Bafflingly backward, is America.
Sick pay
- Thread starter BYTEr
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Man of Honour
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Why reduce productivity for just one employee when you can spread it to everyone else! Lets be fair, when it comes to workers rights, the US is a third world country.
Soldato
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It was a job centre where all your regular 'customers' were the local drug dealers, the lazy and the entitled. No one was motivated other than for their pay and a half decent pension when they could finally leave
Man of Honour
- Joined
- 17 Nov 2003
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- 36,750
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- Southampton, UK
It was a job centre where all your regular 'customers' were the local drug dealers, the lazy and the entitled. No one was motivated other than for their pay and a half decent pension when they could finally leave
Perfect opportunity for team bonding over a common enemy then: "the customer".
"job center workers told to treat benefits claimants like the "enemy"
that would look good in the morning papers
Soldato
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- 1 Dec 2003
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crap company, you treat your workers like crap and you get crap back
Conversely we've got someone who's been off for 107 days because he hurt his foot, his job is sitting at a desk and speaking to customers. His Doctor has given him a sick note so he's off with full pay, his colleagues are having to pick up the slack and the department suffers as a whole.
I've worked through similar, and I'd still rather that than the American way of doing things.
I'd rather have our system but also have Doctors who don't hand out sick notes for fun and staff who don't abuse it
Well, yeah, that as well.
At my place you accrue sick days at a rate of 1 a year for 5 years.
I didn't know that at first and lost nearly £200 pre deductions from my salary! Most people convert sick days to leave. Antiquated to say the least but I think factory workers swing the lead otherwise.
I didn't know that at first and lost nearly £200 pre deductions from my salary! Most people convert sick days to leave. Antiquated to say the least but I think factory workers swing the lead otherwise.
How does he get to that desk?
Not all employers in America are that bad. I work for a tech company and we have a great sick leave policy. You can have up to six months full pay and six months half pay, and take it whenever you like. You require a doctor's note for an absence longer than a week, if I recall correctly. Sick leave is treated separately to your annual vacation accrual.
Whilst many states in America (including California) do have employment law that defines employment as being "at will", meaning that for most non-executive jobs, you can be fired (or leave) at any time, for any reason, I believe that this can actually lead to better work output. I find that people who work at my employer, actually want to be there. They could walk out at any point, but they stay because they want to be there. The same is for the company. People are employed by the company because the employer wants them there.
This "at-will" law can be abused by bad employers, sure, but if you're a skilled worker and work for a good employer, I think that you will find that the at-will employment clause doesn't have very much, if any, bearing on your day-to-day job. The standard notice period in my company is 2 weeks, and it's entirely customary. You could walk out at any time if you so desired. My employer (still) pays very generous severance packages, on the odd occasion when people do get made redundant (which is rare), and these far exceed the statutory redundancy payment defined in UK employment law, even for the lowest ranking job. I know one guy who got made redundant a few years ago who told me that he was happy that he had been made redundant, because his severance check was large enough for him to not have to work for at least a year, if not two. He was in his 30s.
I think that the idea of a "job for life" can lead to poor workforce outcomes, as seen by various stories just on this forum! Public sector jobs are especially bad for this, both in America as well as the UK. At my company, your work output is all that really matters. This means that no one minds when you come in or leave, as long as you make any mandatory commitments, like meetings, which can mostly be taken from anywhere, even a beach in Hawaii.
Personally, when I hurt my foot and I was doing part time bar work, I used my push bike to get to work as it didn't hurt to ride, then I hopped around on one leg. If he wanted to work he could.
I work as a Resource Planning Manager for an outsourcer.
We don't pay sick pay apart from SSP to try and restrict absence, among other things to drive cost right down in order to compete with off shore centres.
The actual result? We get the dregs of society working for us and absence is regularly 15%. Typically I would expect 5-7% in a call centre.
We don't pay sick pay apart from SSP to try and restrict absence, among other things to drive cost right down in order to compete with off shore centres.
The actual result? We get the dregs of society working for us and absence is regularly 15%. Typically I would expect 5-7% in a call centre.
Caporegime
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- Dormanstown.
What's the point? You can work 5 years so you can be off ill for a week.
I've only ever been off a few days in two and a bit years I've worked at my current employer, we get fully pay for it.
Whereas before in my old workplace you'd lose out.
And you should be commended for your efforts - I assume your employer was suitably greatful you put yourself at risk of further injury by hopping round the workplace? When you say he has hurt his foot, do you know how badly? How much pain/discomfort he is in?
Well put it this way, some people get their legs blown off in Afghanistan and are doing pull ups from their hospital bed and asking to be redeployed in any role, other people seek to contribute as little as possible to their organisation. I don't think he has the attitude of the former given I monitor his and everyone elses work in my department on a daily basis. He's someone who can't come to work if it snows because he can't get his car up a hill, he isn't (when fully able bodied) walking for a bus or a train to get into work.
How dare you use combat servicemen to deflect from what I asked.
You're not answering my question. You're talking waffle to hide from answering it.
So I'll answer it. You have no idea what level of discomfort that person is in. Instead you're drawing you're own conclusions, maybe they are correct, maybe not. You sound typical of many middle management types I've met in my life. You'll whore yourself out to appear like a 'company man' usually at the expense of your work colleagues. Personally you don't sound like the type of person who should be monitoring anyone. Get your facts in place instead of relying on you're own made up GI Joe stories.