Timeline for Single parent takes many sick days
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
42 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jul 6, 2016 at 19:36 | comment | added | Lyrl | @Myles the employee moved in with a new girlfriend who is able to provide childcare and has had no absences in the two months since. It didn't turn out to be anything employer-side (so I can't take any credit for implementing the excellent suggestions here) but everyone involved is much relieved of stress and has all the best wishes for and hopes on the new relationship. | |
| Jul 6, 2016 at 17:34 | comment | added | Myles | @Lyrl I was thinking about this on my drive to work today. How did this situation turn out? | |
| May 4, 2016 at 3:13 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackWorkplace/status/727697654805889025 | ||
| May 3, 2016 at 3:03 | review | Close votes | |||
| May 3, 2016 at 14:14 | |||||
| Apr 29, 2016 at 8:08 | comment | added | user41761 | Sounds like something that open and honest dialog will resolve. +1 though for having a heart and not just canning the guy. I have two children and I can say I'm not surprised that he's being pulled away from work this often (especially if they're still rather young, getting sick often is normal). I can't imagine going through that time again on my own. | |
| S Apr 28, 2016 at 16:31 | history | suggested | idmean | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
removed expression of thanks
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| Apr 28, 2016 at 16:14 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S Apr 28, 2016 at 16:31 | |||||
| Apr 28, 2016 at 16:05 | history | edited | Lyrl | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Thank you for all the participation in the discussion
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| Apr 27, 2016 at 18:52 | comment | added | Lyrl | @JackArbiter thank you for that study, the kids in this case are in first grade (never in daycare prior to school) and a 2-year-old just entering daycare for the first time (the ex worked an offshift and watched the kids during the day before deciding to... let's leave it at "stop watching the kids"). It may be that we're getting the double whammy of them both being around lots of other children for the first time and the frequency of sickness will start dropping off. | |
| Apr 27, 2016 at 18:47 | comment | added | Lyrl | @AndrewWhatever in this particular case I cover for several hours (as a manager many of my normal tasks are more flexible time-wise) and we call in the offshift person (there is only one other hourly person trained for this position) to come in early and relieve me. It works, and as discussed elsewhere the issue isn't so much with the coverage itself but with the unplanned same-day-call-in nature of the absences and having to scramble to put off my tasks and wake up the guy who got off at 10pm last night (or later, if he was covering for a planned absence on the night shift). | |
| Apr 27, 2016 at 18:15 | comment | added | Andrew Whatever | How do you handle other people's absences? In education, for the most part, absences MUST be covered. You can't leave a bunch of kids sitting in a room alone all day. So you get a list of reliable substitute workers IE substitute teachers. If the work must be done that shift I would assume you would already have something similar set up? | |
| Apr 27, 2016 at 8:56 | comment | added | Steve Jessop | @Scott: the difference being that (perhaps unlike the questioner's company), Swedes don't bet their business on everyone showing up every day. Workers' rights affect the way the whole company is built, and just because a Swedish company (by necessity) handles some particular adversity with ease doesn't mean companies elsewhere in the world are able to. There's an ongoing cost to having that resilience, which Sweden considers essential and the US considers optional. | |
| Apr 27, 2016 at 8:52 | comment | added | Steve Jessop | @Air: whatever the two numbers are (this employee and general background), the question stands, since it's a different practical problem to manage unexpected absence that's close to the scale you're managing anyway, vs. needing to develop new processes around a previously-unseen amount of variation in how many bodies are available. | |
| Apr 26, 2016 at 23:05 | comment | added | Scott | @ lilienthal - my interpretation was that OP was asking what he should do, not what his minimum legal obligation is. My point was that if the Swedes can handle someone taking 50 consecutive sick days, then he can probably handle someone taking 1 sick day every fortnight. | |
| S Apr 26, 2016 at 20:48 | answer | added | John | timeline score: 6 | |
| S Apr 26, 2016 at 20:48 | history | protected | CommunityBot | ||
| Apr 26, 2016 at 18:44 | comment | added | JackArbiter | OP, keep in mind that as these children age, sick days will likely decrease, with the tradeoff being that early daycare causes more sickness at first, but less sickness at around the age of 5. If the children are nearing this age or entering school this fall (where sending your kid to school with a minor case of sniffles is not as much as an issue) this problem may be close to resolving itself down to a normal amount of sick days: livescience.com/9098-kids-day-care-infections.html | |
