I don't proofread my posts before I publish them... cause I keep my thoughts au naturale.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

I Foresee a Return of the Bubonic Plague

I know this isn't any kind of new idea, but I was reminded of it the other day when a friend was sick...

What is the deal with employers who expect their employees to come to work and infect everyone else?  Why do they make it so hard for employees to be sick.  Case in point, my friend is a waitress and apparently if you do not have a doctor's note, you receive a warning.  Second occurrence receives a week suspension and third offense is termination.

I don't know about the rest of you rich Americans, but going to a doctor can be costly- especially if you don't have insurance.  So, not only are you losing out on that day of pay (because if you're like the average joe schmo on the street, you don't get paid sick days), you are expected to pay out of pocket for a doctor to tell you that you have a virus and you have to wait it out.

I once worked at a pizza restaurant (we shall call it Pizza Hot).  In order to call-in sick, you were given a list of people to call and see if they could work for you.  If you couldn't find a replacement, you were expected to come to work.  Oh, wouldn't all the patrons love to know that their food is being handled by someone with explosive diarrhea?  I was making a pizza one day and my coworker sneezed on the make table and I literally saw snotties fly into the ingredients... yeah, you heard me.  Ew.

And what about places like Thomas Cardella (telemarketers)?  They are such nazis that sure you can call in sick, but if you call in sick you lose your "attendance bonus" for an ENTIRE paycheck.  That means instead of your hourly rate of 9 or 10 bucks an hour, you receive $7.50 an hour for an entire 2 weeks.  Doesn't matter if you were sick once or three times.  Of course, if you are sick, you accumulate these points that inevitably lead to you getting terminated.  I don't know if they accept doctor's notes, but pretty sure they don't.  Employees will throw up in the trash can next to their call desk just so they can avoid losing money when they go home.

Does anyone wonder why the average man finds himself stressed, depressed and at the end of his rope?  Maybe it's because these multi billion dollar companies think it's okay to treat their employees like dirt.  Even small businesses see their employees as cattle that can be replaced at a moment's notice.

I understand the idea that some people abuse their sick leave and call-in just because they don't want to be there.  But, unless someone has a habit of it, don't be a jerk.  People get sick.  Shock, shock- you're gonna end up with even more sick employees and some sick patrons because of your dictatorship ways... ugh, ugh and triple ugh.  I hate when the little people get oppressed by the man!

2 comments:

  1. I couldn't agree with you more. People do abuse sick time, but those are the people that should be punished. I'm lucky than most in that I accumulate eight hours of sick time every month. All I have to do is call in and tell whoever answers the phone that I'm sick and not going to be there. Case closed.
    However, if one of our co-workers is sick for an extended period of time, they get treated like dirt. For instance, one had multiple surgeries due to her colon rupturing. Another was out for two months due to a horrible car accident. The co-workers were understanding, but the higher ups rode their arses wanting to know when they were coming back and wondering why they couldn't come back sooner. Made them feel like it was their fault for being out for something beyond their control.
    Sad situation that people who are sick are treated so poorly for missing a day of work here and there.

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  2. Oh, I agree with you! And in some cases, there are states where someone can be fired while on an extended sick leave and there is nothing the employee can do about it. You are encouraged to come in as soon as possible, no matter the pain or the problem.

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