Okay so here’s what I don’t get. I run a small team of 10. I am SUPER cool about people calling in. I don’t give people grief for it. I don’t have ridiculous performance expectations. I get that timelines have to slip when people call in. Even my upper management is pretty sane.
YET PEOPLE STILL COME IN SICK. WHY?!?
Motherfucker you’re in a union shop with 8 hours sick leave a month and 10+ hours of vacation time per month AND at least 3 floating days you can use whenever AND other leave benefits. Most of you assholes are sitting on like 200-500+ hours of leave in your banks. I tell people to take care of themselves and their families first on the regular. The hell else am I supposed to do? Give people a gold star and a BJ for calling in sick? Keep your goddamned plague at home.
The toxic culture is coming from the outside. They have no reason to trust you, because dozens of corporations institute wellness programs and talk about caring while still punishing people who take time off. Plus, some of them have just internalized the idea that they should just work through it.
One thing I have heard can help is if the boss takes time off, so since you have some authority, maybe make a point of taking your own time off and telling them when you do?
I really do try to model the behavior and stay home when I’m ill. I had Shingles and Hand, Foot and Mouth this year, so they’ve seen me call out (I was happier before I knew that viral orchitis was a thing and also, boy does it suck to get a shingles out break near your bloody eye).
How are your team members supposed to know weather you are “super cool” about that or if it is just the (regular) corporate speak?
Well I’ve told them and behaved that way to suit. It’s been a bloody year. Also we’re public sector, so it’s not like we’re going to be downsized out of nowhere.
Past experience? Someone has to eventually call in sick (or no show), eventually word spreads the the boss is cool.
Years of Corpo Approved socially public funded education experience gets you really used to all the forced trauma of the bells and whistles and ‘knowing your place’ was a common schoolground chant to STFU and obey.
This is what remote work is for
bUt ThEn yOu cAn’t sEe evEryOnE’s SmilE alL Day
🙄
The smile: 😐
