Jobs with very strict attendance policy (opportunities, financial, electrician, buy)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Out of curiosity, would you take a job that, while pay's fairly well and has some great working schedules, if the attendance policy was so strict?
I was interested in this one particular job until I found out that the attendance policy was fairly insane. In the employee handbook, it says that employees are allowed to take up to 4 days of unexcused absences in a 12 month period, before disciplinary actions are taken.
To me, this is too strict, especially if you have young children at home. I mean, life happens. You get sick, your kids get sick, your car could break down, and to only have 4 of these absences a year is a stressful.
An unexcused absence is one in which the employee fails to give a 24 hour notice of not coming into work.
When people are ill, 24 hrs is not reasonable. I wouldn't worry too much about it though
Out of curiosity, would you take a job that, while pay's fairly well and has some great working schedules, if the attendance policy was so strict?
I was interested in this one particular job until I found out that the attendance policy was fairly insane. In the employee handbook, it says that employees are allowed to take up to 4 days of unexcused absences in a 12 month period, before disciplinary actions are taken.
To me, this is too strict, especially if you have young children at home. I mean, life happens. You get sick, your kids get sick, your car could break down, and to only have 4 of these absences a year is a stressful.
An unexcused absence is one in which the employee fails to give a 24 hour notice of not coming into work.
Its interesting to me that during covid employers were very generous with sick time. As soon as Covid is "over" it's back to going to work sick as a dog in order to not get fired.lol And as far as being late to work due to unforeseen circumstances. Where I used to work it was 7 minutes. 7 minutes or more late was the same as taking hald a day off unexcused. Over an hour late you might as well not come in at all.
Out of curiosity, would you take a job that, while pay's fairly well and has some great working schedules, if the attendance policy was so strict?
I was interested in this one particular job until I found out that the attendance policy was fairly insane. In the employee handbook, it says that employees are allowed to take up to 4 days of unexcused absences in a 12 month period, before disciplinary actions are taken.
To me, this is too strict, especially if you have young children at home. I mean, life happens. You get sick, your kids get sick, your car could break down, and to only have 4 of these absences a year is a stressful.
An unexcused absence is one in which the employee fails to give a 24 hour notice of not coming into work.
My first job was like this, and I treated my second job like this too because it seemed like the norm. But it doesn’t work so well if you have kids and don’t have emergency childcare (grandparent or stay at home spouse). While I don’t have kids myself, I have several close coworkers who do. One of them has a stay at home spouse and the other does not. The contrast is very remarkable.
What is the nature of this job - can you trade shifts as long as you find someone to cover, or is that not allowed?
Its interesting to me that during covid employers were very generous with sick time. As soon as Covid is "over" it's back to going to work sick as a dog in order to not get fired.lol And as far as being late to work due to unforeseen circumstances. Where I used to work it was 7 minutes. 7 minutes or more late was the same as taking hald a day off unexcused. Over an hour late you might as well not come in at all.
I can’t imagine an employer having that sort of policy in the DC area unless it was absolutely business-critical. You would have to try to show up half an hour early, or maybe even a full hour early, to make sure you would not be 7 minutes late if there was heavy traffic, at least for anyone who had to commute using a few particular highway chokepoints which shall not be named. Since I do not live with family, I can simply choose not to live anywhere that causes this problem. But many don’t have this freedom and would be effectively taking a “longer shift” by having to try to show up early.
The Metro train is also delayed sometimes, so simply switching from car to train doesn’t solve the problem here.
I can’t imagine an employer having that sort of policy in the DC area unless it was absolutely business-critical. You would have to try to show up half an hour early, or maybe even a full hour early, to make sure you would not be 7 minutes late if there was heavy traffic, at least for anyone who had to commute using a few particular highway chokepoints which shall not be named. Since I do not live with family, I can simply choose not to live anywhere that causes this problem. But many don’t have this freedom and would be effectively taking a “longer shift” by having to try to show up early.
The Metro train is also delayed sometimes, so simply switching from car to train doesn’t solve the problem here.
