4 ms·

It's all an overresponse to the problem that a handful of people would spend half their days in the bathroom if there were no rules. The right answer is always

It's all an overresponse to the problem that a handful of people would spend half their days in the bathroom if there were no rules. The right answer is always to deal with the individuals who are the problem, but somehow it always becomes rules that make life worse for everyone.

jorts 4y ago
100% - At my last company we had an unlimited sick policy. Wonderful for everyone - don't even question staying home if you're remotely ill. Well, it was wonderful until one employee was sick every Friday and Monday and some. We ended up having to adjust the company policy for two weeks sick time and beyond that required a doctors note. The employee continued their pattern and once they hit their two weeks of sick time off they couldn't provide a doctors note for further time off and ended up getting let go after continuing to call in sick. The company had benefits covering if folks needed counseling, substance abuse issues, etc... which were offered to the employee but they never took advantage of it.
- kastagg 4y ago
  You didn't have an unlimited sick policy. You had an undocumented limit. Documenting it lets people know where they stand and protects them in the event they need to take sick time but the boss wants to punish them for it anyway. It also means there's one standard for everyone, rather than people being treated in a discriminatory fashion (you get three weeks, but Samantha gets one).
  - vladvasiliu 4y ago
    But isn't this how it always goes? There's an informal policy because writing up every single thing in a contract is tedious for both parties. Then someone comes up and figures "hey, free vacation, I'd be stupid not to take advantage". So, they do take advantage for a while, until everyone realizes they're a jerk, so now everyone has to go through the new "process". Because they can't just be fired "for taking sick leave", which "is their right". This is why we can't have nice things.
kshacker 4y ago
It is also a response to handful of people who (rightly) want to get paid for their 3-5 minutes each clock in to open a shop. When you are negotiating 5 minutes this way, then the corporate negotiates 5 minutes that way, and pretty soon it is a legal contract. Of course the corporate should pay for the minutes to open the shop, and some would fix this on the first discussion, but others would pull in the lawyers, because hey that's our culture. Extrapolating here ... employee wants 5 minutes of bathroom breaks because it was not in contract and the manager abused it, so when the 5 minutes gets written into the contract, then the manager can still abuse it by writing you up for a 6 minute break, or just refuse to help you out today because he did not have a good experience with you or someone else yesterday. We are losing the human touch due to both-sided legalese in everything.

jorts 4y ago

100% - At my last company we had an unlimited sick policy. Wonderful for everyone - don't even question staying home if you're remotely ill. Well, it was wonderful until one employee was sick every Friday and Monday and some. We ended up having to adjust the company policy for two weeks sick time and beyond that required a doctors note. The employee continued their pattern and once they hit their two weeks of sick time off they couldn't provide a doctors note for further time off and ended up getting let go after continuing to call in sick. The company had benefits covering if folks needed counseling, substance abuse issues, etc... which were offered to the employee but they never took advantage of it.

kastagg 4y ago
You didn't have an unlimited sick policy. You had an undocumented limit. Documenting it lets people know where they stand and protects them in the event they need to take sick time but the boss wants to punish them for it anyway. It also means there's one standard for everyone, rather than people being treated in a discriminatory fashion (you get three weeks, but Samantha gets one).
- vladvasiliu 4y ago
  But isn't this how it always goes? There's an informal policy because writing up every single thing in a contract is tedious for both parties. Then someone comes up and figures "hey, free vacation, I'd be stupid not to take advantage". So, they do take advantage for a while, until everyone realizes they're a jerk, so now everyone has to go through the new "process". Because they can't just be fired "for taking sick leave", which "is their right". This is why we can't have nice things.

kshacker 4y ago

It is also a response to handful of people who (rightly) want to get paid for their 3-5 minutes each clock in to open a shop. When you are negotiating 5 minutes this way, then the corporate negotiates 5 minutes that way, and pretty soon it is a legal contract. Of course the corporate should pay for the minutes to open the shop, and some would fix this on the first discussion, but others would pull in the lawyers, because hey that's our culture. Extrapolating here ... employee wants 5 minutes of bathroom breaks because it was not in contract and the manager abused it, so when the 5 minutes gets written into the contract, then the manager can still abuse it by writing you up for a 6 minute break, or just refuse to help you out today because he did not have a good experience with you or someone else yesterday. We are losing the human touch due to both-sided legalese in everything.