I work at a busy food establishment and one of my co-workers is always faking sick to get out of work. It frustrates me that management doesn’t do anything about it, especially considering all the resumes we get in all the time. It also makes me mad when we have crazy days like today where an extra person would have made a huge difference in keeping the lines under control and the sitting area clean.
Either way, I’ve had it. Any of the hard work I’ve been doing has been going unnoticed. The second the opportunity presents itself, I’m jumping ship.
—Your Friendly Neighborhood Co-Worker
This article appears in Apr 16-22, 2009.
All it takes is one lone turd to muddy up the pool and I truly sympathize. But there’s a good chance that your co-worker will fuck up if he/she thinks they can get away with it. And if management continues to ignore the situation, perhaps it is time to leave.
There are plenty of other places out there that would be delighted to hire such a wonderful person as yourself. Keep lookin’ trooper.
Hmmm…you wouldn’t happen to be the one at a certain Barrington St coffee shop who freaked out and starting cursing around 2pm or so earlier today (meaning sunday)…would you? Just curious.
gotta ask yourself… 1. are they tracking sick days? you obviously don’t have to bring doctor’s notes or anything…..so someone should be keeping track.
2. why are you understaffed? if you can’t handle a single person being out then there’s an issue to be addressed there. No-one else you/management could call to get some help?
and they wonder why places are closing like crazy…
My job requires me to be part of a union. The benefits, pay, etc. are pretty decent because of this – however, instead of my co-workers feeling grateful about their working condiditons, they are determined to exploit them to the maximum level possible. I work with 4 other women and 3 of them have recieved letters indicating they take too much sick time – yet, in the past 2 years it has never stopped them from taking one ridiculous sick day after another … umm, your 18 year old is sick? Give me a break you do not need to stay home with him. Sadly, I know mamangement will not change, and they turn their cheek to a myriad of other problems like people arriving late, leaving early, taking days off without coverage, taking 4 breaks, etc. The sad reality is that it is not likely to change. Unfortunately you will need to put up or ship out – I recommend shipping out, I plan to as well when the summer is over. The culture of your work environment is pretty hard to change – good luck.
I’m amazed that people would abuse sick days in these rough economic times.
You should always exploit your workplace loopholes to the maximum. That is how the world works. Working hard only ensures that you are in for more hard work. There is no pride in doing anything else other than pursuing exactly what you want out of life. Instead of judging your co-workers whether you are in a union or not, for taking advantage of a system that is completely working against them perhaps you should realize that you shouldn’t care at all. This idea that you should be grateful to have a job is ludicrous. How dare anyone think for themselves and not conform to the bullshit policies of a corporation that doesn’t care enough about them to pay them a living wage? Yes, thank you so much for taking eight hours a day away from me that I will never get back. Fuck the system!
I used to work a job in which every day I got up in the morning I had to fight with myself not to call in sick. Not because I was, but because I was exhausted and HATED my job. But I never took a single sick day in the time I worked there, because I genuinely liked my coworkers, knew how shortstaffed we were (thanks dicks in management) and I knew what kind of shit they’d have to put up with if I was gone.
That job used to have bullshit awards every quarter or so for “best attendance.” Well if three people all have perfect attendance, guess who gets the award. That’s right, the one who’s done the most brownnosing or is the biggest doormat. Coincidentally the person who gets the least respect from their own tier of worker. Not that it has anything to do with this bitch, but I like ranting.
My roommate takes every single paid sick day they’re allotted, whether they’re sick or not…and they appear to like their coworkers. I think it’s because they hate their job, AND have better options. I have to wonder how much they’re dicking over their coworkers though with these “me” days. Maybe they all do it.
I worked in the food service industry in London, England 10 years ago and although we didn’t get paid well & tips sucked, it is common practice to distribute a “sick” persons wages amongst the staff that did show up to work. It compensated the ones that had to work their @sses off for the lazy people and it didn’t put the money back in the bosses pocket.
That’s a GOOD idea!!!!
indeed…. one person sick = bonus for everyone that day?
sweet…… I can see where that would work in a small place….
will have to come up with something for a more corporate environment to pitch.
How can you tell if they’re just “sick” or really sick? Do they just tell everyone hey tomorrow I will be off “sick”?