Comment by namingthingsiseasy@programming.dev on Anon pretends to be sick

Ironically, you will probably do better in school if you take 1-2 days off to rest, instead of wasting 3-4 days going in and getting nothing out of it because you’re unable to focus. But who cares, right?

This is what I also realized with work. It’s better to rest and recover in 2-3 days, then struggle for 4-5 or more (even from home office). Luckily, at my workplace in Germany, you can take 2 days of sick leave without any doctor’s note.

Wait, you need a doctor’s note for more than 2 days of sick leave?

Yes, but please be aware that sick leave here is nearly unlimited, and you get your full salary (for several months), so of course there needs to be some control on it.

Unlimited isn’t worth very much if it’s subject to approval. I’ve had friends get unlimited time off (not sick leave, vacation time) and they end up using less of it than me due to the approval step and related social norms.

I’m not saying your situation is like that, I’m just saying I’m skeptical of offers like that.

My setup is 3.5 weeks PTO, 3x/week WFH, and I can WFH those other days if I need to (pretty flexible, just requires notice, not approval). So I end up taking 2-3 days off sick, and the other 3 weeks are vacation, and I usually take them 1-2 weeks at a time. Hours worked also aren’t tracked, we just need to hit deliverables every two weeks based on our own estimates.

So yeah, I’ll take the bird in the hand over the two in the bush.

There is no approval needed:

up to 2 days continously: I say I am sick, I am put on sick leave. I had to do this already the 3rd time this year (thx German weather)
from the 3rd day, I need to bring a paper from the doc. If the doc says I’m sick, I’m kept on sick leave as long as the doc requested
vacation days are independent from sick days: I get 30 paid vacation days, so 6 weeks

tell that to my PTO policy. I’m getting sick and getting paid, and spending my limited vacation on times I feel good.

Or think about it this way, would you rather have 2 weeks of PTO or one week of vacation and one week of sick leave? Or even 2.5 weeks PTO vs 2 weeks vacation and 1 week sick leave and you need to provide a reason for the sick leave?

I much prefer PTO over some mixed policy, even if the mix is technically more time off.

I have almost 30 work days PTO plus virtually unlimited paid sick leave. Both basically standard over here.

Always amazes me that the US is not already chopping heads because of the bad health system alone

I should just be able to call in sick if I’m sick. Why even track it?

Because people will abuse it, which sucks. And if you go with an unlimited PTO option, there’s often a lot of cultural pressure to not take PTO.

so discipline those that abuse it? It’s really a symptom of not engaging with your workforce on a realistic level. Many non-American countries deal with it adequately. In the UK your sick days don’t come out of your vacation, and if you need more than a week off you have to get a doctor’s note.

Yeh, try explaining that to an Asian parent.

This is a place to share greentexts and witness the confounding life of Anon. If you’re new to the Greentext community, think of it as a sort of zoo with Anon as the main attraction.

Be warned:

Anon is often crazy.
Anon is often depressed.
Anon frequently shares thoughts that are immature, offensive, or incomprehensible.

If you find yourself getting angry (or god forbid, agreeing) with something Anon has said, you might be doing it wrong.

Anon pretends to be sick(sh.itjust.works)

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