Ok, so "sick enough" won

[hrj]

Ah, the ethical dilemmas of taking sick time. On one shoulder is a little figure whispering, "It's not like you're physically incapacitated. Why, you're barely sneezing once every ten minutes. It's just a little old headache and sore throat and a bit of congestion. You're probably not even contagious -- it's just a little old head cold. You have meetings to go to; reports to write." And on the other shoulder is a little figure whispering, "Look, they give you sick time -- use it. Your co-workers are giving you the stink-eye every time you cough. There's nothing due today. You've gotten all the data off to people for today's meetings. And if you don't spend a day or two in bed now you'll just do it later. And wouldn't you hate to be sick for Collegium this weekend? Fergoodnessakes don't be a martyr ... and for what?" I'm not sure which voice is the angel and which the devil, but my co-workers all cheered when I said I was going back home to bed and might not be in tomorrow either.

Comments

[herveus.livejournal.com]

Ah, but my "enlightened" company stopped doing "sick leave". They now give us "Paid Time Off". They added four days to our vacation accrual rate when they made the change. Therefore, I don't get "sick leave". That little figure on the other shoulder has to come up with another spiel. That makes my internal conversation somewhat different. The threshold for staying home is much higher.

[hrj.livejournal.com]

Either I've just been lucky, or the medical/biotech field is simply more enlightened about these things. (There's a lot to be said for, "And we don't want you sneezing in the cell culture medium!" as a motivating factor.) In theory, I guess the "consolidated paid time off" method offers more flexibility (and a little bit more fairness to people who simply never get sick) but it does create a significant disincentive for actually using it when you're sick.