Why Don't Americans Take Sick Days?

[I Push Buttons]

Hmmmm shit lol. I worked from home 3 days this week.
I started and finished batman asylum, basked in the sun, took my kids to school and collected them.
America: You're living life wrong!

"Yeah but you probably pay 98.2% taxes so lazy people can leach off the guberment." - Republicans

[rayden54]

Fact is, calling in sick makes you look "lazy." They may not say it to your face (though some will), but they'll heap endless amounts of praise on Bob who "Never missed a day of work in the 15 years he's been here."

Which means Bob was lucky enough to not get sick or he just went to work sick.

The only problem I have is when they don't stay home is they have something contagious like a cold/flu, etc. Pisses me off. Sneezing and coughing over everything. That said, I've never taken a sick day.

Same here. Unfortunately, you keep sneezing and coughing long after you've stopped being contagious (in my case I'll still be coughing a 3-4 weeks later). Not to mention allergies. So you can't really go by that.

The last part though, you're lucky. I used to catch everything that went around. It's not so bad now, but I'm lucky if I go a full year without catching something.

[Sunseeker]

How much is this?

How much is what? I was getting 800/mo while unemployed, 6 month cap. Everyone gets different amounts for unemployment based on how much you were making at your previous job.

[Rooflesstoofless]

America is fucking disgusting when it comes to sick leave. That's why.

I had to call the HR department of my wife's work and threaten to personally file for the litigation just to get her boss off her case about going to see the doctor about some serious woman problems. And this was the business department of a fucking hospital that we were having to fight.

[enragedgorilla]

huh?
huhh?

HUUUUHHUHUH?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-37353742

1. Hillary? Lol
2. Work for a Public agency in the US...they ABUSE the sick leave.

[Pipboi]

It's usually not by choice. The last place I worked, if being sick caused you to miss more than 6 days in 1 year, you were considered for termination. The only people who managed to avoid being fired were people who went out drinking with the branch manager on weekends. The place had an extremely high turnover rate for a call center rated within the top 10 customer service in the US.

[dokilar]

i used to work for Remington and their sick day policy was quite absurd. If you took a sick day you had to go to your doctor and get a note from them stating that the doctor seen you and you were sick. i could understand if an employee was taking a lot of sick days and seemed fine the next day but requiring an employee to go to their doctor to get a sick note for the common cold was just asinine. my physician actually said that to me when i requested them write me a note. instead of seeing someone that actually needed something they had to sit there and tell me "go home, eat some soup, drink fluids and rest"

plant shut down about 6 months later, good riddance lol

[Belize]

Americans don't get sick obviously.

Can confirm, I am not American and I get sick at least once a year.

[oxymoronic]

i have 4 weeks off a year... how many more days do i need?

and who the fuck gets sick 10days a year? what a shitty life

- - - Updated - - -

Can confirm, I am not American and I get sick at least once a year.

you should probably look into that. something is definitely wrong with you. remember, washing your hands with hot water and for 20secs kills the germs, not cold water and 3secs.

[Belize]

you should probably look into that. something is definitely wrong with you. remember, washing your hands with hot water and for 20secs kills the germs, not cold water and 3secs.

What, not being american or catching the seasonal cold?

[oxymoronic]

That is less than half of what unemployed people get here, no cap. (Know some people that have been unemployed for over 20 years like that while getting $2000/mo).

wait is that suppose to be a good thing? you sound like you're bragging...

that is horrible

[oxymoronic]

Are you forgetting that all the most creative and innovative companies, with all the hardworking and talented people...are taking the opposite stance? It's only the "cogwheel" drone type jobs, both high and low wages, that demand employees to be robots. The best companies are creating environments where you want to work, coupled with policies that support having a life and a family, so that every day their employees are at their best and energized to be AT work. You lose SO MUCH productivity demanding robots out of employees.

that is cause those companies (internet tech companies) have such a huge mark up on their products / profit earnings. most companies dont have those insane numbers. internet/computer work takes less manpower than say mcdonalds all across america. thought you would realize this on your own...

