At some point in someone’s life, they become dependent on getting a job. Sometimes having a job means becoming self-dependent. Getting a job can mean your mom and dad are struggling to provide food and shelter and that minimum wage job can help. Some people have to live from paycheck to paycheck. A job is an important factor in life or else living a good and healthy life would not be possible. A job means we can fulfill ours or others needs and desires. We gain experience, communication, motivation and growth. Whatever the reason may be a job ends up becoming an important thing in our lives. However, there are a lot of companies that make it their goal to make their employees position difficult. Not being able to call out sick when in dire need causes so many other problems. You risk the health of others at work, not just at home. People are often penalized for calling in sick too much whether they do have sick pay or do not have it. It not only affects my community but it’s a problem world-wide.
Getting in trouble for not coming in to work, leads to suspension and often time it leads to being fired from the job. That starts a domino effect (4). How are we to pay rent, pay for health insurance, phone bills, car bills, the list is endless. In order to secure the lifelong job, with paid a good retirement, we start off with these minimum wage jobs. They advertise so much to recruit employees but at the end of the day our positions are not secured. We are easily replaceable. Have we ever really thought about why there isn’t enough money to give employees paid sick leave? They are constantly spending money for things they don’t have. Businesses spend so much on hiring more and more people when it’s not needed. How about they actually spend the money on employees they do already have instead of finding reasons to fire people. Yes, opening up positions to provide others the opportunity to have a job is a good thing. However, most of these businesses open up positions they don’t have or have money for. Instead of investing in what they do have, they spend on what they don’t.
Why is this important to me?
I work in a well-known company. I was excited to work there because of how diverse this company is from its movies, games, and its park. There more that time passes, I notice a lot of faults. The biggest thing is how we gets our sick pay. Something that has bothered and I believe is how childish managers become when you call of sick. They hold grudges against you and never look at you the same. Is that really necessary? Absolutely not. I don't need someone, especially my boss acting like he/she got his candy taken away. We get points when we call if we don't get sick pay. During holiday (peak) seasons we get double points. It's easy to not get points but it's easy to rack up so may points that you get suspended or fired. We have an HR to go and complain about these things but guess what, they do nothing. I know that most people have to deal with the retaliation of managers because they simply do not accept call offs. Those very managers are the one who live up their lives and get to call off and go on vacation every so often. They rub it in our faces. Meanwhile, I can't call off sick even if I had just been in a car accident or I’m so sick I can barely get out of bed. They expect us to be there no matter what even while sick and in pain. These sick pay policies are not at all beneficial in terms of not having enough and also having to face consequences with management.
Sick Pay Policies
When not required by law, a company can craft its own policy that meets its own needs. Employees can EARN sick pay for every 40 hours worked, half a day per month works, company may provide six paid sick days per year. Usually and employee gains their sick pay after they have satisfied a specific probationary period that is require for most jobs. Sick pay is subject to whichever job your work for. There is no nationwide policy that is fair to everyone. People consider this some sort of “balance” you work this much and you can have this much to take time off. However, out of the 365 days in the year, employers consider 6 days enough for an employee to use to take some time off. Employees are often punished when using their sick leave. If they aren’t protected they are immediately fired. The paid sick days we are given will never be considered enough. The figure below represents a 5-day flu experiment done in 2009 by Jody Heymann, Hye Jin Rho, John Schmitt, and Alison Earle as mentioned in their article Contagion Nation: A comparison of Paid Sick Day Policies in 22 Countries (1). It shows the portion of workers earning for a five-day absence that is replaced by the national paid-sick day system in each country. If said country requires employers to compensate sick workers with a full day’s pay for all 5 days, the full-time equivalent days displayed in the figure would be 5. When a country excludes payment for the first day and the following days are paid from social-insurance the figure will day 4 days. When a country only guarantees 70% pay for all paid sick days then the figure shows 3.5 days. The figure also shows a 50-day cancer experiment that researchers did but that it not relevant to this blog. The U.S. is at the very bottom. What does that look like to you? I believe the figure can tell and show you more than words can explain. This is in 2009, and that is the most recent study.
Issue #1: No time to be sick
The US is one of the few advanced economies that does not guarantee its workers paid sick leave. According to the USA federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not require payment for time not worker due to illness (2). Paid sick leave is simply just a benefit from an agreement between employer and employee. Taking a day off for whatever reason a worker may have saves them from having to return to work and their conditions getting worse. It costs more for us more when we do not have paid sick days. When we call out of work without having sick pay leads to work consequences. With some jobs, you get infractions, that lead to suspension and sometimes being fired. Which then costs the loss of being able to have or pay for health insurance and not recovering from health issues. Those who can’t afford to lose their jobs, which is a lot of people, end up risking their health on the job as well. Employers often advertise that their focus is not only to. Provide career growth but also satisfaction and appreciation to the employees. How is that possible when our jobs are on the line when we can’t take at least a day off to recover from an illness.
Issue #2: Presenteeism
Unfortunately, there is not adequate solution to this issue. Companies need to make money. At the end of the day it is all about money. Employees need money to pay bills, and employers need money to keep the company running. The only thing that barely scratches and defines itself is as a solution is for employers to stop penalizing employees for calling out sick. Not having enough sick pay is a huge problem but it is clear that it is not entirely possible to just call out a certain number of days and be paid for it. This isn't about finding a solution because the US is more focused on making money but it's time that those who work hard but don't gain anything else but money start to realize what's going on with this sick pay system and how other countries are better at than here in the U.S.
References
(1). Heymann, J., Rho, H. J., Schmitt, J., & Earle, A. (2009). Contagion nation: a comparison of paid sick day policies in 22 countries (No. 2009-19). Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).
