I just don't/can't understand how people can do that!!!!! I had to call in sick today....maybe 4th time in 10 years!!...and I just hated doing it!! I swear some people on think about "Me, Me, ME!"

It still could very well be she's undergoing some medical procedure with lots of testing and stress involved. It's really a private matter and I don't see why your grown son would complain to you about it anyway.

Sounds to me like they need to hire someone to work Monday thru Friday! That way she can just work her two days a week she wants! I think she is a scary prospect for a managerial position! Sheeeesh. I don't get it, but I know I'd be darn disgusted if I were your SIL.

I can only speak for the hourly. I know if I called in twice in 3 months, I'd get a write up. The only way you could get a day off in my department was to call in sick. Working 6-7 days a week wears an old lady out. I can't speak for management, but I know people abuse the rules to their advantage, in hourly and management. The one's that take advantage of the system, make the others suffer. They have to cover for the ones calling in. They come to DEPEND on the ones who rarely call in being there. The ones that call in all the time, the depend on them calling in. Make sense??? No, but that's the way it went. Again, I can't talk for management, but sometimes you'd like to slap your supervisor, because they KNEW who'd be there and who wouldn't. My job was physical, and could wear me down. They put more and more on us, as they did away with some of the jobs. This is why I am soooooooooo glad I'm retired now.
You'd have to have worked there to understand it, and then maybe you won't.
Patti, I'm sure the higher ups are watching her preformance.
Next shake-up, she'll probably be gone.
Leslie

One suggestion I always had was if you didn't work Friday or Monday, you didn't get the 1 1/2 or double time.

Patti - I didn't have a problem with your post - I was offended at the other poster who claimed that people who had the flu just needed to suck it up and that she was WAY too important to miss work. If she's lucky, she'll never have an emergency health situation that lands her in the hospital with surgery and a two week stay like my husband just went through. It certainly wasn't something he planned and wasn't something he had any control over.

I hope I didn't offend or hurt your feelings because that wasn't my intent. I have worked for the same company for 27 years and I've seen my share of employees who seem to abuse their time, all the while I'm looking around wondering if anyone notices. I had to cover a desk for an entire month last year, so I do know how it feels to be put upon. And I do know that a lot of times, companies do know what's going on with an employee but they have to document, dot all the i's and cross all the t's before they can take action.

I think I'd look for another job.

Ya know, there's another reason why this woman might be calling in sick in advance.

Maybe she's an alcoholic. In the United States, the medical profession classifies alcoholism as a disease, and the government protects folks with recognized, diagnosed diseases.

I used to have a female coworker who is an alcoholic. I didn't even know she was an alcoholic for a long time. But, she would suddenly be out for days at a time (calling in to say she wasn't feeling well); and she went totally AWOL for two-week periods on more than one occasion. Management was having one he!! of a time getting all the ducks in a row to terminate her; which wasn't helped by the fact that none of the managers wanted to get stuck being the one to actually have to do the final documentation and termination.

After years of this, a new manager was assigned to the unit (well, he wasn't a "new manager," he was just new to managing that unit), and he decided he wasn't going to put up with it. He told us that if any of us smelled alcohol on her, or if we observed her drinking or behaving in a "drunken manner" that we were to alert him immediately. When he did get these alerts, he'd take this woman off into a conference room and have a little chat with her, to let her know that her actions and behavior were being documented.

Then she went AWOL again and the paperwork was prepared, to terminate her on the basis of being AWOL (being drunk or drinking on the job didn't even have to enter into the equation), but on the day the paperwork was to be put in the mail, we received a message from ber that she was retiring and wouldn't be back.

What a relief!

But, the point I wanted to make is that, as has been said by someone already in either this thread or the original one, it's entirely possible that the employer's hands are somewhat tied when it comes to dealing with this "bothersome employee," and the employer is not at liberty to explain anything to anyone.

Patti, I'm glad he is taking a stand.

Alcoholism is a self induced sickness not an disease, Cancer is a disease a twelve step program doesn't change. Your son Patti has taken a stance. He deserves to have his time off. If she's sick I think she needs to express it in a way that helps him understand she isn't taking days off every month at her whim. I don't understand how anyone could have so much sick leave without getting written up, many times. I feel I'm missing something here.

I don't care if they're management--they still have a boss, right?

SIL needs to bring it up. And if he has, he needs to make a lot more noise. I'm hoping he gave the details of this conversation to their boss--that bit about the morning dr. appt. is over the top, and since she called in to SIL, maybe the boss doesn't even realize.

Because whether she's genuinely sick or whether she's taking advantage, it's still not fair to him. And their bosses should deal with it.

Also, he's discovered how to deal with her--did he notice, I wonder?

Just tell her he can't--he has plans. Say, "but you don't even come in until 2; you can't make your appointment for the morning?" Give her a hard time. Don't accommodate her.

It sounds like the SIL feels she's out of line--and being the guy on the scene, he's probably right.

And if management won't do something, he'll have to, starting w/ what he did, which is to give her resistance every time she asks.

Even IF she is chronically ill, she needs to manage her work time so that she is not an UNDUE burden to her colleagues. I've worked w/ a woman who went to work a few hours after her chemo treatment. If she's well enough to hold down a job at all, she needs to arrange her dr. appt's, etc., to minimize their impact. Sometimes you can't help things like hospital stays, etc. But you can usually arrange your dr. visits properly. And you don't take the whole day off, at the cost of your coworker's time, if you have a morning appointment.

Good luck to your SIL, Patti!

It's a PITA to have to be the tough one, but it sounds like it would work for him.

I don't know how she can schedule sick leave unless:
1) she is in some kind of treatment, medical or otherwise. In which case, she should have/did consult with her/SIL's manager.
2) she's planning to play hookie.
3) she's planning an alcoholic binge (seems unlikely since I don't think alcoholics really plan these things).
4) she has periods like clockwork, with horrendous cramps, which would be TMI for SIL.

Hmmm...she's sick Friday and Monday, but she'll be working over the weekend. Doesn't compute, except for the money angle.

I'm just perplexed by all this. SIL needs to meet with manager and discuss the burden of this woman's ad hoc sick days.

"Alcoholism is a self induced sickness not an disease"

You and many, many other people may feel that way, but the American Medical Association has classified alcoholism as a disease. Alcholics are as protected as a disabled person; a person with cancer; a person with AIDS, etc. You may not like it, but that's simply the way it is.

"Alcoholism is a self induced sickness not an disease"

You and many, many other people may feel that way, but the American Medical Association has classified alcoholism as a disease. Alcholics are as protected as a disabled person; a person with cancer; a person with AIDS, etc. You may not like it, but that's simply the way it is.color=blue>

Oh my...having been around alcoholics my whole life, this would be a great discussion for over at the Hot Topics forum.

Sue

I also have read that 80% of docters feel just like me, despite the classification.