I doubt there's anything the new boss can do either, especially if she is a union employee. She can take off sick as many days as her doctor's excuse and union contract permit. What I'm wondering is how SIL can be forced to cover for her every time she does this. That's what doesn't make any sense to me. Sorry, but it smells fishy.

Well, I wouldn't automatically jump to "something smells fishy" based on what Patti has told us so far (I don't know if I've seen any previous posts about Sharon -- I'm just going by what I've read, above).

Yes, it's entirely possible to know on Monday that you're going to be out sick on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday; especially if you're female and have "female problems." Or maybe she went to the doctor about something and the doc advised her not to go to work. (Not knowing what type of work it is, or what duties they have somewhat hampers my analysis of the situation, but, hey, them's the breaks.)

I don't often get a bad cold/congestion/flu, but when I do, I know that it is best for me to stay home, and stay in bed, for at least 4 days, preferably longer, so there have been times when I've called my boss one day and told him that I wouldn't be in for two or three more days and it was entirely legitimate.

Even if someone is a union employee, the MOUs generally have a provision in them that if the supervisor suspects that someone is abusing their sick leave, they can be "forced" to get a doctor's release to return to work after only one day off. And a union employee (at least, a union employee who works for the State of California), can still be terminated for excessive absences as long as everything is document properly. You are expected to be healthy enough to perform the duties of your position. If you aren't, management has the right to reassign you to a different position, under the "you're not medically fit for this position" provision.

Although I agree that it's not right (and perhaps not legally possible) to "force one employee to cover for another employee every time s/he does this," some employees, and I'm guessing Patti's son-in-law is one, just have a higer work ethic and don't feel right about skipping out when they know they're needed.

And it's also entirely possible that Sharon is protected by the FMLA.

You call in 3 days in advance? You've GOT to be kidding. How can you possibly know that your not going to be feeling well in a few days? My employees know better.
And yes when youve had the flu...you feel like staying in bed...but most people dont do they. I couldnt. I have wayyyyy more responsibility than to be able to be off for 4 days. Some people need to learn to "suck it up" a little.
And I am of the opinion that most of the younger generation does not have the same work ethic as mine...or the generation before me. I am 43. Of course....thats just my opinion.

Marla

You call in 3 days in advance? You've GOT to be kidding. How can you possibly know that your not going to be feeling well in a few days?

Maybe this woman is having surgery, maybe she is having dialysis, maybe she has a sick child, maybe she has any number of conditions that cause her to become ill and/or need bedrest, who knows? You cannot assume that employees who are chronically out "sick" are just playing the system. And due to privacy issues, it may not be something that she wants to share with her fellow workers.

That being said, the employees who are constantly picking up the slack need to go to the boss and speak their minds; perhaps suggest that the boss hire a temp when this woman is out, perhaps there are other workers in the company who would love to have the extra overtime, perhaps the boss could give your SIL a cash bonus, extra time off, etc. Complaining to your family won't fix anything. He needs to complain to the right people.

Oh you can know you'll be out for 3 days before hand. Have you had the flu? The bad flu? It takes a little more than sucking it up, to get well, and back on your feet. It isn't safe to work around machinery if your dizzy. You go in and infect all the other workers you work with, making more people call in sick.
Patti, is SIL in management? When I used to work, the management in our company used to split the shift, and cover. In the hourly employees, they could work overtime (1 1/2 times pay). If they didn't want to stay over, they'd go to the youngest employee and draft (force) them over.
Leslie

I was a low level manager for a federal government agency. One of my duties was to do studies of people's work habits. Like use of sick days, number of cases started and finished per person, per unit,trends noticed, etc. One day, in gest, I wrote a report titled "Study shows 40% of sick days are taken Fridays and Mondays" Note-40 % of all work days are Fridays or Mondays. I thought it was hilarious. Nobody else did. I quit that job 2 years ago. I need to have some fun.

I can see knowing ahead that you'll be sick for a few days. When you go to sick work, you make everyone else sick. Sucking it up isn't always a good thing.

My 5 yo was sent home with a stomach virus yesterday. He woke up all chipper this morning so I sent him back to school. The school called me first thing and sent him back home because they have a policy that a person is contagious for a 24 hour period after vomiting or fever. I had forgotten about the waiting period. I can see why schools would want this and it wouldn't be a bad thing for workplaces either.

I'm not unsympathetic. At this point, I don't think the company has the right to dump the coworker. They've set an unwritten policy. It's up to the sil and the third coworker to request changes in the system. Maybe it needs to be a case of the op being unavailable for last minute changes and the coworkers being 'unavailable' for extra shifts.

I agree with Cindyb. This is not an employee problem, this is a employer problem. They need to have someone to cover workers that out for more than a few days.

The SIL needs to grow some...and just say sorry I can't cover I have a health problem to attend to or whatever. Let the manager cover her shift.

It's really no body's business except the employers why she is going to be sick for 4 days in a row (maybe she just miscarried, maybe she has MS, or maybe she's sleeping with the boss, who knows...) but obviously, the employers don't have a problem with it or with her. Your SIL's beef should be his employer, not his co-worker. Maybe that's what he signed up for; I don't know his job description. But, if they are scheduling him consistantly for so many hours, he should talk with them about it.

