The Chronicles of Lady T -

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Mar. 20th, 2009

7:26 AM

Poll #1368679 Sick days
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 15

How many of your allotted sick days do you use?

View Answers

All of them. They're built into my schedule, so why not use them?
3 (20.0%)

I try to save them for emergencies, but I'll take a day for a bad cold.
7 (46.7%)

I'll only miss work if my actual limbs are falling off. Sick days are for lazy wusses.
1 (6.7%)

I don't have sick days built into my schedule, so thanks for rubbing it in.
4 (26.7%)

Mood: exhausted

Comments

( 9 comments — Leave a comment )

sunbrae wrote:

Mar. 20th, 2009 02:19 pm (UTC)

I don't have any sick days, but I only work two days and one night a week, so I don't really need them. Even if I'm sick, though, I go to class, because I don't know who would sub for me.

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rustydog wrote:

Mar. 20th, 2009 05:03 pm (UTC)

Same here, except I work every day. In theory, we have a list of substitutes we can call, but most of them have been AWOL for years, and they all need at least a day or two notice, so if you wake up sick, there's nothing to do but go to class anyway. Even if you just put in a movie, make arrangement with the students to do some project on their own, and go home. Plus, we have to pay subsitutes $18.50/hour out of our own pocket, so that's an incentive not to miss, too.

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queenofdenile wrote:

Mar. 21st, 2009 03:33 pm (UTC)

Oh wow, things are SO different for secondary teachers than for professors. We definitely are not expected to pay out of our own pocket.

One thing that's really annoying, though, is when several people are out in one day and sometimes substitutes don't come. That's when we're assigned coverages and have to take over someone else's class just for one period. But that means missing a prep. It can get really bad if people don't call subcentral. Then people get tired of getting coverages and might call in sick just so they won't get one.

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rustydog wrote:

Mar. 21st, 2009 04:15 pm (UTC)

Well, if I were a normal professor, I wouldn't have to find or pay a substitute - I could just cancel class when I'm sick. But because I teach intensive classes and our students pay the Institute directly, our director doesn't feel like it's fair to cancel classes - we could lose business if the students got upset about it. (Of course, this is just another way we teach way more hours than any normal professor, with less compensation!)

The coverage things sounds like an escalating problem - if people are sick, then other people call in sick so they won't have to cover for them, it could get pretty chaotic! And awful for the few teachers who are still left at school.

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nutmeg3 wrote:

Mar. 20th, 2009 04:48 pm (UTC)

I'm really somewhere between #2 and #3, but now that I telecommute it's kind of easy to work while I'm sick, so I went with #3. But I wouldn't expect that of anyone who actually has to go elsewhere to work.

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livyanne wrote:

Mar. 20th, 2009 06:04 pm (UTC)

When I had sick days I generally only used them for actual illnesses. As a nanny of premies it was important to the parents that I not come in with a cold so as not to risk the twins' health. I have been known, however, to take a mental health day now and again. I think sick days can be used proactively to prevent mental illness as well as to recover from physical illness.

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raebird wrote:

Mar. 20th, 2009 09:49 pm (UTC)

I think sick days can be used proactively to prevent mental illness as well as to recover from physical illness.

That describes my philosophy of sick days pretty well. I've taken a couple so far for that reason, I think--although never without some perception of mild to moderate physical symptoms to help me justify it to myself. Those might be psychosomatic because work is driving me crazy enough to need a mental health day, though.

Anyway, if I didn't do that, I might just never take a sick day. I haven't gotten as much as a bad cold since around 2002. If I let on about that, people might start to suspect that I'm a cyborg. ::shifty eyes::

Also, I can't even imagine using all of my sick days as a matter of routine. My employer must allocate an unusually large amount of sick time, because it's just inconceivable to me that I could use up all the sick time I get in a year on top of all of the vacation time and still be productive at my job.

Edited at 2009-03-20 09:52 pm (UTC)

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queenofdenile wrote:

Mar. 21st, 2009 03:35 pm (UTC)

Yeah, I don't often get sick either. This year I took three days for having a bad cold, nausea, and a UTI, and that's a LOT for me. Usually my "sick" days mean that I need a mental health day, or I'm very underslept.

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