fair?

Nope.

Vacation time is for enjoyment- relaxing, visiting family/friends, holidays etc. As well as doing odd jobs - DIY etc.

Sick leave is for times when you are not in sufficient health to attend work. It follows that the benefits of annual leave cannot be realised.

Two fundamentally different reasons for time off. Employees should have the right to paid pre-arrangedholiday away from work to enjoy other things in life. I really enjoy my job, but I also love having a decent amount of paid vacation (7 weeks) seperate from sick leave.

[aerok]

Originally Posted by iStudentUK

Nope.

Vacation time is for enjoyment- relaxing, visiting family/friends, holidays etc. As well as doing odd jobs - DIY etc.

Sick leave is for times when you are not in sufficient health to attend work. It follows that the benefits of annual leave cannot be realised.

Two fundamentally different reasons for time off. Employees should have the right to paid pre-arrangedholiday away from work to enjoy other things in life. I really enjoy my job, but I also love having a decent amount of paid vacation (7 weeks) seperate from sick leave.

7 weeks Lucky you...

[iStudentUK]

Originally Posted by aerok

7 weeks Lucky you...

That's not very unusual here. Legal minimum is 28 days for full time employees (ie 5.6 weeks).

Most people I know get about 25-28 days, but get bank holidays paid as well (there are usually 7 a year thus bringing the total to over 28).

[Eraserhead]

Originally Posted by iStudentUK

That's not very unusual here. Legal minimum is 28 days for full time employees (ie 5.6 weeks).

That does include bank holidays .

[elistan]

Originally Posted by aerok

True but unfortunately a lot of people don't really have the choice, it's hard enough to find a job nowadays.

I just read on time.com (don't recall exactly which article, something to do with influenza) that 40% of all workers do not get any paid sick time.

[PracticalMac]

Originally Posted by iStudentUK

That's not very unusual here. Legal minimum is 28 days for full time employees (ie 5.6 weeks).

Most people I know get about 25-28 days, but get bank holidays paid as well (there are usually 7 a year thus bringing the total to over 28).

In grand ol' USofA, no vacation days off at all. Just 10 days for Federal Holidays.

Companies usually provide 10 paid, mine gives 12, however I guess almost half the US workforce have no vacation days becuase the companies are too small to compensate.
No sources, just my guess.

[Eraserhead]

Originally Posted by PracticalMac

however I guess almost half the US workforce have no vacation days becuase the companies are too small to compensate

At the end of the day you reduce people's salaries slightly to give them paid holiday - but I doubt the reduction is significant as allowing people to have time off makes them more productive.

[Rodimus Prime]

Originally Posted by PracticalMac

In grand ol' USofA, no vacation days off at all. Just 10 days for Federal Holidays.

Companies usually provide 10 paid, mine gives 12, however I guess almost half the US workforce have no vacation days becuase the companies are too small to compensate.
No sources, just my guess.

Well look at the largest offenders of not giving out vacation and paid days off. It will fall under retail (aka Walmart for example)

[aerok]

Originally Posted by Rodimus Prime

Well look at the largest offenders of not giving out vacation and paid days off. It will fall under retail (aka Walmart for example)

Walmart is the one of the worst of the worst, basically treating their employees like slaves.

[rdowns]

Originally Posted by aerok

Walmart is the one of the worst of the worst, basically treating their employees like slaves.

Nonsense. WalMart treats them just well enough so they qualify for all kinds of public assistance (yes, the US taxpayer subsidizes their workforce) like food stamps and Medicaid.

[Bug-Creator]

Bout to make some people jelaous:

30 days of (+ about 10 days holiday like xmas,easter,3rd october etc etc).

Sick leave comes extra and has to paid by the employer up to 6 weeks ! per illness !. Afterwards (read if your seriously ill) I'd get a reduced sick-pay either by my health-insurance or by an insurance paid by employer (if the illness is work-related), no time limit on these.

[bradl]

Originally Posted by Bug-Creator

Bout to make some people jelaous:

30 days of (+ about 10 days holiday like xmas,easter,3rd october etc etc).

Sick leave comes extra and has to paid by the employer up to 6 weeks ! per illness !. Afterwards (read if your seriously ill) I'd get a reduced sick-pay either by my health-insurance or by an insurance paid by employer (if the illness is work-related), no time limit on these.

Oh, those poor, poor companies! Having to pay for your sick leave, to make sure you are taken care of to retain your loyalty and continued efforts to bring them revenue is so... so... Socialist!!!

How dare you receive something so incredibly wrong from a free market capitalist's perspective! You should quit your job and pay for your own healthcare!



BL.

[yg17]

Originally Posted by PracticalMac

In grand ol' USofA, no vacation days off at all. Just 10 days for Federal Holidays.

Companies usually provide 10 paid, mine gives 12, however I guess almost half the US workforce have no vacation days becuase the companies are too small to compensate.
No sources, just my guess.

Technically employers don't have to give those days off, or give them to you off with pay. Plenty of places are open for business on those days.

So it's entirely legal for an employer to provide you with zero paid days off a year because anything else would be socialism

And hell, even if you did get federal holiday off and paid, it's not like you get to choose when Christmas is. I know there have been times at past jobs where I'd rather work Christmas and take the paid day off some other time, but alas, that's not an option.

It's a non issue for me now, because I get 15 vacation days and 8 personal days (which are essentially the same thing) each year, and they require us to use them all (if we don't have days off scheduled by September or October, we start showing up on management's ****lists). Sick time is an entirely separate bucket which I've been told there's no hard limit, they'll just start asking more questions if you take a bunch of time off which is understandable.

[prostuff1]

I get 11 PTO days every 6 months which includes vacation, sick, etc.

There are allowances in the company handbook for families with kids. If a kid gets sick the parent can bring in a doctors note the next day, and get a paid day without it being pulled from there PTO time. There are also allowances for maternity leave which does not cut into PTO time. I think the mother gets something like 8 weeks paid off and the father gets 4 weeks.

[aerok]

Originally Posted by prostuff1

I get 11 PTO days every 6 months which includes vacation, sick, etc.

There are allowances in the company handbook for families with kids. If a kid gets sick the parent can bring in a doctors note the next day, and get a paid day without it being pulled from there PTO time. There are also allowances for maternity leave which does not cut into PTO time. I think the mother gets something like 8 weeks paid off and the father gets 4 weeks.

My job in Canada gives me:

4 weeks + 2 days vacation
10 days of sick/personal
3 days of bereavement (Death of a family member)
3 months of 60% paid leave (Must be a serious mental or physical problem)
6 months of 40% paid leave (Once you used up the 3 months)
Several holidays
1 month of paternity (1 year for mothers) which is provided by the government

I make 40k but beginning salary is about 33k

[GermanyChris]

Originally Posted by aerok

My job in Canada gives me:

4 weeks + 2 days vacation
10 days of sick/personal
3 days of bereavement (Death of a family member)
3 months of 60% paid leave (Must be a serious mental or physical problem)
6 months of 40% paid leave (Once you used up the 3 months)
Several holidays
1 month of paternity (1 year for mothers) which is provided by the government

I make 40k but beginning salary is about 33k

My wife gets 3 years and I believe 40% of her salary.