| Apr 26, 2016 at 16:28 | answer | added | DVK | timeline score: 7 | |
| Apr 26, 2016 at 16:26 | comment | added | Air | @SteveJessop "Calling in every other week" does not imply only 2 days of sick leave per month when the sick leave is for dependent care. Daycares and preschools often prohibit children from coming in until they have been asymptomatic or on antibiotics for some period (in my experience, 24 hours) or have a doctor's note clearing them as non-infectious. Toddlers are prone to a number of common viral infections that can have them running a fever for anywhere from 2 to 5 days at a time. | |
| Apr 26, 2016 at 14:58 | comment | added | coteyr | I am going to undelete my answer. I asked other business owners in my area (with similar sized companies). And then all looked at this question, and said they would either Fire the employee or put him on a 30 day probation, depending on what skills he had and rather it was easier to train a new person or more complicated. One said he would put him on probation and hand him a pamphlet for in home child care (for when a kid is sick). Even your comment and update that highlighted 2 call ins a month was thought of as "unreasonable". | |
| Apr 26, 2016 at 14:01 | answer | added | HedgeMage | timeline score: 30 | |
| Apr 26, 2016 at 13:34 | answer | added | Jeff Meden | timeline score: 1 | |
| Apr 26, 2016 at 13:16 | comment | added | Jeff Meden | There are lots of good answers to the direct question of how to deal with this situation. I would pose one more question to ask as an employer: "what is it worth to foster a high-loyalty environment?" An employee who experiences understanding and compassion when they are going through hard times is far more likely to return the sentiment. Would you, as an employer, feel it appropriate for an employee to immediately quit if your business was ebbing and you had to cut hours or reduce benefits? | |
| Apr 26, 2016 at 9:54 | comment | added | Steve Jessop | "he has been calling in about every other week" -- so he's responsible for 2 days of unpredicted leave per month. Just for scale, how many days of unpredicted leave per month come in total from the other people doing similar jobs to him? The practical solutions, in terms of emergency cover, will be different if he's adding 10% on top of the usual that you have always managed adequately, compared with if he's adding 1000% on top of the usual. I'd guess he's somewhere between the two. | |
| Apr 26, 2016 at 9:16 | answer | added | Tarok | timeline score: 0 | |
| Apr 26, 2016 at 8:55 | comment | added | Lilienthal♦ | OP, one point of advice in case you find no suitable resolution, have no more flexibility for this position and have to replace this employee: transition him out properly instead of firing him. You've already shown more compassion than some employers would but it would be a nice thing to do for both the employee and your reputation. | |
| Apr 26, 2016 at 8:42 | comment | added | Lilienthal♦ | @Scott Keep in mind that the US certainly wouldn't feature in that list of countries. PTO simply isn't regulated in that way and can be very limited in certain industries and particularly in small companies. | |
| Apr 26, 2016 at 5:58 | comment | added | Migz | @Scott regardless, sick days cannot be seen the same way as leave days. With sick days you will be put on the spot and need to find replacements instantly. which makes for a very inconsistent and stressfull working environment. Where leave days will often be announced 24 hour or longer before taking leave. Which allows to re-allocate employees on time. It's like giving you a homework assignment that needs to be finished within an hour while it needs 5 hours to be finished. | |
| Apr 26, 2016 at 2:41 | comment | added | Scott | I don't think you are asking the right question. Is one sick day a fortnight really that excessive for a single parent? In many countries, that level of leave would be legally protected as your minimum rights. | |
| S Apr 26, 2016 at 1:02 | history | mod moved comments to chat | |||
| S Apr 26, 2016 at 1:02 | comment | added | Jane S | Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. | |
| Apr 25, 2016 at 23:52 | answer | added | mxyzplk | timeline score: 17 | |
| Apr 25, 2016 at 17:46 | answer | added | DVK | timeline score: 42 | |
| Apr 25, 2016 at 16:13 | answer | added | Buhb | timeline score: 55 | |
| Apr 25, 2016 at 16:05 | answer | added | Xavier J | timeline score: 6 | |
| Apr 25, 2016 at 16:04 | answer | added | coteyr | timeline score: -3 | |
| Apr 25, 2016 at 14:57 | answer | added | Myles | timeline score: 191 | |
| Apr 25, 2016 at 14:28 | answer | added | Kate Gregory | timeline score: 111 | |
| Apr 25, 2016 at 13:58 | review | Close votes | |||
| Apr 26, 2016 at 13:42 | |||||
| Apr 25, 2016 at 13:54 | answer | added | Magisch | timeline score: -4 | |
| Apr 25, 2016 at 13:49 | answer | added | Kilisi | timeline score: -1 | |
| Apr 25, 2016 at 13:35 | history | asked | Lyrl | CC BY-SA 3.0 |