Friday, August 20, 2004

Is Sick Leave A Thing Of The Past?

It is becoming more and more difficult to take sick leave nowadays. It used to be that you could have a couple of days off and no-one would care. There were enough people employed to cover your job. These days staff levels are minimalist and it is difficult when someone doesn't make it in to the office.

If you are off work now, or taking a sickie, you almost always need a doctor's certificate or, in the trades at least, you may forfeit your pay. Does anyone know how expensive it is to see a doctor? And doctors won't give you certification for the days previous to you visiting them. So, if you are bedridden for a few days before getting out to see the doc you can kiss those days goodbye as sick leave.

And it's not just that. You need to book three weeks in advance if you want to see the doctor in some cases. Oh, yes. I'm going to have a really bad cold in three weeks time and need to book an appointment now.

So, I get the feeling that the day of the sickie could be passing. But, I have one card up my sleeve. I have a kid and every now and again he gets sick. So I can save up my sick leave for him.

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