Employers strike back on sick days

  • Thread starter Evo
  • Start date
In summary, this woman took 3 days off work without any explanation and her employers found out and fired her.
  • #1
Evo
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Wow, I can see them investigating long term disablity fraud like that girl at IBM that pretended to be too depressed to work for a year and they found pictures of her whooping it up at a party she posted on her facebook page. They fired her.

But taking 3 days off with the flu? Ok, she didn't have the flu, but 3 days?

Earlier this year, Raymond investigated an employee at a Florida health organization who called in sick with the flu for three days. As Raymond discovered, she was actually visiting the Universal Studios theme park. "On some of those roller coasters, they take your picture at a really sharp turn, and then you can buy it at a kiosk," Raymond recalls. "She went on three rides, and I bought all three of her pictures, which had the date at the bottom." When confronted with the evidence by her employers, Raymond says her first response was, "That's not me!" After they played Raymond's video of her volunteering at the theme park's animal show, her only defense was, "I don't even remember that!" She was fired.

http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/111529/sick-day-bounty-hunters?mod=career-worklife_balance [Broken]
 
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  • #2
Well I just hope it doesn't impact those who are genuinely sick and need a couple of days off.
 
  • #3
waht said:
Well I just hope it doesn't impact those who are genuinely sick and need a couple of days off.
I don't see that happening. If you are too sick to get up, you're not likely to be partying at Disney World.

I'm just surprised they would go after someone for 3 days. The person must have had a history of taking "short vacations".
 
  • #4
No wonder I never met any of my colleagues.
 
  • #5
Evo said:
I don't see that happening. If you are too sick to get up, you're not likely to be partying at Disney World.

I'm just surprised they would go after someone for 3 days. The person must have had a history of taking "short vacations".

This one lady in the article was on paid medical leave, maybe that's why they needed to check up on her. Companies these days are scrambling to save a dollar in any way, shape, or form.
 
  • #6
I know of an employer in the NYC area that offers its employees 2 hours sick time per week or about 4 sick days per year; the hours must be accrued during the year and reset at the end of the year. If an employee wants to use sick time, the employee must notify the employer 8 hours in advance and submit a doctor's note before returning to work. Sick time cannot be used in conjunction with vacation time (also accrued), except in a serious medical emergency; vacation time may be deducted for any sick time over the limit used (vice-versa).

I always thought a number of sick days were given to the employee at the beginning of the year for personal use (sick, unwind, etc.) until I saw the above. Must be an isolated case, right?

Edit: the comments on that page are interesting. Over 1,500 of them! The second one: "I don't have to worry about any of that. I'm collecting unemployment." The irony!
 
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  • #7
Mathnomalous said:
I know of an employer in the NYC area that offers its employees 2 hours sick time per week or about 4 sick days per year; the hours must be accrued during the year and reset at the end of the year. If an employee wants to use sick time, the employee must notify the employer 8 hours in advance and submit a doctor's note before returning to work. Sick time cannot be used in conjunction with vacation time (also accrued), except in a serious medical emergency; vacation time may be deducted for any sick time over the limit used (vice-versa).

I always thought a number of sick days were given to the employee at the beginning of the year for personal use (sick, unwind, etc.) until I saw the above. Must be an isolated case, right?
No, some companies do not offer sick days, or only to some employees.

I only became familiar with "sick days" a few years ago. I always just took off whenever I didn't feel well, no questions asked. When I moved to a smaller company and was "new" to them, I had 5 weeks a year to take for any reason I wanted without advance notice or reason. I could take it an hour at a time if I wanted, but I had to call into let them know I wouldn't be working, which I wasn't used to. So it depends.
 
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  • #8
You probably have a rare set of skills employers value highly.

I find the following information troubling:

Yahoo News said:
Kronos, a workforce productivity firm in Chelmsford, Mass., recently found that 57 percent of U.S. salaried employees take sick days when they're not really sick -- a nearly 20 percent increase from statistics gathered between 2006 and 2008.

On the bright side, there seems to be a good outlook in the surveillance industry. Pay people to spy on each other. Win-win?
 
  • #9
Is there some kind of a blacklist for these people so that they will have a very hard time finding another job? A blacklist shared between HR departments?
 
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  • #10
Where I work, you get 5 'sick days' added in with whatever vacation time you have and they're considered Personal Time Off. Some of the other companies I work with keep them separate. Being a person who rarely gets sick, I kind of like the way my company handles it - it winds up being an extra 5 days of vacation. On the other hand, a person that routinely gets sick more than 5 days a year has to use some of their vacation time for illnesses.