I have a friend who is in a situation similar where if he ever calls in sick his assistant has to work like 16 hours. So, he literally never calls in sick (even went in when he had a 102 fever) because he would feel guilty about the other guy working so much, but he really should be able to call in sick... don't you think? It's the employers that are at fault; and don't have enough coverage for sick employees... not necessarily the other sick employees; You really don't know her health problems or reasons for taking so much time off... but they may very well be just and even if they aren't, it's still the employers fault for allowing it and/or for having another person "have" to cover for her like that.

"You call in 3 days in advance? You've GOT to be kidding. How can you possibly know that your not going to be feeling well in a few days? My employees know better.
And yes when youve had the flu...you feel like staying in bed...but most people dont do they. I couldnt. I have wayyyyy more responsibility than to be able to be off for 4 days. Some people need to learn to "suck it up" a little.
And I am of the opinion that most of the younger generation does not have the same work ethic as mine...or the generation before me. I am 43. Of course....thats just my opinion."

There is just so much wrong with what you've said that I don't quite know where to begin...

Do your employees respect you? I'm sure they can't feel a whole lotta love for you, just going by your comment that your employees "know better" than to call in sick.

I know I've got a kind and generous boss, because there have been days when I've called him in the morning to say that I'm not feeling well and won't be in, and he'll say, "spend some time working on some new 'how to' documents and we'll call it a work-at-home day." I have full access to the work network from home, and I can do everything from here that I can do from my desk with only one exception - answer the phone. I can, and do, call in and check my voice mail and return calls as necessary. I can't begin to tell you how many times I've worked from home and everyone else thought I was in the office.

And you don't even want to get me started on all of the extra time I put in and don't put on my timesheet each month. So it's really not right for you to question my work ethic.

"I have wayyyyy more responsibility than to be able to be off for 4 days. Some people need to learn to "suck it up" a little."

Yes, and it's people with this mentality that take their crap illnesses to work and make the rest of us sick. I think you're way over estimating your importance.

For a normal cold/virus, you can't really tell how long you'll feel badly for. But if you get something like strep throat-you are contagious until 48 hours after you start taking your antibiotics. So if I got strep today, I know I'd be out for at least 3 days-not to mention last time I had strep, I had a horrible reaction to it, so I'd kill someone that came to work and gave it to me!

That being said, I've worked with people who chronically abused the sick policy. It was ridiculous and morale sucked because of it. 2-3 workers constantly missed work or showed up late/left early type of thing. Management knew all about it, and let it slide. I was never so happy to quit a job in all my life! So I'm sorry your son has to cover for her, regardless of the reason.

It's surprising what employers will put up with. Turnover is costly but I'm amazed by the stories I hear from DH who works in a warehouse. Some employees literally only show up when they feel like it. Some just disappear. I don't understand it myself but I don't think the company is paying for the missed time so that may be why they put up with it.

I work in a professional environment and we had a programmer who called off quite often. One day I overheard him explaining to someone that he had a leg problem that acted up and when it did, he couldn't drive because he had a clutch on the floor???? I drive automatic so I'm not sure I understood this right but if I did, wouldn't you drive a different car instead of missing work all of the time? He was eventually let go when the contract ended.

I agree that there are times that you know when you'll be out for health reasons for days in advance but when you have a history of missing a lot of work, it's a concern. It may not be 'fishy' - it could be a chronic condition or just bad luck - but it does make you question whether this person is well enough to hold a full-time job that requires coverage if they aren't there.

Good grief! Of course you know you may be out several days. I've just recovered from a bout of diverticulitis and I've had it enough times to know it takes about a week to get over it. DH is recovering from the flu--that's about a week. Of course! If you've got your diagnosis, you or your doc has an idea how long it takes to recover from this. Some things are impossible to "suck up" and get over. Anyone making that statement has never been really sick.

"I work in a professional environment and we had a programmer who called off quite often. One day I overheard him explaining to someone that he had a leg problem that acted up and when it did, he couldn't drive because he had a clutch on the floor???? I drive automatic so I'm not sure I understood this right but if I did, wouldn't you drive a different car instead of missing work all of the time?"

I drive an automatic, too, but I have driven a car with "a clutch on the floor," so I can certainly understand this guy's perspective.

But, no, I wouldn't "drive a different car instead of missing work all of the time" unless I had at least two cars, at least one of which had an automatic transmission.

My guess is that this guy had one car only, with a manual transmission.

So many people, too many of them, have an 'it's all about me' attitude. And that probably includes this gal but it also includes those that go to work ill, those that 'suck it up'. I have owned a business for 20 years and managed them for many more and I have to say that I, as an employer, do not appreciate an employee coming to work when they are sick.

They are usually ineffective, work is not done to their normal level and they then infect the others employees if they have something contagious. I practically hog-tie my husband to keep him home, he's of the same thought process, just too important to stay home. The business will do okay, and if it won't then shame on you, you aren't being an effective manager.

Lindsay,

I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. Yes the guy probably did only have one car but he had a chronic leg problem that was causing him to miss several days of work each month because he couldn't drive his car with the clutch. Why would someone with a chronic leg problem choose to own a car he couldn't drive when his leg acted up? Is owning a car with a clutch on the floor better than being employed? He lost his job due to his lack of reliability. They could have found him work on another contract but why bother when there are other people available who show up to work most days.