(2). Kim, D. (2017). Paid sick leave and risks of all-cause and cause-specific mortality among adult workers in the USA. International journal of environmental research and public health, 14(10), 1247.
(3). Levin-Epstein, J. (2005). Presenteeism and paid sick days.
(4). Lovell, V. (2004). No time to be sick: Why everyone suffers when workers don't have paid sick leave.
At some point in someone’s life, they become dependent on getting a job. Sometimes having a job means becoming self-dependent. Getting a job can mean your mom and dad are struggling to provide food and shelter and that minimum wage job can help. Some people have to live from paycheck to paycheck. A job is an important factor in life or else living a good and healthy life would not be possible. A job means we can fulfill ours or others needs and desires. We gain experience, communication, motivation and growth. Whatever the reason may be a job ends up becoming an important thing in our lives. However, there are a lot of companies that make it their goal to make their employees position difficult. Not being able to call out sick when in dire need causes so many other problems. You risk the health of others at work, not just at home. People are often penalized for calling in sick too much whether they do have sick pay or do not have it. It not only affects my community but it’s a problem world-wide.
Getting in trouble for not coming in to work, leads to suspension and often time it leads to being fired from the job. That starts a domino effect (4). How are we to pay rent, pay for health insurance, phone bills, car bills, the list is endless. In order to secure the lifelong job, with paid a good retirement, we start off with these minimum wage jobs. They advertise so much to recruit employees but at the end of the day our positions are not secured. We are easily replaceable. Have we ever really thought about why there isn’t enough money to give employees paid sick leave? They are constantly spending money for things they don’t have. Businesses spend so much on hiring more and more people when it’s not needed. How about they actually spend the money on employees they do already have instead of finding reasons to fire people. Yes, opening up positions to provide others the opportunity to have a job is a good thing. However, most of these businesses open up positions they don’t have or have money for. Instead of investing in what they do have, they spend on what they don’t.
Why is this important to me?
I work in a well-known company. I was excited to work there because of how diverse this company is from its movies, games, and its park. There more that time passes, I notice a lot of faults. The biggest thing is how we gets our sick pay. Something that has bothered and I believe is how childish managers become when you call of sick. They hold grudges against you and never look at you the same. Is that really necessary? Absolutely not. I don't need someone, especially my boss acting like he/she got his candy taken away. We get points when we call if we don't get sick pay. During holiday (peak) seasons we get double points. It's easy to not get points but it's easy to rack up so may points that you get suspended or fired. We have an HR to go and complain about these things but guess what, they do nothing. I know that most people have to deal with the retaliation of managers because they simply do not accept call offs. Those very managers are the one who live up their lives and get to call off and go on vacation every so often. They rub it in our faces. Meanwhile, I can't call off sick even if I had just been in a car accident or I’m so sick I can barely get out of bed. They expect us to be there no matter what even while sick and in pain. These sick pay policies are not at all beneficial in terms of not having enough and also having to face consequences with management.
Sick Pay Policies
When not required by law, a company can craft its own policy that meets its own needs. Employees can EARN sick pay for every 40 hours worked, half a day per month works, company may provide six paid sick days per year. Usually and employee gains their sick pay after they have satisfied a specific probationary period that is require for most jobs. Sick pay is subject to whichever job your work for. There is no nationwide policy that is fair to everyone. People consider this some sort of “balance” you work this much and you can have this much to take time off. However, out of the 365 days in the year, employers consider 6 days enough for an employee to use to take some time off. Employees are often punished when using their sick leave. If they aren’t protected they are immediately fired. The paid sick days we are given will never be considered enough. The figure below represents a 5-day flu experiment done in 2009 by Jody Heymann, Hye Jin Rho, John Schmitt, and Alison Earle as mentioned in their article Contagion Nation: A comparison of Paid Sick Day Policies in 22 Countries (1). It shows the portion of workers earning for a five-day absence that is replaced by the national paid-sick day system in each country. If said country requires employers to compensate sick workers with a full day’s pay for all 5 days, the full-time equivalent days displayed in the figure would be 5. When a country excludes payment for the first day and the following days are paid from social-insurance the figure will day 4 days. When a country only guarantees 70% pay for all paid sick days then the figure shows 3.5 days. The figure also shows a 50-day cancer experiment that researchers did but that it not relevant to this blog. The U.S. is at the very bottom. What does that look like to you? I believe the figure can tell and show you more than words can explain. This is in 2009, and that is the most recent study.
Issue #1: No time to be sick
Issue #2: Presenteeism
Is there really a solution that will benefit and satisfy everyone?
Unfortunately, there is not adequate solution to this issue. Companies need to make money. At the end of the day it is all about money. Employees need money to pay bills, and employers need money to keep the company running. The only thing that barely scratches and defines itself is as a solution is for employers to stop penalizing employees for calling out sick. Not having enough sick pay is a huge problem but it is clear that it is not entirely possible to just call out a certain number of days and be paid for it. This isn't about finding a solution because the US is more focused on making money but it's time that those who work hard but don't gain anything else but money start to realize what's going on with this sick pay system and how other countries are better at than here in the U.S.
References
(1). Heymann, J., Rho, H. J., Schmitt, J., & Earle, A. (2009). Contagion nation: a comparison of paid sick day policies in 22 countries (No. 2009-19). Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).
(2). Kim, D. (2017). Paid sick leave and risks of all-cause and cause-specific mortality among adult workers in the USA. International journal of environmental research and public health, 14(10), 1247.
(3). Levin-Epstein, J. (2005). Presenteeism and paid sick days.
(4). Lovell, V. (2004). No time to be sick: Why everyone suffers when workers don't have paid sick leave.
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