The disability programs are the bigger problem. Most companies offer disability insurance through a third party insurance company. The insurance company will virtually never deny claims while a person is on disability. If the insurance company denied the claim ahead of time, many people would try to work whether they should or not. Instead, the insurance company waits until the employee goes back to work and then denies the claim. Then the employee's company is on the hook to reimburse the insurance company, at which point the company wants reimbursement from the employee or they fire the employee for fraud. It depends how long the employee worked there and whether the company wants to keep them or not. Going on disability when you're new to a company is practically a death sentence since it's always good practice for insurance companies to deny claims whenever possible - especially when dealing with employees that the company and coworkers haven't built up much sympathy for.
 
  • #11
Oerg said:
Is there some kind of a blacklist for these people so that they will have a very hard time finding another job? A blacklist shared between HR departments?

No. Most HR departments will only verify the dates an employee worked at a company. They're very sensitive about passing on any kind of information about employee performance, good or bad, because it opens them up for slander, etc if their comments cost a former employee a job and they can't back it up. The risk of that happening may be small, but there's no gain in passing information about the employee, so why do it.

Ironically, the same HR departments that refuse to give out information about former employees call the HR departments of other companies hoping to get information about their former employees.

That's why networking (the good ol boy network) is important to finding a good new job. Since HR departments can't get much information on strangers, managers like to hire someone that's known (and liked) by at least a few people already working at the company. The grapevine is a more effective source of information than the official communication network when scoping out new employees.
 
  • #12
My employer combines sick-time and vacation time as "paid time off" (PTO) Employees under 5 years with the company get 2 weeks a year, employees over 5 years get 3 weeks a year, employees over 20 years get 4 weeks. In addition, employees can "purchase" an extra week and have it deducted from their paycheck over the course of the year.

There's a certain amount of trust a company needs in its employees. If they offer paid sick days for the purpose of being sick, and someone takes advantage of that to have some free time off, it's stealing company resources IMO. I'd give the employee a verbal/written warning and no pay for the days they took off, and if they did it again: fired.
 
  • #13
My employer gives us 12 sick days a year, which, if not used can be accumulated with no limit. Since I hardly get sick, I have accumulated ~200 days of unused sick leave. (it would have been more, but ten years ago I had surgery and was off for 7 weeks.) When I retire, I can take the option of having them factored into my pension or cashing them out at 25$ a day. The idea is to give the employee the incentive to not use them if they don't need to, as they are not "use them or lose them".

The days are meant to be used only when you are sick, the exception being if you need to take a leave for some valid reason, then you can arrange beforehand to get paid out of your sick leave.
 
  • #14
My wife gets paid sick days, but they cannot be accumulated - if you don't use them, you are paid for them at the end of the year. This year, so far, she has used one sick day. It would be a smart move for the company (IMO) to allow employees to accumulate sick days year after year, and to apply those to their retirement. If you have a couple of hundred sick days banked and want to "retire" early and still get paid, that would take an older employee off the payroll for a large portion of a year.

The sick days are not "awarded" in a block, but are pro-rated. If you take sick days in January and February and either quit or are fired early in the year, the company will withhold the "sick pay" from your last check(s). They've got themselves covered pretty well with this one.
 
  • #15
Well, this makes me feel good about my own work ethic.
 
  • #16
Over here, if you're ill, you just call in and stay off work. You're usually paid for it, but might need a doctor's note after a week or so.
 
  • #17
People use sick days for being sick? That's quite surprising to me.

When people randomly show up around my house or say they were out doing things and the inevitable reaction from me is "...didn't you have work today?" they go "I took a sick day". I think that's why they have stopped calling them sick days around here and it's just "personal days". They know employees are just BS'ing you most of the time.
 
  • #18
I get one personal/sick day a month. They let us keep{roll over} 7, and cash out in October any remaining days, at your rate of pay.
 

What is the purpose of employers striking back on sick days?

The purpose of employers striking back on sick days is to reduce the number of employees taking advantage of sick days and to ensure that those who are truly sick are the only ones using them.

How do employers strike back on sick days?

Employers may strike back on sick days by implementing stricter policies and procedures for requesting and using sick days. This may include requiring a doctor's note for each sick day or using a point system for excessive absences.

What are the potential consequences for employees who abuse sick days?

The potential consequences for employees who abuse sick days may include disciplinary action, such as a warning or even termination, depending on the company's policies and the severity of the abuse.

Are there any laws or regulations regarding employers striking back on sick days?

There are no specific laws or regulations regarding employers striking back on sick days, but employers must follow any applicable labor laws and regulations, such as the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which allows employees to take unpaid leave for personal or family medical reasons.

What can employees do if they feel their employer is unfairly striking back on sick days?

If employees feel their employer is unfairly striking back on sick days, they can discuss their concerns with HR or a supervisor. Additionally, they may seek legal advice if they believe their rights have been violated.

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