"Cracking down" on workplace absenteeism

[Nords]

Shirking Working: The War on Hooky

"The new climate was evident last year when word came of Wal-Mart's revamped absence policy. It mandates that workers will have to call an automated 1-800 number instead of notifying their managers, who can be subjective."

Why does Wal-Mart call them "managers" if they don't trust them to manage their employees?

Thankfully some companies have sidestepped the whole facetime issue:

"At IBM, workers take as much or as little time off as they want. "Tracking time is passé; we could never go back," says Dan Pelino, who heads the company's health-care business. At Best Buy (BBY ), the electronics retailer's results-only work environment means employees are evaluated on their output, not their hours. Show up as much--or as little--as you like. Yes, some abuse the policy. They get one warning--and then they're out."

 

[FinallyRetired]

Here's the complete checklist Wal Martians have to follow for an excused absence:

Wal-Martians: How to Take a Sick Day at Wal-Mart by Austin Cushing — work, wal-martians, walmart | Gather

 

[Nords]

Here's the complete checklist Wal Martians have to follow for an excused absence:

Ye gods, I think the military sick-in-quarters system has finally met its match.

The only consolation to reading Cushing's procedure is that "The Wal-Mart Effect" claims the mid&pper-level managers are treated almost as badly by the C-level execs as this system is treating the rank & file.

 

[FinallyRetired]

Ye gods, I think the military sick-in-quarters system has finally met its match.

You mean like these Army sick call procedures from Fort Knox?

1. References: TRADOC REG 350-6
2. No private will be denied the opportunity to go on sick call.
3. The private will tell their drill sergeants at first call that they want to go on sick call.
4. After any early morning training (i.e. PT) the sick call privates will go to the front of the line and eat breakfast first. Privates too sick to conduct PT will still report to the first formation, then stretch or exercise without causing further injury.
5. After they finish breakfast these sick calls will report to the CQ desk. Weather permitting, the privates will have a formation outside for the drill sergeant to get the necessary information to update the sick call board. If it is raining, privates will bring raingear. Privates in all phases will march down to the Regimental Triage Clinic (Building 6583). Minor cases will be seen and returned to duty, marching back to the company. More serious cases will be referred to Nelson Clinic (Building 5949) or Ireland Army Hospital, and wait for the Brigade Shuttle to pick them up and return them to the battalion area. Privates may each lunch at the hospital, but are forbidden to use phones or vending machines.
6. After sick call is complete the private will contact the company.
a. In Phase I, a cadre member will pick up the sick call.
b. After Phase I, the private will use the shuttle.
7. Upon return to the company the sick call will report to the Training NCO or the CQ/KP Supervisor. If a private has not returned from sick call by 1400 hours, the Training NCO should first call the Triage Clinic, then Nelson Clinic, then the Hospital to locate the private.
8. The private will then join training in progress and report to the Reporting NCO. The private’s battle buddy should have brought his weapon, if required, out to the training site for him.
9. The private will tell their drill sergeants of any profile limitations, medication issued, and any follow on appointments. Sick call slips that return without time punches, stamps or doctor’s signature will be questioned. The drill sergeant will control serious medication.
10. If a drill sergeant suspects a malingerer then they will tell the commander, who will discuss the case with the doctor. The medical personnel will then pay special attention to the private to confirm or deny the suspicions.
11. Check weekend hours and sick call locations. Generally, privates are brought to the Emergency Room if they are seriously injured or ill after duty hours and on weekends. Call for an ambulance, if necessary.

 

[maddythebeagle]

My favorite Jeff Foxworthy bit is calling in sick and faking it....he says, if you are going to fake it, come up with something gross like explosive diarrhea.... so that they wont want you coming in for sure...

 

[bssc]

At Megacorp, they give us 28 days of PTO (including holidays) to start and the ability to buy another week. The amazing thing is that no one takes the time and so most of my office will be out for a good part of December because we have use it or lose it.

