Sick Days

Same here.

Have about 2 sick days a year, bad flu gets me one day off if I am lucky.

I am the boss, but I still have to clear it with the boss's boss :o).

I always found with my staff that an honest answer is the best system.

If they need a day off becuase the fish are biting, or the kids have something special on at school, take the day or 1/2 day off. They wouldn't be working too hard any way, even if they tried.

pussycock syndrome... please elaborate...

Maybe you should add those comments to your resume (CV).

Sore throat can be passed onto other work mates making them sick also; depending on working environment may also aggravate and make it worse.

On the toilet all night> once agene, if working in a particular environment where in a “Emergency situation getting to a toilet quickly may not be possible.

Let me just say I have normmaly 1 or 2 sick days a year only when i need them, Just the way I was brought up, saying that if others wish to take full advantage of there sick leave I don’t have a problem with that.

You say it is a privilege, but if you showed up to work feeling less that 100% and preceded to hurt you self on the Job your employer would do there upmost to hand ball any responsibility off to you.

Same as if you injured your self-if you failed to follow safety procedures even if you were told to ignore them, The employer would drop you like a hot potato

I was asked to climb into a 40,000-litre diesel storage tank the other day for a inspection as it had been sitting empty for some time and the small amount of diesel left in the bottom had tuned bad, we had just pulled off the man Hole.
It had and I was not given
No ventilation
No air test
No safety harness
No respirator or associated chemical PPE gear
No spotter

I asked about the above safety measures and was told buy the persion in charge, if I didn’t want to do it then I should go home, which I did.

Cheers.

Hi Exploder, In my reply I stated A fair days work for a fair days pay, if you don't get the fair days pay basically enjoy the sick day.

I do know that there are unreasonable employers out there and it seems that the bigger the company the more they expect, yours sounds as though they want their pound of flesh.

Cheers

"but if you showed up to work feeling less that 100% and preceded to hurt you self on the Job your employer would do there upmost to hand ball any responsibility off to you."

hes not talking about showing up feeling less than 100% (this is exactly what the sick days are for)
hes talking about lying to his employer to get a gain he wouldnt otherwise be entitled to.
No different to insurance, just because you have paid premiums for years, doesnt mean you are entitled to a free dodgy claim?

Having said that, I didnt think you needed a cert for 1 day off?

Instead of feeling guilty for years afterward, why not flatten your finger with a hammer, or something simple like that, there is nothing about self inflicted injuries!

The ones I see usually say that the employee is suffering from a "medical condition"

There is a lot of that going around.

Pete

Gday John R
I had a stroke a few years ago at 2.30 am ..I went to work at 5.30 and then to the Doc for a lecture and some repairs. I didn' t see any value in not going to work. After the stroke has been had it's to late .I had to push the seat on my van as far forward as possible so that i could change gears.All is ok .

If you think medical cerificates with "medical illness" are a joke how about a certificate of support.

I had one presented to me by a staff member. After follwoing up with HR and workplace services these are legal and from an employers point of view no different to a medical certificate.

They are supposed to be used when the patient goes to the doctor after the incident and there is no longer any sign of the complaint. It covers the Doctor from being sued as they are not saying the patient is lying but by the same token did not see any evidence of the claimed illness.

Fair enough in some cases, Whyallacookie. I have always thought it a bit silly when you have a day off with 'Delhi belly' and you can't possibly leave home to go to a Doctor, and you don't require any medical treatment, that you have to take more time off the next day to get a certificate for something you have fully recovered from, just to keep the boss happy.

I had one manager who was always getting her boots into one of the girls. This lass had a day off with a tummy bug, and she was on the 'medical certificate for every absence' stage (due to boss's attitude to her), so when she could she got to the doc and got a certificate which said for 1 -3 days, allowing time should the bug persist as they sometimes do. On the third day she felt better so came to work and handed in her certificate to the boss - at which the boss yelled at her 'this says you're still sick - GO HOME'. There's no pleasing some people.

I'd agree. It is the old saying "minority messing it up for the majority"

Doctors certificates for 1 day off shouldn't be necessary but by the same token having been on the other side (In a business with 22 females, and 2 including myself males) with someone who due to casuing a big sh** stir with the other women just didn't want to come to work. She tried to play a few off against management and came off second best. So we had to go down the path of certificates every sickness etc (amongst other things). Despite what the scaremongers say it still isn't easy to remove staff if they want to make it difficult.

(By the way as a former manager and now bsiness owner I am against most of the new industrial relations "reforms" and prefer the old award system.

It isn't just the loss of work from the employee at times, it is also the damage it does to productivity through loss of morale. Others get sick of being short staffed because people don't turn up and get sick of always feeling they need to come in when they don't feel the best because of the workload/stigma with sickies.

I think one of the better ideas I have heard is here with renaming them personal days. Problem could be those who abuse sickies will do the same then bitch they have non when they are sick.

