Microblog Memes

The only thing you do by keeping things running through heroic effort is to send a message to management that they can lower the priority of dealing with the issue.

Managing upwards (getting management to make decisions in your favor) means that you can't let yourself be the reason they don't feel the pain of a problem like poor staffing. Sure, you can step in and save the day if you really, truly, need to build up your reputation as dependable/hero, but it's a thin thin line.

One thing I often do as well is try to look at people in other departments and their general attitudes towards time off, vacations, having to leave for Dr's appointments, that sort of thing.

I'll be damned if I'm going to live in a constant crunch time situation, feeling like I need to take lunch at my desk, and put off things I need to do for me.

Especially while other teams are having regular team building outings during work hours on the company dime, one guy takes a long lunch and to go to the gym, and two others were clearly taking the video call meeting while out walking their dog.

Everyone deserves consideration of the fact that they are human, and everyone deserves the kind of flexibility that often is only for business side "important" people.

In my opinion, at a healthy workplace, someone taking time off shouldn't be noticed

I once listened to a presentation by a guy who had this really elaborate plan, based on everyone doing their jobs absolutely perfectly, with nothing going wrong at all. If anything skipped a beat, anywhere along the way, the entire house of cards would come down.

I asked what would happen if someone didn't accomplish their objectives, and he said they would. But what if they didn't? They will. That's when I said, you aren't taking the human factor into account, and he said that the solution is to "fire the human, and get a new human."

I would like to add - fuck those managers that try to make scheduling issues around your sick days your problem. Over the last few years, I’ve heard of more and more jobs where the manager expects you, the sick person, to find coverage for your shift in order to call out. That is, you’re expected to call around your coworkers and find someone who will work your shift for you… yes, even if you’ve got no voice or are busy puking your brains out. Somehow, this practice has become prevalent in some jobs in the US. I worry about the younger workers who accept this as normal. It is not normal, and should never be normal!

The manager is paid to manage the employees - including finding coverage when someone’s sick. If you ever find yourself in a job where a manager tries to make you find your replacement before “permitting” you to call out, GTFO out of there! It’s a fucked up practice and sane employers don’t pull that shit.

(For all the Europeans reading - yes, this is real. Yes, we need better labor laws.)

In Europe, there are companies that offer unlimited paid time off. In practice apparently people take less time off than when they have a fixed amount of leave because they feel a responsibility towards their coworkers.

In my opinion, entrepreneurship is a high risk/high rewards game. Employees getting sick is part of the risk, and if you can't handle that you shouldn't be running a business.

I know in the US it's incredibly easy to let people go, in the end if specialist workers get scarce, not accepting sick days will ruin your business. In Europe not accepting sick days is simply not an option.

I am convinced treating people well prevents things like burnout. And preventing burnouts and churn gives you a competitive advantage.

also, by going to work sick, you are unnecessarily endangering your coworkers, your customers, and yourself.

It's true and i agree but it's still my coworker suffering the consequences.

Too few people accept this

I guilt myself enough as it is. My boss tells me don't worry about it and that I need rest like everyone else lol. I'm lucky, I both have my dream job and a boss that actually goes to bat for me. I wish everyone could have the same.

Shit, If a client is even just a little rude to me my boss will basically threaten to pull their account and force them to apologize.

What do you mean you "deserve" sick days? Aren't you legally given those?

For instance, I can call in two days a month and say "I'm sick, staying home, not working". If I'm not that badly off, then I can call in as much as I want (within reason) and say "I'm sick but working from home". At any point, I can say "I'm sick, going to hospital".

Called off work on Friday because I accidentally fucked up my back Thursday night and woke up unable to move without excruciating pain. My boss left me on read. Didn't even fucking reply.

The only two people who I am putting any stress on by calling out sick the morning of a shift is the scheduling manager who has to find someone to cover, and the person they get to cover if they happened to be off that day and now are being asked to come in. And I could always cover that other person's shift when they call in sick to make up for when they covered for me.

Any extra slack the already scheduled people get told to pick up is on the manager if they do not find anyone else to come in, and that is entirely on those in charge of staffing the place.

By the way, this also applies for "unforeseen problems" which "made the project go behind schedule" and "now we're going to work extra hard" (meaning overtime without pay).

It's up to management to not only account and prepare for Known Unknowns (problems known to happen but not if, when and how severe - for example employee sickness), but even have margin for Unknown Unknowns (problems that nobody expected).

In fact, half way competent managers will do enough analysis and research upfront to transform many otherwise Know Unknowns into Known Knowns (we know this will happen) and Unknown Unknowns into Known Unknowns - sometimes things are only "totally unexpected" because the necessary upfront research and preparation hasn't been done.

Managing this is literally the core job of low-level and mid-level managers, so if they try and dump on you the responsibility for it or try and extract from you out of contract work to make up for it, they are literally acting in the most selfish personal upside maximizing way possible and just covering their own incompetence.

It is not up to you to make sure an incompetent asshole gets a bonus for doing a shit job and overpromising.

This is literally they kind of situation where, unless you're for example reciprocating equivalent leeway from said manager towards you in the past (say, the kind that'll actually quietly let you go home early if you're having a bad day), you absolutely have the moral high ground to leave it to them to sort it out with whomever THEY are accountable to (be it a client they made deadline promises to based on a plan that would only ever work in the perfect zero-problems situation or their own manager).

I know this doesn't happen often in practice, but I absolutely cover my teams time off (for what ever reason). Our clients don't pay us enough to have extra staff standing around when everyone is healthy, so I'm the coverage plan. 😕

Unpopular opinion here: this is true for some jobs but the more responsibility you develop in your career the more unplanned absences will be noticed.

Yes, you "deserve" sick days as well as all the other supports employees are entitled to in a modern well managed organisation, but quite obviously if you do important stuff then on some days you just won't be around to do those important things.

Like this guy Jason Call for example, I presume that if he's elected is supposed to show up to congress and debate or vote on new legislation. How would you feel if he just didn't do that because he was... you know... off sick? What if he was genuinely unwell a few times when important legislation was passed and then another occasion comes around and he feels like he's coming down with something? He should just be able to take the day because his manager should have just hired more people right? No. Sometimes you've just got to grind it out.

There will be times in most professional jobs when taking a day off because you're unwell is going to let the team down. In my experience, you tell the team what's going on and see what can be done to reduce what's required of you. For example if you're meeting with an important client or whatever then maybe others can help with the prep and you show up late and leave early.