Get well And Be Punished?

Image copyright Don Barletti/The Los Angeles Times

I originally read this article on the LA Times' website, that I've conveniently linked up there, but it's been a topic that I've been debating with myself over for a couple of weeks now. The very reason I started this blog was because I called in some sick time and had a lot of free time on my hands, just getting better. Earlier this year, I wouldn't have been able to say the same thing. Calling in sick is something that a lot of people who get paid to do it take for granted. The image above is of a woman named Glynndana Shevlin who's been working at the Disneyland Hotel for 21 years. Now, if you click that link you'll be taken to the landing page for the Disneyland Hotel chock-full of overly adorable music and a sense of being in a Disney movie yourself. What they don't let on is that Disney is probably one of the least favorable places to work for. See, Glynndana is a unionized employee with Disneyland that doesn't have paid sick days. A product of a bad economy and a company infamous for saving every penny, paid sick days seems to be a luxury only afforded to the upper echelons of Disney's workforce that work a few blocks down Harbor Blvd. in the corporate offices.

Now, with Swine Oh Nine being all the rage--and by rage I mean the latest, and greatest, of media-fueled pandemics--people are legitimately worried about contagions, especially in the service industry. People are often heard saying, "Oh God, I hope it's not the swine h1n1 virus, I can't afford to miss work!" It's a sad state of affairs, but that's the truth of it. There is no federal or state legislation that forces employers to offer paid sick leave. Instead, like in Glynndana's case, she went to work, tried to work through her shift through numerous trips to the bathroom to, well you know what happens with the flu, and she requested to leave work early.

What happens? She was given points on her disciplinary file for leaving work when she was scheduled to be there. I mean, one would assume that in a service industry, especially when dealing with food and the general public, one would want to avoid the possibility of spreading a contagious disease. Especially one that has, according to the Washington Post, affected 22 million Americans with 3900 deaths.

The reason I bring this up is because that many people feel pressured to force themselves to go to work because of the recession, or for fear of being terminated or be dealt disciplinary action because of their decision to get well. This is kind of ridiculous, to be perfectly frank. And I can relate to those feelings all too well, even now that I get some sort of paid time for being sick. Prior to becoming a 25-hour associate with benefits, I was a grandfathered-hourly associate with no benefits, no paid sick-leave, and no holiday pay. Let's just say, whenever there was a holiday that occurred on a day that I was supposed to work, I was not a happy camper--I was robbed of usually 6-8 hours of pay that I would have normally received. The same was true when I became sick. If I felt sick I had to suck it up. Usually, those days that I went to work sicker than a dog, I was out of balance. And I'm never out of balance. When I'm out of balance, I'm out of balance a lot of money. Oh, it might help to say that I work at a bank. Anyway, I can look back on my history of outtages on a program we have at work. And the days that light up as being short or over a certain dollar amount, I can say I was sicker than a leper at Molokai. Bad joke, I know. But moving on, there have been studies done at Emory University last year showed that the economy loses about $181 billion in lost productivity due to workers coming in when they're sick. It's true, I was out of balance about $175, $500, and so on.

I felt pressure even now, as an associate with paid leave, to not call in either. I can't say I work for a bad company--because it has been really good to me. I was a victim of circumstance, I was the only person with an opening combination for the vault that morning, but we figured it out. Point is, I took the time off I needed to make sure I was okay. The bank will be there tomorrow morning, and the next day, and the next.

We as human beings, susceptible to colds, flus, pandemics, etc. need to realize that we aren't invincible. We need to take care of ourselves before we put ourselves to the backburner for some conglomerate to eat up later. Hopefully some proposed legislation mentioned in the LA Times article ends up getting passed that would force employers of more than 15 (I think) employees to give up to 7 paid sick days.

It's all about corporate responsibility--both to its customers and to its employees, without whom the companies we have all looked to for so long will crumble.

Screw you Mickey, Ken, and all the rest of you megalomaniacs with your fancy ivory towers and your cush leather seats. I'm stuck writing this post in ghetto Berkeley while you get to have some of the most sensational views this side of Dodge.

Yeah, that end there sucked, but haha, it's late, and I'm drunk on Nyquil. Because, I have to work tomorrow and not call in sick--no more sick days left for this ol' fool.