I lived in Chicago and worked at a hospital. We were allowed 6 attendance points a year. However,...if you were sick for 3 days it only counted as 1 ,and if you were sick longer you needed a doctor's notice. But unforeseen events like sick kids, snowstorms, flat tires ...you name it was all unexcused.
Most modern cars no longer have spare tires. So basically one would need to wait for a tow truck, which could be hours. Then, your car needs to go to a tire shop for a new tire. It's very time consuming. At that point, just take the rest of the day off as even partial day's goes against you in some way.
If there is a trunk you can keep a spare in there.
And when I went on terminal sick leave with two years accumulated my school system wanted me to go on FMLA because, as I was told, "You may have those sick days but you really aren't supposed to actually use them".
Most modern cars no longer have spare tires. So basically one would need to wait for a tow truck, which could be hours. Then, your car needs to go to a tire shop for a new tire. It's very time consuming. At that point, just take the rest of the day off as even partial day's goes against you in some way.
Um, now this is starting to come across as just excuses. Any car that doesn't have a spare tire comes with a sealant kit in its place.
My employer has a very compassionate sick leave and FMLA policy.
Each month each employee can have 1.5 sick days. That means you can have 18 days/year. You can call in sick for three days without a doctor’s note for three times during the year. If you call in sick more than three days, then you have to have a doctor’s note. The fourth time, even one day, you need to have a doctor’s note. You can call in sick two hours prior to the time your shift starts. If you call in less than two hours, then you get LOA, no pay for that day.
Any time, you have a family emergency, you just call in “I have a family emergency today, I can’t come to work.” You will get no pay for that that. But that’s easy. Lots of people just want a day off. They don’t need money.
About FMLA, you can get up to six months with pay for yourself if you are sick and having enough of sick leave accumulation. If not, after you finish your sick leave accumulation, you will use your vacation time accumulation. And if you are still not well enough to come back to work, you will be on LOA. Your job’s still be on hold for you. For your family’s member’s sickness, you can take up to six months LOA to take care of him or her.
The above sound very nice, right?
It’s just that people call in “sick” like crazy. It’s just pitiful for whoever is not “sick” and working hard. One time this employee did not show up for work. The unit called the scheduler that this person was not there. The scheduler had to call that person to ask she was scheduled for that day, and why she was not here. No answer right away. The scheduler left a message. Later, that person called back saying: "I'm very sick. Nobody calls me to see how I am doing. Nobody cares if I live or die." The scheduler said if she was sick, she should call in to inform the charge nurse, then the charge nurse would inform the scheduler to find a replacement ASAP. When the units are short of staff, everyone is mad, and seems to be mad toward the scheduler. They say “Why do we have to work short all the time? This is too much…” blah, blah, blah. And tomorrow, a few others call in “sick” b/c there were working short the day before.
It was so stressful for the scheduler. Later, the scheduler mentioned to one of the managers about that employee and said that person "was not the center of the world. I was working my butt off to find replacements for many people. If she was sick, she just called in. Why would she expect somebody to call her to ask her how she was doing?”
Afterward, that schedule got a call into a meeting with the leader and HR. And she received a Letter of Expectation for having compassion for others. Can you imagine?
The incident above reminds me of the saying “No good deed goes unpunished.” LOL
This the word world nowadays. When you are “sick” or having lots of family/personal problems, call in sick, tell everyone about your problems, you will get help and compassion from others. When or if you are not sick, you are strong physically and mentally, you are kind and can work hard and/or want to be helpful to others, people will expect a lot from you, use you as much as they can or want. And when you feel stressed, you express your feeling with someone, you will be criticized, you will be in trouble, and everyone will dislike you. Go figure.
Last edited by AnOrdinaryCitizen; 08-16-2023 at 09:20 AM..
It seems like this position, if I do go for it, would have me stressing all the time about when I can and when I should use those 4 days.
I wouldn't do it.
I was a union electrician and had strict rules like that for years. Always stressing about traffic, or having to save up my days. We got 5 days per year. That was it.
Changed careers and now i don't worry about things like that. I typically use 5-6 weeks of personal time per year. Definitely industry specific for sure. I'm a mechanical engineer now.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
