Sick time and confidentiality

riverkinz · Feb 9, 2009

wow, this post went off in many different directions which is fine. I do think that my employer did those solely for the purpose of making us all feel bad and to stir the pot between co-workers. I don't feel there was any other point to this. THAT is what disturbs me most. She already went over our sick times with us in person in private with our yearly review. SO why else would she do this? We just had a NORWALK outbreak and so we had alot of recent sick calls ..what the heck? They are the ones that say we need to not only call in when we have the symptoms but ALSO stay away for 48 more hours. This is just one incident with this particular person. She just likes to stir the pot. I don't believe in ANY MEMO posting unless it serves a purpose and I think this one was a slap in the face. SECONDLY I did not agree to have my name posted for everyone to see what sick time hours I used last year. That is my business.

Equinox_93 · Feb 9, 2009

SECONDLY I did not agree to have my name posted for everyone to see what sick time hours I used last year. That is my business.

The thing is, it's not exactly private info- if your coworkers cared, they could easily just make a note of when you weren't there and were schedulled to be. It's not confidential because they can see with their own eyes whether you're there or not when you should be... But yeah- it's absolutely asinine to post it. I could see posting it for positive reinforcement- like the top 5 attendance staffers or something, but the way she's doing it is begging for negative feelings all around.

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Feb 10, 2009

When I call in sick, they always ask why, and they want to know the specifics. It's not that they care and I don't think it's any of their business.

Healthcare facilites are required to track and report communicable illnesses of employees to see if it leads to any facility acquired infections....that why they ask.

Tried looking for regs but eyelids too droopy!

Most Employees Call in "Sick" for Reasons Other Than Illness

Poor Morale Adds Up to Even More No-Shows

Tips for Effective Absence Management

Two-thirds of U.S. workers who call in sick at the last minute do so for reasons other than physical illness, according to the findings of the 17 th annual CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey. CCH is a leading provider of human resources and employment law information and services and part of Wolters Kluwer Law & Business ( hr.cch.com ).
The 2007 CCH Survey found that while 34 percent of people call in sick to work at the last minute due to "personal illness," 66 percent are taking time off to deal with personal or family issues.
"Most people today are juggling the demands of busy personal and professional lives, and are trying to do their very best in both places," said CCH Employment Law Analyst Pamela Wolf, JD. "Organizations need to stop the tug of war with people for their time, and become a partner to employees to help them, and the business overall, be more successful."
Employers, however, have failed to make significant headway against the costly absenteeism problem that takes billions of dollars off the bottom line for U.S. businesses. The nation's largest employers estimate that unscheduled absenteeism costs their businesses more than $760,000 per year in direct payroll costs, and even more when lower productivity, lost revenue and the effects of poor morale are considered.
According to the 2007 CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey, conducted for CCH by Harris Interactive®, the absenteeism rate was 2.3 percent in 2007, down slightly from 2.5 percent last year....

,,,Organizations Search for Solutions
One of the first steps in partnering with employees is offering an appropriate range of work-life and absence control programs.
"Traditional sick leave and inflexible time-off policies may put an employee in the position of having to conjure up a cold and take off an entire day when they really just needed two hours to take a parent to a pre-arranged medical appointment," noted Wolf.
By offering a range of programs, employers can reduce last minute no-shows, benefiting both the business and the employees who keep it running.
Work-life programs
The CCH Survey examined a wide range of work-life programs and asked employers to report on the programs they use and their effectiveness in controlling unexpected time off.
On a scale of 1 to 5 (with 5 being most effective), the work-life programs rated highest for reducing unscheduled absences are Alternative Work Arrangements (3.6), Telecommuting (3.5), Compressed Work Week (3.3), Leave for School Functions (3.2)and Flu Shot Programs (3.2).
Of the work-life programs offered by employers, the top five in use are Employee Assistance Plans (72 percent), Flu Shot Programs (66 percent), Wellness Programs (60 percent), Leave for School Functions (54 percent) and Alternative Work Arrangements (54 percent). ...