 

[Gumby]

After having spent many years in a place where I could come and go as I pleased (so long as my billings stayed at an appropriate level), it is somewhat disconcerting to work for the state now. My new j*b will not let me take any vacation for the first six months. I told them I am taking the day after Thanksgiving and don't really care that it is without pay.

 

[Janet H]

Rant alert:

I have a personal beef with draconian sick leave policies - they make me sick!
People who are sick should stay home - I don't want their crud. Employers who encourage contagion should have be whipped with used hankies.

Just my .02

 

[Martha]

So you liking the job Gumby?

 

[Gumby]

So you liking the job Gumby?

Very much so. I am in the antitrust division and am currently working on a number of investigations (and one prosecution) that I think will have a very positive affect on the public if they should come to fruition. It really is quite fun to wear the white hat for a change.

 

[bruce1]

Almost makes me want to apply for a position at the new walcr@p that is opening near me just so I can tell them where to go and how to get there when I get it. Trouble is my attitude would probably show during the interview.

Bruce

 

[youbet]

Rant alert:

I have a personal beef with draconian sick leave policies - they make me sick!
People who are sick should stay home - I don't want their crud. Employers who encourage contagion should have be whipped with used hankies.

Just my .02

Often it's the employees themselves that are their own worse enemies! The Megacorp I toiled at began a policy which gave us PTO days in generous quantities. You could use them for whatever you wanted, including staying home sick if you had a cold, the flu, etc. (Serious, longer term illnesses were covered by a separate leave policy.)

Once this policy started, employees who previously would stay home "sick" for any possible reason, suddenly became brave and loyal and showed up with fevers, sniffles, whatever......... They wanted to save their PTO days to use for vacation! Jerks! Managers would even question why they were there hacking and wheezing through meetings, but it didn't seem to do much good. I hate to think of how many times I came down sick due to one of them.

 

[Andre1969]

My company's leave policy is pretty cool. Instead of giving you vacation days and sick days, they just lump it all into one leave policy. So it doesn't matter if you're sick or just want to take a day off...all comes out of the same pot. I get 25 days per year, and can accrue up to 50 (400 hours).

They also let us take partial days, and we can make up hours. So if I took Monday off, I could work 10 hours Tues-Fri to make up that time. They don't want us doing that TOO much though, and of course that can lead to abuses of its own, like people taking a day off and then just sitting around, twiddling their thumbs after hours when there's nothing to do.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Andre, it was like that when I worked for Habitat for Humanity. Pretty good system, to my mind. The lumped together leave made a lot of sense, especially as I was a manager and didn't want to keep up with why someone was off and what leave did that count towards, etc.

 

[ziggy29]

People who are sick should stay home - I don't want their crud. Employers who encourage contagion should have be whipped with used hankies.

At the very least, if feasible for their job they should be encouraged to work from home that day if not take an all-out sick day. I just got over a cold and my boss made it clear to me that other than a couple of meetings I needed to call in from home to "attend," I should rest and not get anyone else sick (or make myself sicker).

 

[Bigritchie]

Being self-employed, my sick days went something like this:

#1 Am I dead? Not yet anyway

#2 Suck it up and go to work.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I had an easy sick time policy.

I told people on day one that if they had something else they needed to do, go do it. If they didnt feel like working, to stay home. Tell me in advance if possible, but please dont call me and pretend that you're sick when you're not. What a waste of time and bad acting.

Then I made sure to tell them that if they took too many mental health days or had too many out of work distractions, that I'd solve that problem for them very quickly.

Funny thing? Hardly anyone was ever sick after that. Every once in a while someone would tell me they wouldnt be in the next day because something popped up and needed to be dealt with. I think taking away the aspect of "getting away with a free day" made it less appealing.

But my boss didnt have the same flexible attitude, so I used Maddy's approach: told them I ate something bad and now had stuff coming out of both ends at the speed of light. That usually ended the conversation. If they still wanted to talk about it, I told them that the last time I threw up, I was pretty sure I saw my feet sticking out of my mouth for a second. That does it.

