christmasoompa

No, I've often been at least a half day - I commuted in to London for years and that was before evening or Saturday appointments were common. None of the companies I've ever worked for have made me take it as holiday!

Ditto to my husband, who also commutes, and who would be at least a few hours off work if he can't get an evening appointment. He usually just comes home and works from home for the rest of the day, as it's not worth him travelling in by then.

Thankfully I run my own business now, so if I need time off for a dentist or doctors appointment I just ask the boss, and she's kind enough to say yes.

brits1

Change Doctors if you can, we have plenty of excellent choice here in the small town where we live, all offer late nights bar one but its an old "Doctors" surgery and they must have the clientele that don't need more than 9 -5 otherwise they would of closed down years ago. Honestly I cannot really fault the NHS since we have been back in the UK.

BadgeIsBack

To be perfectly frank, any job or employer that clock watches doctor visits or even decrees they are needed (for a certificate perhaps ) smacks of a battler culture role / with trade unions not far behind...

I've never needed permission to take time ie: a day off or a GP visit in 20 odd years...

Pollyana

or is just trying to cut down on the insane amount of people who take 'sickies' when they are perfectly fit and just want a day off. One thing that amazed me when I was an admin officer was the number of staff who would tell me on a firday that they would be 'off sick' on Monday.

In the Uk our sick days were tracked, and if too many and believed to be spurious, we were questioned about them, Here its a free for all, to the extent that many of us refuse to go sick when we are genuinely ill as we don't want to be tarred with the same brush.

Its not a 'battler culture', its cheating the employer.

BadgeIsBack

It's the battlers I often hear counting them out Polly, but I can assure you it is cultural / institutional.



I have never tracked my staff sickies : I see them as adults. If some do take too many they either need them or have been around long enough to see it as an entitlement. For the first time in 20 yrs I have found an employer where as a matter of fact people have been around in the same role for a time. It's a good place to work : assuch, using up sick leave is something I accept in return for a degree of loyalty.

If poeple take too much sick leave ultimately payroll will be on to them : but it's not something I come across much. In fact my staff flag with me and often end up purchasing, say leave. Fine by me.

brits1

I remember my first job in Aus and working with my "Aussie" colleagues when they were discussing "holidays" two of the group were talking about booking a holiday to Bali when another colleague (from India) said "I thought you had used your holidays" (poor girl had to cover for sickness...and she seemed to cover a heck of a lot lol) when the two in the group said they had but were going to use sick days!!!, they did go to Bali by the way, I was amazed as having just arrived from the UK I had never heard of that type of conversation before in the work place, I never abused this system if I was sick and I really needed to be off work with an illness etc then I was, the same with most of my "expat friends" But on the other side of the story, my husband had accumulated a huge amount of sick days (sick days rolled over with his employer) and when he left the company he did not get any extra pay etc for not taking these sick days, he colleague left at nearly the same time and his nickname was "sick note" he had taken his sick days which amounted to quite a lot, he took them every now and again and ended up having nearly double time off from work than my husband and all with pay......who was the "clever" one in that situation, my husband still says he could never do that, we not saints just conscientious working people.

BadgeIsBack

It looks like the sick day is enshrined in the entitlement for some. I think it's a cultural thing around certain industries where by it's a benefit. As a matter of fact, I wonder whether I should be using sick days if I am entitled to them because in my line of work only I have to get my work complete and it's not measurable by time. People don't have to 'cover'. Traditionally I think people in low income and structured roles where there is less scope for promotion and there is less autonomy ( I forget the words for it) tend to rely on the entitlement of sick day because it becomes a benefit in return for less compensation. Obviously it's very Australian maybe due to the trade union base..

No one in my Australian workplaces discuss sick days : people are engaged to do a professional role, the compensation is there. If sick leave was paid out like vacation people would take less sick days!

spouse of scouse

Like brits, we only took a sick day when we were actually sick. Something I was very pleased about when I had a motor vehicle accident, because I could take my accumulated 9 months of sick leave to properly recover.

I don't agree that unused sick leave should be paid out, it's a safeguard, not an 'entitlement'. Those who take a sickie every month just because one is 'due' will regret it if they have an accident/illness/surgery that requires them to be off work for an extended period - with no income.

Pollyana

BadgeIsBack

I'm going to put a Grayling voice on : so no Brit ever took a sickie?

21 years ago I worked for 6 weeks in the public service : I came in late and the 'supervisor' clock watched..counted hours and mins..it was great to move on where no one since has counted hrs, days etc

It's cultural and institutional in my experience, which was my whole point. It's not just about sick days it's micro managing the appointments and questioning people. The famous Australian sickie is just that, but don't tell me Brits don't sometimes have a day off because it frankly suits.!

What's important is that people can be treated like adults, and slip away for GP appointments and the like...

scrubbedexpat099

One of the advantages of working for the Gov is sickies.

Pollyana

That depends on your point of view.

scrubbedexpat099

Somebody working for the Government.

Pollyana

I do work for the government.
I find it odd that people can take sick leave when they clearly just want a day off, but I guess thats cos I come from a background where sick leave was for when you were too ill to come to work. The Australian dictionary seems to have a different definition!

spouse of scouse

Only some of them Polly, some of us have a different dictionary