The Sickness Stigma

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by ken0042

But that also depends on the situation. One place where I worked I had an employee rat out other employees who were ripping us off; in the same kind of context as stealing office supplies. So not grand theft, but enough that something had to be done. Problem was if I identified the people who were doing it; the snitch would also have been identified.

So the next day before the shift I sat everybody down; explained that I noticed the issue, and we would be monitoring it from now on. Never had a problem with it ever again.

I agree with your scenario. But what if it did keep happening again? Would you continue to just sit everyone down and give them the same message over and over? At some point you'd have to take some sort of action with the individual(s).

[Knut]

I wish i could take sick days.... i pretty much have to be close to death to be able to take a day off. Not because i cant, but because 20 other people take time out of their day to come in and get their eyes tested.

If i Call in sick i not only miss a day of work, but may cause a bunch of people to needlessly have to miss work.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Yes that was her idea but she should have just addressed these people individually in her office. Or bring it up in our weekly meetings. I hate constant emails about staffing issues that have nothing to do with me.

This was also the case for people not showing up to work, sometimes without any notice and she did nothing. Just another general email about how we have to phone in if we're not going to come in.

Personaly i like her idea of making employees aware of what is going on. Chances are it might make an employee think twice about coming in late for work or taking an extra long lunch.

Eventually upper manangement also thought this was ridiculous and she was let go.

I would think there is more to it than that. My guess is she was let go because she wouldn't fire or displine emplyees.

[Five-hole]

My honesty with sick days has been drastically different based on my loyalty to the job. Before I switched industries and was working downtown, I was consistently late for work and took sick days all the time. Granted, I was contracted, so I wasn't paid for those days.

Now I value that my employers think me an honest, reliable employee. It takes me being particularly sick to not come in.

What really pisses me off though is, as a private 1-on-1 teacher, when my students come in sick. Screw you, go home. No lesson this week, I don't want your germs. I think I may actually make that a policy.

[Devils'Advocate]

I posted a similar thread on one of the Devils boards recently when I came down ill. I started getting sick on a Wednesday night and due to some very important meetings I forced myself to go in on Thursday. Friday morning I went to a walk-in clinic and the doctor said it was the common cold and that I should avoid going to work for 3 days because the common cold is very contagious in the first 3 days. So I had already called in sick for the Friday and then had a miserable weekend.

But it was the Monday I was debating. I felt miserable, but was better than I was on the Thursday prior *AND* according to the doc, not contagious at that point. So I asked for opinions. Virtually EVERYONE said:

Go to work today and feel miserable there... and call in sick some sunny day when you can go enjoy yourself

To me, it seems incredibly dishonest. I wouldn't be able to call in sick unless I absolutely had to because I'd feel guilty that someone was paying me to sit home and watch 'Ernest Goes to Camp' (Weird Al reference).

[Knut]

Originally Posted by fotze

and this is how your day goes:

You: "Which one is clearer, this one or that one?"

Patient: "That one"

You: "This one or that one?"

Patient: "This one.....or maybe that one....or maybe this one..its hard to say the left one is clearer but then when I focus it seems not as clear...its a toss up"

You: "This one or that one?"

Patient: Thinkin to self: Are you even fataing listening? We've been on this same lens-thingy for 20 minutes, I'm getting seriously bored of this game, I'm going to start lying to see if he's paying attention.

When they start lying, I make sure that their glasses will give them a constant headache for two weeks, which i will fix on warranty (at no charge to myself) when they come back and complain...



Back to the topic at hand.... i end up seeing about 2 Sick kids a day.... so i feel that i have built up quite the immune system.