6 ms·

You called in sick yesterday and went to the beach with your buddies? I'm glad you did! We all need a mental health day once in a while. Being happy actually ma

You called in sick yesterday and went to the beach with your buddies? I'm glad you did! We all need a mental health day once in a while. Being happy actually makes you more productive in the long term.

quantified 5y ago
My first manager would call these “health days”, and they were always supported. He would declare random “sun” days, when it was an especially nice New England day.
hkolk 5y ago
if your manager is ok with it, don't register it as a sick day. Makes it potentially more complicated with the company doctor. Just consider it a workday spend on ...whatever. Manager being ok with it means you deserved it though :) (EU based engineering manager speaking)
- tunesmith 5y ago
  company doctor?
  - tomcooks 5y ago
    In EU companies have to appoint a medical expert that checks worker's health (for free) upon joining the company, and routinely (1-2 times a year, depends on country I guess). Edit: Could be something that only companies whose workers have to do physical labour ("blue collar" jerbs) If you call in sick for more than three days you usually go through your own doctor, so that you get a certification that you're taking X days off in order to cure yourself
    - antman 5y ago
      It is compulsory at least for all companies over 50 people. There is a three level risk profile of the work the team does that assigns the respective doctor hours to the team. That is mostly for work related incidents or prevention as per the EU legislation. For long term absence each country has different rules and paperwork.
    - dusted 5y ago
      EU citizen here, never heard of that, what country is that?
      - Fiahil 5y ago
        It's similar to what I see in France
      - bmn__ 5y ago
        .at .de .it .nl .no .pt .se for certain
        dusted 5y ago
        interesting, we don't have it in dk, never heard of a company doctor or anything like it
    - ralferoo 5y ago
      I know the UK isn't EU any more, but I've never seen that before we left and I've worked in lots of companies in the UK, big and small. In theory you should get a sick note after 3 days, because the government pays SSP (statutory sick pay) if you're ill, but in practice most companies pay you at your normal salary rate (if you're permanent, not per hour) and don't bother asking for sick note as the SSP is little more than minimum wage. Of course, this is in tech, I know that there are a lot of crappier jobs where employers trust their staff less, and I suspect in those industries the sick note is very much required.
PragmaticPulp 5y ago
> You called in sick yesterday and went to the beach with your buddies? I'm glad you did! We all need a mental health day once in a while. Being happy actually makes you more productive in the long term. Not quite. It's great when employees take care of themselves and make a point to enjoy their time outside of the office. However, it's not really cool if you commit to be somewhere on a certain day, no-show, and then lie about being sick. If you want to take a day off, that's perfectly fine. Please just communicate about it honestly. Don't lie. Reputation and trust are hard to build but easy to destroy. Also keep your coworkers in mind in these situations. It's rare that engineering work exists in a vacuum without connections to other people's work. If your team mates have to fill in the gaps because you disappeared for a day without warning, that's not really great for the rest of the team.
- pc86 5y ago
  "No showing" and "calling in sick" are two very different things.
- rendall 5y ago
  Cross-cultural programmer here, and I can help. In Europe, calling in sick when you're not actually, recognizably ill is a pretty serious breach of trust. No cutesy "mental health break" exceptions. That said, you likely have at least 20 days of paid vacation, plus holidays. In the US, where 10 days paid vacation is the norm and you're often punished in some way for actually taking it, the occasional "mental health break" of calling in sick is winked at.
  - confidantlake 5y ago
    I can assure you there is nothing "cutesy" about mental health. Feeling severely depressed/suicidal is much more serious than some minor cold. Thank god the US is moving in the direction where mental health is recognized as a serious issue. Comments like this show that we still have a long way to go.
    - rendall 5y ago

quantified 5y ago

My first manager would call these “health days”, and they were always supported. He would declare random “sun” days, when it was an especially nice New England day.

hkolk 5y ago

if your manager is ok with it, don't register it as a sick day. Makes it potentially more complicated with the company doctor. Just consider it a workday spend on ...whatever. Manager being ok with it means you deserved it though :) (EU based engineering manager speaking)

tunesmith 5y ago
company doctor?
- tomcooks 5y ago
  In EU companies have to appoint a medical expert that checks worker's health (for free) upon joining the company, and routinely (1-2 times a year, depends on country I guess). Edit: Could be something that only companies whose workers have to do physical labour ("blue collar" jerbs) If you call in sick for more than three days you usually go through your own doctor, so that you get a certification that you're taking X days off in order to cure yourself
  - antman 5y ago
    It is compulsory at least for all companies over 50 people. There is a three level risk profile of the work the team does that assigns the respective doctor hours to the team. That is mostly for work related incidents or prevention as per the EU legislation. For long term absence each country has different rules and paperwork.
  - dusted 5y ago
    EU citizen here, never heard of that, what country is that?
    - Fiahil 5y ago
      It's similar to what I see in France
    - bmn__ 5y ago
      .at .de .it .nl .no .pt .se for certain
      - dusted 5y ago
        interesting, we don't have it in dk, never heard of a company doctor or anything like it
  - ralferoo 5y ago
    I know the UK isn't EU any more, but I've never seen that before we left and I've worked in lots of companies in the UK, big and small. In theory you should get a sick note after 3 days, because the government pays SSP (statutory sick pay) if you're ill, but in practice most companies pay you at your normal salary rate (if you're permanent, not per hour) and don't bother asking for sick note as the SSP is little more than minimum wage. Of course, this is in tech, I know that there are a lot of crappier jobs where employers trust their staff less, and I suspect in those industries the sick note is very much required.

PragmaticPulp 5y ago

> You called in sick yesterday and went to the beach with your buddies? I'm glad you did! We all need a mental health day once in a while. Being happy actually makes you more productive in the long term. Not quite. It's great when employees take care of themselves and make a point to enjoy their time outside of the office. However, it's not really cool if you commit to be somewhere on a certain day, no-show, and then lie about being sick. If you want to take a day off, that's perfectly fine. Please just communicate about it honestly. Don't lie. Reputation and trust are hard to build but easy to destroy. Also keep your coworkers in mind in these situations. It's rare that engineering work exists in a vacuum without connections to other people's work. If your team mates have to fill in the gaps because you disappeared for a day without warning, that's not really great for the rest of the team.

pc86 5y ago
"No showing" and "calling in sick" are two very different things.
rendall 5y ago
Cross-cultural programmer here, and I can help. In Europe, calling in sick when you're not actually, recognizably ill is a pretty serious breach of trust. No cutesy "mental health break" exceptions. That said, you likely have at least 20 days of paid vacation, plus holidays. In the US, where 10 days paid vacation is the norm and you're often punished in some way for actually taking it, the occasional "mental health break" of calling in sick is winked at.
- confidantlake 5y ago
  I can assure you there is nothing "cutesy" about mental health. Feeling severely depressed/suicidal is much more serious than some minor cold. Thank god the US is moving in the direction where mental health is recognized as a serious issue. Comments like this show that we still have a long way to go.
  - rendall 5y ago