My wife hasn't taken a sick day in her 17 years of teaching. She has used 1 of her 3 personal days a few years, but never a sick day with the exception of when she used them after she had our twins.

So let me come at it from a different perspective. The future Mrs. Plantmanky is a teacher as many of you know. This year she will have used all but 1 of her sick days and all 3 of her personal days. However, she has used all of those days except for 1 (which was for a doctor visit for herself) to take her Father (who is disabled and has multiple health issues and has had 3 strokes in the past) to doctor visits, quarterly CT and MRI scans and such for him.

 

Is that abusing the system?

 

Dont get me wrong, I know many teachers that use their sick days (lets not even count the Personal days) as non sick days, or fun time days if you will, but there are many that use these days for good reason.

So let me come at it from a different perspective. The future Mrs. Plantmanky is a teacher as many of you know. This year she will have used all but 1 of her sick days and all 3 of her personal days. However, she has used all of those days except for 1 (which was for a doctor visit for herself) to take her Father (who is disabled and has multiple health issues and has had 3 strokes in the past) to doctor visits, quarterly CT and MRI scans and such for him.

 

Is that abusing the system?

 

Dont get me wrong, I know many teachers that use their sick days (lets not even count the Personal days) as non sick days, or fun time days if you will, but there are many that use these days for good reason.

 

Short answer - no.

It is like any other profession, some people use every available chance to miss work because they can and some use them because they have to...there is a big difference in the two.

 

In my experience those that miss because they "Can" and have a "use it or lose it mentality" are in almost every case disgruntled workers.

Have no idea how it is now, but my teachers growing up were NEVER out sick!

It is like any other profession, some people use every available chance to miss work because they can and some use them because they have to...there is a big difference in the two.

 

In my experience those that miss because they "Can" and have a "use it or lose it mentality" are in almost every case disgruntled workers.

 

I get your point, but if the company or school in this case, offers these days off, why should there be any anxest against those that use them, regardless of what they use them for?

I would doubt that the majority of teachers just take off for no good reason. I would assume that sick kids at home would be a major factor in teacher absence. If one parent is a teacher and another is a laborer, the salaried teacher is staying home the majority of the time. Every job has sick days and every job as abusers of sick days. I do not think this is a teacher only issue.

I think the article sated these were absences outside of sick or personal days . Which is even worse .

I think the article sated these were absences outside of sick or personal days . Which is even worse .

 

Where did it say that? I just read it again and did not read that part. It did say " did not include long-term absences for serious illness or maternity and paternity leave."

I get your point, but if the company or school in this case, offers these days off, why should there be any anxest against those that use them, regardless of what they use them for?

 

I always looked at sick time as an insurance policy to be used when "Needed" not just because they were available. To each their own but I would hate to have a valid need to be off due to illness or a family illness and couldn't because I blew through my days taking 3 day weekends every other week.

But like any benefit that is given some will abuse it and some will demand more.

 

My former employer used to give everyone their Birthday Off w/pay. But people would always seem to want to take off a different day than their actual birthday, say Friday instead of their Birthday on a Tuesday and we would let them as long as it was in the same week. Then some wanted to take it the next week and tack it onto vacation or a holiday maybe but we couldn't do that easily because the system automatically paid them on the week of their Birthday it became a mess to try to keep up with with 400 employees.

 

So the company came up with another idea and took away paid Birthdays and gave everyone TWO paid personal days they could take any time (Birthday, Friday to make a long weekend, day off to attend a child's event whatever they wanted it for) as long they were scheduled ahead of time. And guess what, to this day you will hear employees complaining that they don't get their Birthday Off anymore...:no:

Where did it say that? I just read it again and did not read that part. It did say " did not include long-term absences for serious illness or maternity and paternity leave."

 

Some see what they want to see.

In the state of KY. sick days accumulate and whatever you have when you retire you can cash out at a rate the mcpapa stated in post 12. I am assuming that rate is correct as I have never asked what the rate is.

In Boone County the rate is 30 percent. So the percentage may vary by school district.

So let me come at it from a different perspective. The future Mrs. Plantmanky is a teacher as many of you know. This year she will have used all but 1 of her sick days and all 3 of her personal days. However, she has used all of those days except for 1 (which was for a doctor visit for herself) to take her Father (who is disabled and has multiple health issues and has had 3 strokes in the past) to doctor visits, quarterly CT and MRI scans and such for him.

 

Is that abusing the system?

 

Dont get me wrong, I know many teachers that use their sick days (lets not even count the Personal days) as non sick days, or fun time days if you will, but there are many that use these days for good reason.

 

It is abuse because she has a fiance that could have helped out and taken the future FIL to some of his visits.

:laugh:

 

Seriously, that is what leave and FMLA in addition to that is for. Stuff happens and sometimes people have bad things happen to them. However, there are people that seem to have bad stuff happen every year of their life, and some of them are probably: either making a lot of bad choices; unlucky; or abusing the system.

I always looked at sick time as an insurance policy to be used when "Needed" not just because they were available. To each their own but I would hate to have a valid need to be off due to illness or a family illness and couldn't because I blew through my days taking 3 day weekends every other week.

 

Totally agree with this. I try to coach people along these lines.