Sick days and vacation days

It’s a personal choice, really, this being proud of not missing work because of illness.

In the past five-plus years, I have missed work due to accident, illness, or Mondayitis exactly eight times. I have accrued more than 50 days in sick time, time which I probably will never use and most certainly will never be paid for the unused time.

The company for which I work does not pay for unused sick time. I understand company policies, rules, regulations, esoteric whims and human resource mandates.

What I don’t understand is why employees don’t take sick time when they’re sick and why, if employees don’t take sick time, companies don’t pay them for unused days? (Looking in the mirror and asking myself that question.)

It is estimated that billions of dollars remains in company coffers because workers don’t take allotted sick time, or companies don’t pay for unused time. Billions.

Same holds true for vacation days. It is estimated that Americans did not take vacation time in 2010 that valued at more than $60 billion. In this case, however, the vast majority of companies carry over the unused days or offer a buy-out for the leisure time spent on the job.

The policy differential seems a bit skewed … a worker earns vacation, does not take it and gets it accrued or gets paid the for unused days. The same worker earns X number of sick days a year, does not take them and ends up with … a bunch of sick days sitting on the corporate books.

Sounds like a congressional hearing topic from this angle.

Also sounds like some workers need to wise up and stay home when they are ill.(Looking in that mirror again.)

As a footnote: The average American worker got 18 days of vacation last year and took 14 days off. Workers in Great Britain received 28 days and took 25. French workers got 37 vacation days and took an average of 35.

Federal workers in the U.S. get more holidays than most companies care to give.

Fairness. Will it ever be in style?