Sick day.

[Trabitha]

I suppose it's been far too long since I've had to worry about sick time. Being a stay at home mother for 12 years kind of makes sick children a non-issue. Today I find it's harder than I thought getting even a partial day off with a sick kid. Grrrrrrrrrrr! Is it this way for EVERYONE or am I experiencing an unusual situation?

[Rick]

Welcome to the joys of parenthood. Juggling work, kids, and activities is pretty tough for two parents. Even harder for a single parent. Not only is it a problem getting the time off but you lose the pay as well. If you don't have someone that can help, like a grandparent, then talk to your boss about make up time. Perhaps you can work through lunch a few days or juggle the front or back end of your day so you can still handle getting him off to school or picking him up.

I never had a problem with giving employees the time off they needed unless it started pushing 3%. It's just part of the management process. People have lives that don't always coincide with work.

No, you are not alone. Everyone deals with it at some level.

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

For the past seven years I have used my vacation as my parenthood required. No sick days.

[hunter63]

Yes, this is even harder now that decent jobs are scarce and management is running scared as well....I feel your pain.

Back in a previous life I was a dept supervisor in a shop w/120 employees....later on GF, dept head, for 450 employees, and had to deal with this stuff all the time.
Heard every possible excuse, gave extra points for creativity.

It was easier back then as we were always looking for people, so tried to hang on to good ones.

My simple rules were, if you are sick, stay home, if you just need the day off, lets talk about it, I may be able to count it as excused.
If you lie to me, and get found out you will be disciplined at the required infraction rate.

Worked well, .........of course there were those that really didn't get it......

[Trabitha]

Cowboy...what is this "vacation" you speak of? LOL! I have to do the same. Never get to do anything other than be the "babysitter" for my son when he's got no school. It is what it is though. At least I ENJOY being around him. Ya know?

Thank GOD I found a clause in the manual that allowed me to use my sick time for Ray's sick time if I have to stay home with him. He was a MESS. I only had to go in a few hours at the end of the day to cover for a gal that had to leave. Thank GOD!

[Aurelius95]

Being previously divorced myself, I have had to stay home when my older son was sick. My ex and I tried to take turns, so neither of us had to do it all the time. I am thankful that my work allows me to miss for such instances. Like you, I enjoyed spending time with him, but it can make it stressful at work. Even after I remarried, and my wife was working, I would sometimes have to take a day to be with my son. Keep your head up!

[crashdive123]

Hang in there T.