 

[laurence]

My company did the whole, "Vacation + sick days now = PTO days." Genius, on their part! Call in sick all you want, it's your vacation day! They lumped a week onto the set amount of vacation, it was the same amount of days off, but now people drag themselves into work sick because, "it's a vacation day, dang it!". Blech. Have a heart and give us 3 sick days! We get 21-23 PTO days a year to start, so I guess I shouldn't complain.

 

[Janet H]

Often it's the employees themselves that are their own worse enemies! The Megacorp I toiled at began a policy which gave us PTO days in generous quantities. You could use them for whatever you wanted, including staying home sick if you had a cold, the flu, etc. (Serious, longer term illnesses were covered by a separate leave policy.)

All true, but other not so enlightened employers and employees are still spreading plague when they should be home stuffing tissues in their nostrils and swigging useless OTC cold meds. Grocery checkers, food service workers and most other marginally paid folks who interact with the public seem to be doing their best to trip up my immune system.

yes... I know I'm whining, but I sing for a living and am self-employed. When I get sick I have to refund tickets and cancel performance contracts on short notice. Nobody wants to pay to watch me hack, spew and drip under hot lights.

On second thought - maybe I need to market to a different crowd?

hmm....
.

 

[NinjaPigeon]

Nobody wants to pay to watch me hack, spew and drip under hot lights.

On second thought - maybe I need to market to a different crowd?

hmm....
.

How much is the ticket to THAT show?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Once again, someone goes where I would not...

 

[martyb]

But my boss didnt have the same flexible attitude, so I used Maddy's approach: told them I ate something bad and now had stuff coming out of both ends at the speed of light. That usually ended the conversation. If they still wanted to talk about it, I told them that the last time I threw up, I was pretty sure I saw my feet sticking out of my mouth for a second. That does it.

ROFLMAO!!!

 

[martyb]

Nobody wants to pay to watch me hack, spew and drip under hot lights.

On second thought - maybe I need to market to a different crowd?

hmm....
.

LOL!

 

[youbet]

All true, but other not so enlightened employers and employees are still spreading plague when they should be home stuffing tissues in their nostrils and swigging useless OTC cold meds. Grocery checkers, food service workers and most other marginally paid folks who interact with the public seem to be doing their best to trip up my immune system.

Yep. My point was simply that these days it seems to be the choice of the employee as often as not when an employee winds up working sick.

yes... I know I'm whining, but I sing for a living and am self-employed. When I get sick I have to refund tickets and cancel performance contracts on short notice. Nobody wants to pay to watch me hack, spew and drip under hot lights.

Your attitude regarding not performing sick is appreciated! DW and I are great fans of celtic, bluegrass, folk and world music and see 30 - 40 performances annually, mostly here in the Chicago area. (It's one of our planned retirement expenses!) I'm amazed at how infrequently performances are cancelled due to sickness, but when they are, it's for the best. Last year, for example, we went to see Terri Hendrix (Texas based singer-song writer) at a local venue seating about 120. She was coughing and so hoarse she couldn't really sing. Kind of embarassing for both her and the audience. This is a pay-at-the-door, non-profit venue with a local audience so I can't understand why they just didn't cancel.

 

[Janet H]

Y Last year, for example, we went to see Terri Hendrix (Texas based singer-song writer) at a local venue seating about 120. She was coughing and so hoarse she couldn't really sing. Kind of embarassing for both her and the audience. This is a pay-at-the-door, non-profit venue with a local audience so I can't understand why they just didn't cancel.

It's very likely that the non-profit had a contract with the artist for a fixed fee plus a percentage of the door. They may have also had to pay a sound provider (and buy a newspaper ad). In this instance, the sound provider would still have to be paid and if the artist actually canceled, she might have to pay the sound contractor. Same goes for venue rentals. Most venues even little ones like grange halls and churches have small rental fees. So aside from canceling the show, not getting paid and losing revenue from on-site CD/product sales, the performer or the non-profit could potentially be stuck with several hundred dollars (maybe more) of fixed costs. Bad deal all around.