5 ms·

What a silly company. Quit. One consultancy I worked for had a nice policy: 30 combined sick/holiday/vacation days off per year. If you never got sick, great.

What a silly company. Quit. One consultancy I worked for had a nice policy: 30 combined sick/holiday/vacation days off per year. If you never got sick, great. If you needed a personal day, take it. If you didn't mind coming in on Memorial Day, that's one more day to use later.

kasey_junk 10y ago
Combined time off policies have the very real downside of encouraging sick employees to cone to work.
- blisterpeanuts 10y ago
  And if you have separate sick leave? Same issue: if you use up your 10 days of sick leave, are you going to stay home or come to work? Most people will just come to work unless they can afford to take the unpaid time off. At least with combined time off, you have options. I guess I would also ask: if someone is sick for 3-4 weeks out of the year, should they not consider skipping vacation that year? Otherwise, it's a hardship for their employer and colleagues, who have to essentially do their job for them for many weeks.
jrjarrett 10y ago
This is a really AWFUL policy. I recently started a new job that has this same policy and I am struggling whether to stay. Everything else is great. However, in 27 years of working, I've never had to worry about sick time. Now, I am afraid to take ETO time as vacation because what happens if I get sick? I had a coworker come in with walking pneumonia because he was running short on ETO. NOT having separated sick time is bad because you can't plan when to take vacation time because of the unknown, and you're going to show up to the office and spread your viruses because you can't take a day to rest and recover.
- blisterpeanuts 10y ago
  Maybe just do what we did: reserve ten days out of your 30 for sickness? The point of the policy is that you're responsible for budgeting your own time. If you need less sick leave, take less sick leave. If you need more, take more. If you're a sickly type, you might want to buy a disability policy of some sort that supports you for weeks or months.
tedmiston 10y ago
The combined policy sounds like another way of saying "we don't trust you to not use sick days for vacation."
- blisterpeanuts 10y ago
  No, it's the opposite. "We trust you to use your paid time off as you deem fit." Traditionally, companies budget sick time for their employees, yet insist that you bring in a doctor's note to "prove" you were sick. You consider that a trusting relationship?
  - tedmiston 10y ago
    That sounds awful. I have never had an employer ask me for a doctor's note (across industry, private research, and working for a university).
    - blisterpeanuts 10y ago
      Google it; it's not at all uncommon. Perhaps it's less common however in a tech/research profession such as yours, where it's probably considered too much of an insult to intelligence. I mean, it insults anyone's intelligence, but people with fewer options just have to put up with it.
      - tedmiston 10y ago
        I can't agree with you more. It's surprising to learn anyone working in tech has to do this.

kasey_junk 10y ago

Combined time off policies have the very real downside of encouraging sick employees to cone to work.

blisterpeanuts 10y ago
And if you have separate sick leave? Same issue: if you use up your 10 days of sick leave, are you going to stay home or come to work? Most people will just come to work unless they can afford to take the unpaid time off. At least with combined time off, you have options. I guess I would also ask: if someone is sick for 3-4 weeks out of the year, should they not consider skipping vacation that year? Otherwise, it's a hardship for their employer and colleagues, who have to essentially do their job for them for many weeks.

jrjarrett 10y ago

This is a really AWFUL policy. I recently started a new job that has this same policy and I am struggling whether to stay. Everything else is great. However, in 27 years of working, I've never had to worry about sick time. Now, I am afraid to take ETO time as vacation because what happens if I get sick? I had a coworker come in with walking pneumonia because he was running short on ETO. NOT having separated sick time is bad because you can't plan when to take vacation time because of the unknown, and you're going to show up to the office and spread your viruses because you can't take a day to rest and recover.

blisterpeanuts 10y ago
Maybe just do what we did: reserve ten days out of your 30 for sickness? The point of the policy is that you're responsible for budgeting your own time. If you need less sick leave, take less sick leave. If you need more, take more. If you're a sickly type, you might want to buy a disability policy of some sort that supports you for weeks or months.

tedmiston 10y ago

The combined policy sounds like another way of saying "we don't trust you to not use sick days for vacation."

blisterpeanuts 10y ago
No, it's the opposite. "We trust you to use your paid time off as you deem fit." Traditionally, companies budget sick time for their employees, yet insist that you bring in a doctor's note to "prove" you were sick. You consider that a trusting relationship?
- tedmiston 10y ago
  That sounds awful. I have never had an employer ask me for a doctor's note (across industry, private research, and working for a university).
  - blisterpeanuts 10y ago
    Google it; it's not at all uncommon. Perhaps it's less common however in a tech/research profession such as yours, where it's probably considered too much of an insult to intelligence. I mean, it insults anyone's intelligence, but people with fewer options just have to put up with it.
    - tedmiston 10y ago
      I can't agree with you more. It's surprising to learn anyone working in tech has to do this.