Self employed huh? Fun isnt it.

Yes Deisel spot on,could not work for a boss again other than SWMBO.Lol
Do get the perks that go with it tooooo.

If your dog has died under some awards/agreements you are entitled to a days bereavement leave (NO joke)

Industrial blindness . just cant see myself going to work

LOL

Hi Motherhen,

A similar experience for me, in so much that i lost a whole year's worth of sick leave when made redundant. I was always from the school of "they are there for when I really need them and you just never know what is around the corner". In my current job I have a slighly more relaxed attitude. I think it is a gamble to take any but I feel less inclined to let them extinguish when I retire in a couple of years.

Kind regards

PS that Ebay BT still has not been sold!

PS I just calculated my accrued sick leave and it is 62 days. Probably way too many for having worked here for 10 years and with only 3 to go.

Hi Theo

After years of working well, hard and long hours, then being pushed when it suits someone else's agenda, i always tell myself I'm going to look after myself in a job and not be such a loyal fool, but i do take any job on seriously and fully, and as taking sick leave won't bring me in any more money; it will just make life harder for me and my colleagues, i don't see the point of taking sickies unless i really can't get out of bed. In the past i have done the payroll from my home computer, with a colleague coming out to me to co-sign the Internet banking, because i couldn't go far from the toilet for more than 2 minutes. If i am that home bound, i am only a phone call away, so am still really on the job.

I got glandular fever when i was a teenager and in my first job, and ended up in hospital. Because i was considered contagious, i was put in the only single bed ward in the hospital which was there for 'private patients', and it had a phone. This was before bedside phones were common in hospitals. I spent most of the time on the phone to colleagues and clients, with nurses telling me to "get back into bed - you're supposed to be resting".

Yes, the BT must have been on eBay since September last year, as the listing was last added to in October, and September was when the seller joined. From the picture, it appears to be used as a home, and the size of the tradesman type Ute in front would not pull a 24' BT very far, so the 2,000 kms only is probably quite true, so it may be a good price, but at 24', would be OK as a home if working for a year or two and then moving on to the next place and job (ah, if we were younger), but not for on the move sightseeing.

Also the Patrol with the Brunswick Diesels V8 has been re listed. It gets no bid so the price is creeping down. I would be very dubious about purchasing vehicles on eBay - must be a bit risky.

Regards, Motherhen

after 3 retrenchments without a sickie i got smart.
BTW Mother hen my missus bought her hilux from ebay a turbo diesal with 300km on the clock still with 5 year warranty and aftermarket wheels tyres all for a significant saving on a new one

PS - I wasn't always a manager.

I started at the bottom and worked my way up. I knew just about every single trick in the book - but once I became "The Boss" a lot of 'em forgot that I too, was once on the shop floor. Some of 'em just didn't realise how pathetic they looked using the same old excuse sickie afer sickie after sickie,,,,,,,,,like kids some of 'em and yet most of 'em were highly qualified tradesmen or university graduates.

Bilbo - "The Boss Hobbit"

Last year I became a first time employer, talk about open your eyes, I employed a married couple to start in June and finish in November.
This guy rang me from Kununurra for the job, and as the work is seasonal he asked if they could work 7 days a week and have a day or two of now and then, that was perfect for me so I agreed.
They could have grossed $1150 per week each, he started working and the first 2 weeks went well, then it started a day off her a day off there then 2 days, the good thing was every day he had off my wife or I could do the job.
He actually rang me today and asked if he could have a reference, I said yeah sure just get them to call, it will be a glowing reference and I will be sad he's not working for me this year. (noot )
His wife worked her back side off feel sorry for her realy.
His best effort was he came back limping on his left foot, says he twisted it on a rock fair call, he went inside and bandaged his right foot and came out limping on the other.
If his wife didn't work hard he would have been gone big time.

True story ,names changed to stop litigation , A man I know worked for the same employer from the age of 16 until his death 18mths after his 64th birthday , ergo he worked for the one company for 46 and a 1/2 years , the employment record shows that in those 46 years he only ever had 3 days off as " sick " , only ever took 1 week off as holidays over the Xmas period and never ever in 46 yrs had more than a "whole "weekend off ,, just after his 62nd birthday he was hospitalised for a heart triple bypass , ,while in hospital his employer converted his 1 bedroom unit into " offices " , when out of hospital was "sacked " in truth owed by the employer 46 x 8 days sick leave = 1year ,,also owed 46yrs x 52 Sundays and 46yrs x 3weeks holiday pay ,,grand total 368 days sick + 52 sundays + 690 days annual leave ,,,TOTAL of 1110 days pay , in other words 4.3Years ,, the man died , the employer " LAUGHS" saved myself $250thou ,think Ill buy myself a new boat.

Alloy,

There's good 'n bad in the world.

I can sleep at night and I don't have to keep looking over my shoulder.

