New job and sick kids

[Upgradable]

I''m home again today because my son has a fever.

I missed a whole week near the beginning of Sept. with sick family (first me, then son and daughter). I feel bad, but don''t have much of a choice. The world won''t end if I''m not there. My job is not "essential" but I do feel quite guilty.

How would you feel as a parent, employee, or employer?

 

[Ara Ann]

I worked part time for a few years at a job I LOVED...but the office manager was NOT understanding at all when my kids were sick. My oldest son was old enough to stay home alone if he wasn''t deathly ill, but my youngest son was not. I had to call in a few times because he was sick and my boss ALWAYS gave me a hard time about it. My job wasn''t a ''do or die'' position either, but she made me feel so guilty about staying home when I was needed! Her daughters were grown and out of the house and she had been a working mother when they were young and I had the impression she either sent them to school sick or left them home alone sick. And SHE would come to work, SICK, coughing all over the place and would complain how horrible she felt! Which was NOT a smart thing, considering she was the office manager of a senior citizen apartment complex! We were instructed to stay home when we were ill, to avoid passing anything to the seniors who lived there...but she NEVER called in sick. She was proud of that fact, but none of us were too happy with her ''work while sick'' ethic.

I feel for you, what can you do? I hope your kids get well soon...we just got over the ''flu/bronchitis/colds'' in our house...it''s not fun at all.

 

[Clio]

My office is very family-friendly, so as long as I have the sick leave, there is no problem staying home with a sick kid. The directors are also good about approving telecommuting for those days when the kid needs to stay home but doesn''t need constant nursing. It helps, I think, that the director and deputy director both have youngish kids at home. Some days, they''re the ones staying home with a sick kid!

My husband and I try to trade off days so that the staying-home duty is fairly even. There have even been days when each of us had a meeting, so we traded off at lunchtime!

 

[sparkly_stars]

I think it depends if you are salary or if you are hourly; and then it depends on if you have sick time or not.
I work salary, and our receptionist makes less then I, but with all the time off she''s taken "sick" she probably makes close to what I make.
Based on having 2-3 extra weeks of "time off" paid.

As a fellow employee, I understand (and I don''t have kids) but sometimes, its excessive, and sometimes it becomes questionable on the truth.

That is my opinion!

I think if I ran a business, and the employees were salary, I''d allocate a certain amount of days as "sick days" and then if it is above and beyond that I''d probably have to do something about it. I realize that people have families, and people are sick. BUT in their defense, they are not paying someone to be off all the time.

 

[Bliss]

Being conscientious, I am sure that you do feel very guilty. But that''s because you mean well and want to do the best job possible for your employer. It happens and most people understand.

Hey, with this swine flu epidemic - I am sure people are GRATEFUL that you are staying at home or keeping your little one at home. You''re supposed to! So you''re actually doing a good deed. I hope your little one feels better soon.

 

[makemepretty]

I''ve always wondered how working moms handle having sick kids. As a SAHM there are many times when school is closed or the kids are sick or they have appointments that I''m grateful that I don''t have to find ways to take care of them. I don''t know how employers deal with it either. A 2 hour fog delay would be a PITA for a working mom or a boss waiting for an employee to finally get there. I guess employers are more forgiving than I thought because both my sil''s work and I know they''ve had to call in. When you work part time and you have to miss one of the two days for a sick kid, I''d worry that they''d eliminate the job you have. Although, one sil had to go on bed rest during her pregnancy, when she went to go back her job had been "phased out".

 

[diamondringlover]

I have had an awful time with sick kids in the past 23 years, my company is not very compassionate, so I have had some issues, I am lucky as my husband''s company was more understanding and he would always take the time off, now my youngest son has pretty bad asthma so I have been able to use the family leave act to protect my job when I had to take time off with him, when he gets a simple cold it almost always makes his asthma flair up so he is always out of school longer then the normal healthy kid...matter of fact he has already missed 4 days of school since August and he has been out of school for 2 days this week

I started working from home in May so now I can take care of him when he is at home, he is 12 so he isnt too hard to take care of much anymore

 

[Upgradable]

My job is strictly hourly with no benefits, so when I''m not there I just don''t get paid. That''s okay with me, and I have the nicest boss in the world, but I''m still dealing with a bit of guilt. I''ve been at home the last 4 years and just started back to work, so I have very split loyalties.

 

[sparkly_stars]

Date: 9/30/2009 5:45:50 PM
Author: Upgradable
My job is strictly hourly with no benefits, so when I''m not there I just don''t get paid. That''s okay with me, and I have the nicest boss in the world, but I''m still dealing with a bit of guilt. I''ve been at home the last 4 years and just started back to work, so I have very split loyalties.

Well, you shouldn''t have any guilt! (this is an indicator of strong work ethic- oddly enough we were just talking about this yesterday! haha)
The fact that you are hourly; you really shouldn''t spend time worrying, actually even if you were salary, things happen! (I speak of weeks and weeks of time off).
Its not as though you are taking anything from the company!

I''ve worked for a large company that was strictly hourly; and if the person next to me was sick for MONTHS it didn''t bother me, because they were the one losing out. At my current job where we are all salaried, I won''t lie each time my receptionist calls in sick it irks me more and more (but we''re at 3 weeks of SICK time - 15 days ish) so it drives me insane to think that no one is doing anything about anything!

 

[luv2sparkle]

I so understand how you feel. My kids are almost grown now and I have never regretted being there for them at all. As working moms, we are always torn
between work and home, responsibilities and needs. I dont think in the long run you will regret your choice to be there for them. The days are so few when
we have a mom to take care of us. My oldest is 27 and married and when she is sick, she wishes she was home with her mom.

You are responsible, which is what makes you a great mom as well. I am so glad for you that you can be there when they are sick even if your boss might not
always be happy about it.

 

[VRBeauty]

Date: 9/30/2009 5:45:50 PM
Author: Upgradable
My job is strictly hourly with no benefits, so when I''m not there I just don''t get paid. That''s okay with me, and I have the nicest boss in the world, but I''m still dealing with a bit of guilt. I''ve been at home the last 4 years and just started back to work, so I have very split loyalties.

You shouldn''t feel any guilt. Period. Still, you might want to talk with your boss about your absences and what you can do to minimize the impact when you have to stay home with a sick child.... it will probably help you both to clear the air.

As a manager, I do appreciate it when couples share childcare responsibilities when a child is sick so that the impact on both workplaces is minimized as much as possible. That doesn''t mean strictly 50-50 -- and I don''t need to know the details of why my staffer is staying home on a particular day rather than their spouse. But they usually let me know (or it''s obvious) when they are trading that responsibility, and I always appreciate that they make the effort --especially if we''re facing a deadline or something.

 

[Upgradable]

Well, hubby is staying home today. Let''s see if he feels guilty?