psalm, RN · Feb 10, 2009

Tracking something like conjunctivitis or gastroenteritis, sure. But posting it? and esp. personal information should be off-limits. I don't think I need to know about a co-worker's endometriosis; menstrual cramps; fibromyalgia; migraine; hangover; uti; ibs; crohn's flair-up, etc.

rngolfer53 · Feb 10, 2009

I agree with the idea that the calling off tends to be very polar. There are always a few individuals who call off, and those who always are the ones covering their shifts.
Me, I was an OT addict my first year. It got nuts some weeks. Got to the point that people would just ask me to cover shifts for them, shifts that put me in not so comfortable positions with my schedule. And it was always the same people asking. They were the people who called off all the time. They'd ask me to do a favor and just work the shift cause it saved them from having to call off. During my second year, I cut back big time on OT. I came in to help when I felt the unit really needed it. I quit coming in on off days cause someone called me at home and wanted to attend a family dinner and stuff like that.
I started getting attitude about it from very specific individuals. One girl said "You miss a lot of days lately. Why dont you do your part and help." She wanted the day after 4th of July off cause she planned on getting toasted and knew she wouldnt be able to make it in the next day. Funny part was, I called off twice my first two years. 2 times. It just seemed I was missing days cause, well, I wasnt there every single day anymore.
I would have benefited from having something like what was posted on your unit posted.

The practice noted in the original post comes about because sick leave is regularly abused by a certain percentage of employees. So, it makes some sense as a blunt instrument to bring social pressure to bear on the abusers.

That said, better managers have fewer problems with sick leave abuse. Hiring decisions, as well as doing things to keep morale high, go a long way in reducing the Friday flu. The morale decisions include canning those who are regularly calling out and sticking their co-workers with the extra work.

Mimi2RN, ASN, RN · Feb 10, 2009

We don't ask why someone is calling in sick, if they volunteer the information, that is their choice. It doesn't get documented anywhere.

You have to have 45 days between sick episodes, or you will be given a verbal warning. This can escalate into being terminated if you persist in this behavior. Doesn't this sound wonderful, you catch a flu bug and take time off, then have a migraine and be unable to work, then get written up. A verbal warning on your record will affect your next evaluation. It doesn't make sense to me, that hospital management would want to have sick people taking care of patients!

eriksoln, BSN, RN · Feb 10, 2009

The practice noted in the original post comes about because sick leave is regularly abused by a certain percentage of employees. So, it makes some sense as a blunt instrument to bring social pressure to bear on the abusers.
That said, better managers have fewer problems with sick leave abuse. Hiring decisions, as well as doing things to keep morale high, go a long way in reducing the Friday flu. The morale decisions include canning those who are regularly calling out and sticking their co-workers with the extra work.

I agree. Maybe the solution is, instead of trying to put pressure on those who abuse the system, let them know their position is in jeopardy and if they dont improve, let them go. It only takes letting one person on your unit hang around despite having a chronic call off issue to give everyone the message that its excuseable.

Equinox_93 · Feb 10, 2009

Tracking something like conjunctivitis or gastroenteritis, sure. But posting it? and esp. personal information should be off-limits. I don't think I need to know about a co-worker's endometriosis; menstrual cramps; fibromyalgia; migraine; hangover; uti; ibs; crohn's flair-up, etc.

Um- I was under the impression that it was just the *time* that was posted- not the *reasons*...

lpnflorida · Feb 10, 2009

When we call in sick, we are not asked what is wrong with us. We are asked is this related to FMLA ( important as then it is not held against the person) we are asked when our next scheduled shift is and do we think we will be at work on that day ( again important as they then look to see do they need to try and find someone to work that shift, a means of being proactive in regards to caring for patients ) We are asked are we sick or is a family member sick. I do not see these questions as a problem at all.