http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/whos-getting-snotty-about-sick-leave/Content?oid=9850505 Comments On: Who's Getting Snotty About Sick Leave? by Cienna Madrid en-us Copyright 2013 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Sun, 19 May 2013 00:00:01 -0700 Sun, 19 May 2013 20:30:00 -0700 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Posted by auntie grizelda]]> Sat, 17 Sep 2011 22:37:57 -0700 The Stranger
So l wasn't referring to you at all, which is why l included the quote by KittenKoder. lt's all good.
Posted by freikja]]> Sat, 17 Sep 2011 13:55:32 -0700 The Stranger
@50: I'm NOT calling you an idiot for having a family, already! You sound like a responsible person who's just fallen on hard times. A lot of us have. While I'm not in your position, I can still empathize.
Please refer to my above response to KittenKoder. Peace.
Posted by auntie grizelda]]> Wed, 14 Sep 2011 23:11:25 -0700 The Stranger "The legislation is patronizing and infantalizing. Nobody should work somewhere where they they may not be sick and stay home for fear of being fired."

l'm wondering: how is this "infantilizing"? l agree with the last part quoted, but unfortunately, not everyone has the option of working at a place where the threat of termination isn't looming over their heads every time they fall ill, or a field/job where they can choose their own hours and increase or decrease their workload whenever they like based on how much they'd like to make.

@42: "I wasn't implying that all those who have families are idiots, just that being single and with no kids shows you are not one of the idiots who have families before they can support them."

Kittenkoder, the ignorance of this statement is astounding when made in a failing economy where regular folks -many of whom have families- are losing their jobs every day. l'm certain a number of those people didn't anticipate this economy when they had children, or thought they were safe because they had high work ethic and didn't expect to be included in any major layoffs, but hey, shit happens. You actually did imply that people with families were stupid with your first statement, then you backed it up with the one quoted above. Yes, there may be some families that choose to keep children they can't afford, but the majority you're referring to probably weren't prepared to be in dire straits, or dealt with unexpected and exorbitant expenses that depleted their savings, like a major (and possibly ongoing) illness in the family.

@47: "This leads to more absences and more man hours (and MONEY) lost than if the initial carrier was paid to stay home."

EXACTLY. This is a very simple, logical fact most of the naysayers don't understand, and l'm not sure how they don't. l worked in the restaurant industry for over ten years. Of course, nobody had sick leave, and because being shorthanded in a restaurant can ruin EVERYONE else's day, the threat of losing one's job due to illness was always extremely high. Most of those years l was working in Georgia, where servers were paid $2.13/hr because the assumption was that our tips would put us in minimum wage range, which was utter bullshit 90% of the time unless we worked weekends and busy shifts, and meant that most of us working in that industry showed up sick whether our employers were generous with sick days or not. We had numerous instances of illnesses making several rounds through the employee base before finally disappearing, and I can't even begin to imagine the number of customers we passed it on to, even if we weren't preparing the food.

l now do senior care, an environment where sick days are EXTREMELY important because we are working with people with already compromised immune systems, some of whom we could straight up kill if we came into work sick and happened to pass it on. A few days into the new year, l came down with some sort of utterly miserable bug that left me completely useless and with 103 degree fever for four days. Because l was so sick l couldn't get up and bus it to a doctor, l described my symptoms to my doctor brother-in-law, who prescribed me some antibiotics. l got better for a little under a week, then for whatever reason, it came back and put me out of commission for almost a week after that until l could get my ass to the doctor for a proper checkup. Work told me to just take some time off and let them know when l was better. Then they proceeded to deny me work for over two months, despite my providing a note from the doctor, and calling them repeatedly to let them know l was fine and in desperate need of income. l called into work sick for the first time since January a couple of weeks ago, after exemplary work performance and no sick days, and was informed that the next time l called in, it would be grounds for termination. l still have no idea how they justify terminating me for not showing up with an infection to care for a client who is already infirm to some degree or another, especially when at least a third of the time, we actually catch whatever illness the client might have at the time due to their compromised immune systems. lt's totally fucked.

This legislation would protect me and others in my field from shit like this, and provide us at least one of the benefits we have every right to in the first place.
Posted by freikja]]> Tue, 13 Sep 2011 18:32:47 -0700 The Stranger Posted by suddenlyorcas]]> Tue, 13 Sep 2011 14:34:25 -0700 The Stranger Posted by suddenlyorcas]]> Tue, 13 Sep 2011 14:30:53 -0700 The Stranger Posted by Ptera]]> Tue, 13 Sep 2011 14:26:40 -0700 The Stranger Posted by Tingleyfeeln]]> Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:02:02 -0700 The Stranger she gets unpaid time off, that's unfortunate that her manager is strict, but if you have a job to return to, with medical/health benefits, you shouldn't be able to claim a sick day, when it's her daughter who's actually sick!
Posted by colmcille]]> Tue, 13 Sep 2011 09:56:21 -0700 The Stranger
A worker could also use the paid day off to beat their wife, sexually abuse a child, or stalk someone.

