This morning on CBS I saw a story about people calling in sick to work when they aren't really sick. They had a PI on who goes around spying on people who are supposed to be home sick, then they had a guy on, who had to appear with his face blacked out, talking about how he lies and says his elderly parent fell down the stairs, or his kid is sick. There were all these stats on how much these fake sick days cost companies every year. It was ridiculous.
Who cares why I call in sick?? They are my sick days! I earned them and I can take them whenever I want, for whatever reason I want! If I use up all my sick days on trips to the beach, and then I really do get sick, that is my problem. I will either have to come to work sick, take unpaid leave, or get fired...and that is my problem and my risk to take.
People need time off once in a while. If we take mental health days, it may actually improve our physical health in the long run, and reduce our overall sick days. It may even improve our productivity, and not having to fake sick when we want a day off surely improves morale.
I used to work at Disney World. Disney is one of the most profitable companies in the world. They don't care why you take sick days. Everyone gets a certain number of sick days per year, and we can take them anyway we want. We don't even need to give an excuse. We simply call a number, and leave a message on a machine saying that we are taking a sick day. They tell you, "Even if you are on the beach and just want to stay there, we don't care." Nobody calls you back, nobody asks you any questions, you don't have to fake a cough. They treat you like an adult with free will. What a concept!! Being treated this way makes you feel better. It takes away that feeling that you are being cheated, or that you are enslaved. And frankly, it makes you less likely to take unnecessary days off. Not only because sick days are limited, but because you just feel free.
I think the real wasted money is the money spent on PIs to investigate sick days, and the money spent on sick day statistics. People calling in sick is a cost of business, not an extra wasted cost. Dr's notes are for kids in grammar school, not for adults at work.
2 comments:
Heard a sermon recently that cited a guy who converted some sick days to "well" days. You know, you call in and say you won't be there, because it's a great day, the sun is shining, and you just got your convertible cleaned, and the [insert appropriate one: beach, mountain, river, museum, mall] calls you.
His absenteeism dropped about 50%. Let employees be honest and think for themselves, things work out better in the end -- and productivity goes up.
What sort of a twit needs a PI to tell him what anyone who has ever worked a job could tell him?
Ed, Thanks for commenting & for agreeing with me! I love new people on my blog!
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