5 ms·

I for one like a vacation only policy. Why does it matter to you or the employer why you are taking a day off? What if I don't get sick? I would have to lie t

by tyoma 13y ago

I for one like a vacation only policy. Why does it matter to you or the employer why you are taking a day off? What if I don't get sick? I would have to lie to my employer or let paid time off go unused. As long as the sick day count is rolled into the total vacation allowance, the only change is not having to lie when taking a day off.

pgeorgi 13y ago
If you don't get sick, you're not using the unlimited pool of sick days. After all, those are meant to get you healthy again (and protect your coworkers from you, in case it's contagious) To make sick days more manageable for employers, in Germany the health care system takes over, paying wages after 6 weeks - down to 70% under the assumption that you don't have certain costs related to work (such as health care payments, commute) while sick. I think some employers take extra (private) insurance for earlier coverage. Of course, there is some abuse which is, of course, an immediate termination reason. As mitigation, sick days policies require (by law) to see a doctor if it's more than three days, and most employers require it for the first day. Yes, all that is terribly unfair to those healthy employees that don't get to enjoy feeling miserable in bed...
- tyoma 13y ago
  I'm not aware of any US-based company with an unlimited pool of sick days. Maybe I'm wrong though, would love to know.
  - cunac 13y ago
    Autodesk is one for example.Again that is not substitute for STD and LTD it is for cases when lets say you get 2-3 day sickness (cold or something like that)
  - pgeorgi 13y ago
    That's my impression, too. And to be honest, it's one of the biggest reasons I don't dream of moving to the US anymore - even though nearly all of the interesting jobs in my niche are over there.
namdnay 13y ago
I find the US concept of sick days very strange... Either you're sick or you're not. In every other country I've worked in, sick days aren't counted: you get a note from the doctor, social security covers your wages and that's it. Sure, some people game the system a bit, and it costs a bit more in taxes, but at the end of the day, in 2014 should we really have to worry about being sick?

by tyoma 13y ago

pgeorgi 13y ago

If you don't get sick, you're not using the unlimited pool of sick days. After all, those are meant to get you healthy again (and protect your coworkers from you, in case it's contagious) To make sick days more manageable for employers, in Germany the health care system takes over, paying wages after 6 weeks - down to 70% under the assumption that you don't have certain costs related to work (such as health care payments, commute) while sick. I think some employers take extra (private) insurance for earlier coverage. Of course, there is some abuse which is, of course, an immediate termination reason. As mitigation, sick days policies require (by law) to see a doctor if it's more than three days, and most employers require it for the first day. Yes, all that is terribly unfair to those healthy employees that don't get to enjoy feeling miserable in bed...

tyoma 13y ago
I'm not aware of any US-based company with an unlimited pool of sick days. Maybe I'm wrong though, would love to know.
- cunac 13y ago
  Autodesk is one for example.Again that is not substitute for STD and LTD it is for cases when lets say you get 2-3 day sickness (cold or something like that)
- pgeorgi 13y ago
  That's my impression, too. And to be honest, it's one of the biggest reasons I don't dream of moving to the US anymore - even though nearly all of the interesting jobs in my niche are over there.

namdnay 13y ago

I find the US concept of sick days very strange... Either you're sick or you're not. In every other country I've worked in, sick days aren't counted: you get a note from the doctor, social security covers your wages and that's it. Sure, some people game the system a bit, and it costs a bit more in taxes, but at the end of the day, in 2014 should we really have to worry about being sick?