- - - Updated - - -

I find it pretty hilarious that such a thing is no problem over here while in the USA people are afraid of being sick for a single day.

You don't see the humor and irony in the fact that some people just easily sail through life while in a country with a different ideology people are stressing over sick days in fear of losing their jobs and going homeless?

its all hype, nobody is losing their job over taking a sick day. nobody. america has liars and you love to listen to them.

- - - Updated - - -

It's usually not by choice. The last place I worked, if being sick caused you to miss more than 6 days in 1 year, you were considered for termination. The only people who managed to avoid being fired were people who went out drinking with the branch manager on weekends. The place had an extremely high turnover rate for a call center rated within the top 10 customer service in the US.

what call center doesnt have a high turnover rate. they are comparable to mcdonalds i imagine.

[Raeph]

huh?
huhh?

HUUUUHHUHUH?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-37353742

I have 18 days of vacation/PTO a year. Last three years I've taken two days off.

Three reasons:

1. Bulk of my job is driving in rural country so I have a lot of decompression time.
2. I don't work weekends.
3. I work about 8-10 hours of Overtime a week and if I miss one day in a week all that OT goes away. Losing that OT in a week drops my semimonthly income by about 10%. That's too much for my monthly budget to stand, without about 8 months of planning and prep for, though emergencies keep cropping up that prevent me from using that planning to actually take a vacation.

I'm not bitter about it though. Its life and since USA has about twice the GDP growth of the Euro-zone I think this perspective has served us well enough.

Right up until most of our first heart attacks.

[Sicarius87]

in the uk it's frowned upon if you dont take 5 sickie days a year in addition to your typical 28 days annual leave.

Most US jobs arent that lucky to have 28 days of annual leave let alone 5 sick days. Most places will fire you for calling off 1-2 times.

[oxymoronic]

Most US jobs arent that lucky to have 28 days of annual leave let alone 5 sick days. Most places will fire you for calling off 1-2 times.

name one place... cmon i dare you just one fucking place that does that... we have a labor board for a reason.

[MatthewOU2015]

Like others said people can't afford sick days or they are super important. I live in Alabama and I can be fired at any moment because we're a right to work state. Can't afford to miss work.

[Collegeguy]

I don't take sick days because I'm never sick.

I just take vacation days when I damn please.

[Locruid]

Most US jobs arent that lucky to have 28 days of annual leave let alone 5 sick days. Most places will fire you for calling off 1-2 times.

Yup in my state the employer can pretty much fire you for anything. Call in too many times and they'll find someone else

[Tennis]

i have 4 weeks off a year... how many more days do i need?

and who the fuck gets sick 10days a year? what a shitty life

- - - Updated - - -



you should probably look into that. something is definitely wrong with you. remember, washing your hands with hot water and for 20secs kills the germs, not cold water and 3secs.

How can you have 4 weeks off a year?

[Seegtease]

4. It's almost like people think you're faking unless you show proof.

Um, that's because they do. If someone has paid sick leave (or even unpaid), all they have to do is call and say they are sick, and they don't have to work that day, and sometimes are paid for it. I hear all day that bosses don't give a shit about their employees, but employees rarely give a shit about the business they work for, and if they have something they can take advantage of, they WILL take it. If somebody has paid sick leave that isn't carried over at the end of the year, the vast majority have no problem with faking sick to get paid time off. With no trust or respect between employers and employees, what do you expect?

And on another note, depending on the line of work, when someone is sick, that means someone else needs to take their place that day. If a company needs to have people available to work to replace those who are sick, then they need to either have people who only come in when someone is sick (and nobody wants that kind of unpredictable schedule) or they need to cut everyone's hours back so they can come in an extra shift when someone is sick (and people complain about part time work). There's no winning solution.

I don't know why so many in the work force expect their employer to give them all kinds of nice perks when they really have a "fuck the boss, I don't care about this company" kind of attitude. It goes both ways.