Bottom line is: making it more expensive to run a business equals fewer jobs to be had.
Posted by captainFlex]]> Tue, 13 Sep 2011 06:52:25 -0700 The Stranger
I knew when I opened, the busybodies would come up with some crap like this, I didn't know what, but I knew more was coming. Locating in the city of Seattle offers no advantages and a huge pile of dis-incentives for business. Screw y'all.

And the sweetheart deal for the unions? Typical. No surprise what-so-ever.
Posted by delbert]]> Tue, 13 Sep 2011 06:15:45 -0700 The Stranger Posted by KittenKoder]]> Tue, 13 Sep 2011 01:37:21 -0700 The Stranger
I certainly do know about humility. Up until the last couple of years, I had both my beloved elderly parents with Parkinson's to help care for---at least to the best of my ability until they required visiting caregivers around the clock.

I often felt terribly helpless because I had no clue what my parents were feeling, or what their symptoms were, dosages, or side effects from the medications they were taking. But I would still visit them, prepare meals, help around the house, play music, card games, share in laughter---what I COULD do, as a daughter. I miss my parents terribly still, but know that they're proud of me and the life I live.

I know what it's like to live on Kraft Macaroni and Cheese for weeks at a time in order to get through college. Learning what local resources are available can be a big help. The DSHS can provide excellent assistance with food stamps and other public services.

I don't have any children of my own. One big reason, besides my choosing not to reproduce, is that I have struggled financially---even with a college degree---and wouldn't have the sufficient means to support dependents. Anyway--being an auntie for me is more fun.

KittenKoder: Thanks for including me in your list of non-idiots, although there are plenty of days when I feel clueless as hell.

Posted by auntie grizelda]]> Mon, 12 Sep 2011 13:45:34 -0700 The Stranger Posted by KittenKoder]]> Mon, 12 Sep 2011 11:10:24 -0700 The Stranger Do any of those kids have health issues?
Do you have student loans to repay?
Do you want your kids to be able to go to college(the only chance anyone has to get a decent job these days)?
Do you have physical and/or mental health issues?
Does the person you share your life with have them?
Can you(as most of us can't)afford private insurance to cover those health issues?
Do you have elderly parents to take care of?
Do you have a small home you're desperately trying to hang onto?

If you don't have any of the above situations in your life, you're not entitled to judge other people for being unable to save money for contingencies(in the REAL world, most people are forced to live paycheck-to-paycheck, with more being forced into that situation every day, due to the corporate obsession with lowering wages as much as possible) and if you DON'T face any of those situations(most people face several of them at once) you really can't make an assumption about whether other people can save based solely on your own experience.

Try a little humility sometime. A little basic empathy as well. Or at least try listening to what most typical human beings are going through in this magical market economy of ours.

We're all in this together. Nobody has ever really made it solely on their own efforts. Nobody ever really will. Life just doesn't work that way.
Posted by AlaskanbutnotSeanParnell]]> Mon, 12 Sep 2011 04:13:16 -0700 The Stranger Posted by KittenKoder]]> Sun, 11 Sep 2011 23:02:35 -0700 The Stranger

Posted by AlaskanbutnotSeanParnell]]> Sun, 11 Sep 2011 17:12:19 -0700 The Stranger Posted by SDtoSeattle]]> Sun, 11 Sep 2011 12:48:34 -0700 The Stranger
That would be good legislation - to address the few bad employers who behave that way.

But this legislation makes businesses pay for being sick and a few other reasons. Adults are capable of saving their money for vacations and for the inevitable times when they are sick a few days. Those of us who are self-employed know what this is all about, and decide how much we want to or can work, and earn accordingly. Stupid law for and by stupid people.
Posted by Park Place]]> Sat, 10 Sep 2011 23:35:00 -0700 The Stranger
Very well done!
Posted by sgt_doom]]> Fri, 09 Sep 2011 16:46:01 -0700 The Stranger
Which is entirely preferable.

HOWEVER it is easier to change locally than it is nationally.
Posted by undead ayn rand]]> Fri, 09 Sep 2011 11:48:50 -0700 The Stranger Posted by KittenKoder]]> Fri, 09 Sep 2011 07:00:49 -0700 The Stranger
"Raising the cost to businesses" is just a corporate codephrase for "no one has the right to expect us to treat our employees like human beings".

Ever since 1980, we've done it YOUR way in this country...and no good has come of letting business call the tune on these issues. The rich have won and everyone else has lost.

It's time to stop treating corporations like angry gods who have to be appeased. At some point our economic system stopped being capitalism and turned into extortionism.
Posted by AlaskanbutnotSeanParnell]]> Thu, 08 Sep 2011 20:36:41 -0700 The Stranger
And if I could steal it back, believe me, I'd give you, and everyone else a big chunk!
Posted by auntie grizelda]]> Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:31:14 -0700 The Stranger Posted by KittenKoder]]> Thu, 08 Sep 2011 17:04:02 -0700 The Stranger