Bilbo

D-Jack.
Let me know when you want a job - you are my kind of employee. I employ 176 people and I want them all to be like you.
K

Hi D Jack.

Well said.

I know first hand how the work load increases when someone take a sickie. Most of them don't give a rat a**e about anyone but them selves.
Reading the above posts just makes you think what sort of people are Australians coming. We were once know as herd working and give anything a go.

Rob

seems a bit of a bummer that your the only one there who is any good but they treat you like s..t??
Perhaps you should leave sooner rather than later?

The "casual " pay rate is on average 23% per hr MORE than a permanent or permanent part timer ,, that 23% is there to cover the lack of annual leave / public holidays and sick leave ,, as a permanent employee 1 "sickie" is accrued on average every 5/6 weeks ,,,8-10 per yr , most state and federal awards still do not allow the "cash out " of sick leave , use them or lose them ,, Why any one would in effect GIVE $$$$$$ to their employer by not using up their sick pay entitlements prior to retirement /career change is beyond belief ,,, say for example you have built up a "bank" of 5 yrs sick entitlement ,you earn $800 per wk/$160per day = 5yrs X10 sick days = 50 days X $160 = $8000,00 in your employers pocket ,, who's laughing ?????

Have you ever employed anyone?
Yes the 23% covers those things, but also covers security of tenure, in that you will be paid that salary even if they run short of work. Even if you turn out to be a useless pr..k.
Until redundant or sacked for a reason. Of course this varies between jobs.

Fisho64 , been there / done that ,nowadays after being an "employee " after being an "employer" I can see both sides of the fence , show me any employer who is there to benifit there "employees" ,, unless the "Employer" is a total fool or idiot he /she is there to make $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ for his/ her own benifit ,and if that means " SCREWING the employee out of his rightfull sick pay / holiday pay/ overtime ect ect so be it , """ guilty all and every one ,,, every day that an employer does not have to pay a " sickie " increases his $$$$$.. profit.

after being an "employer" I can see both sides of the fence"
" SCREWING the employee out of his rightfull sick pay / holiday pay/ overtime ect ect so be it , """ guilty all and every one ,,, every day that an employer does not have to pay a " sickie " increases his $$$$$.. profit."

Sure glad I wasnt your employee?
I was an employer for quite a few years, and can assure you that I am not guilty of what you allege. Not sure what industry you were in but perhaps some industries are prone to that attitude?
While most employers arent there to benefit the employee, most successful ones come to realize that a good employee is a major asset.
But I for me I must admit that leeway would only be forthcoming to those who had proven themselves, and that was a minority Im afraid

How many sick days has John Howard had?

G'day Rob,

Not wanting to spook you, but what happens to you if the business was to go bust unexpectedly? Has the company put that accrual aside in real money for you to access if that was to happen?

Kind regards

Beatit,
Yes, all entitlements are guaranteed including holiday and long service leave. Personal (sick) leave does not get paid out as per our Enterprise Agreement however they are looking at paying out unused personal leave at the end of every financial year. That is why my Boss encourages us to use our personal leave rather than holidays. Its a good deal here and I cannot complain.
As far as going bust, only those with a crystal ball can see that but as per our agreement all entitlements are guaranteed.........I do not work for the government by the way.

Have a good day!
Rob

Does your boss also know it's illegal to accrue annual leave??? Every employee must use 4 weeks annual leave in a calender year. This rule changed in the mid 90's. Any leave accrued before this date was ok to keep in the bank.

Brew69,
Illegal to accrue annual leave? Iv'e never heard of that. They do encourage people to use thier annual leave within the year however there are many people here at my workplace who have heaps 'in the bank'. Where I work they do not close over Christmas like many places where that is the time most people would use annual leave.
If it were illegal to accrue A/L then I'm sure they would either pay it out or make people take it. I currently have over 16weeks owing plus long service in addition to that and have never been told to use it. Sometimes when I ask for time off it can be a bit difficult as we are so busy........catch 22 I guess.

Rob

G'day,

yeah Brew, don't reckon that's true at all mate. Some awards still state that the four weeks "will normally be taken within twelve months of accrual, unless deferral is agreed with the manager." For instance, if you have a big trip planned, and you can "show" that plan, then arrangements to defer can be made. Alternatively, if you can show that you had applied several times for arl but it was rejected, you of course do not lose that arl from your balance once the 12 mths ticks over.

Some employers slap on the four weeks once each year and you chip away at it, some have you accrue it as the calendar progresses through the year.

But, I am with you regarding the taking of sick leave. I am a Union official and never pulled a sickie in my life. It is against my principles. I use Carer's leave more than I seem to get sick.

Ok,it was during my shop steward years.It came in about 95 or 96. Maybe it was just our state awards???? It was brought in to stop small employers to pay out or just not let employees use their leave. Our company have been enforcing it for over 10 years. However there can be agreement for future planned trips for longer times. I will give it a google and see what i come up with.