Oh that's interesting. That's how a lot of jobs here work too (more common with white collar ones). Although some jobs (especially those with a pension) that h

Oh that's interesting. That's how a lot of jobs here work too (more common with white collar ones). Although some jobs (especially those with a pension) that have a sick day allotment will give you a credit for unused sick days. Eg my dad retired one month early because he had unused vacation and sick days. Some jobs also give you a lump of time off and say "this is paid time off, you can use it for sick time OR vacation". But that's only for short sicknesses, like if you need 1-2 days for a cold. If you're sick for more than 5 days you get paid by the government instead of your employer