this post was submitted on 26 Dec 2023
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Unlimited? F'realz?
Don't know where you live but in the Netherlands you just stay home when you're sick, that's it.
I believe after two weeks you need a doctor's note.
And then you'll get paid for up to two years of illness, after which you can apply with the government for further assistance.
So not unlimited, but quite long still.
https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/ziekteverzuim-van-het-werk/regels-en-verplichtingen-bij-ziekte
In the US if you're sick they can just fire you the first day you're gone. It's great, I hardly know what to do with all this freedumb I have.
Most jobs aren't going to do that. They can technically fire you whenever they want, since it's considered at-will employment, but the cost of finding and training a replacement usually lends some stability, even for low-level jobs.
I understand U.S. system is VERY VERY fucked up, three day sick leave is no where close to enough; but I am quite confused of why people only need a doctor's note after two weeks.
It seems quite reasonable if one haven't recovered for a week (or been very sick for more than 3 days), it is best for them to see a doctor, especially with free health care in the Netherlands.
It's completely dependent on the job, and that's a problem. Good jobs offer ample time off, bad jobs offer the bare legal minimum. Unfortunately the legal minimum is really oppressive and causes a lot of people to go into work sick, getting everyone else sick in the process.
I think the idea is that you're actually sick for a week, not "sick". And can't show them anything until you're better. If you've ever been that sick, you know you can barely get out of bed to go to the bathroom.
Edit: Sorry about this comment, it's pretty useless, I just had time to kill waiting for my next flight. Reads like a fictional dystopian exaggeration, but it was my reality and continues to be reality for many others, unfortunately. TL;DR - anecdotes outlining how US working conditions can be brutally unforgiving, especially in the restaurant industry.
There's 3 days sick leave in the US? When I was still living there, I got my 2nd write-up (3rd = termination) for not coming to work because I needed to go to the ER for an overdose. Side note: caffeine powder is way cheaper than coffee, but if you're too broke to afford coffee, you're too broke to afford a milligram scale reliable and accurate enough to prevent accidental overdose.
After breaking my 30+ day streak of 12-15 hour shifts (about 90-100 hours per week, was normally only 85 or so), I came back to work the next day with a doctor's note, and my boss said "I don't think you're lying to me..." followed by 10 very long seconds of suspicious squinting and staring me down, "... But yesterday was Saturday, so I'm going to need to write you up". You see, it was explicitly forbidden to call in sick on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.
Don't let your loved ones work in restaurants, ESPECIALLY in the kitchen. I unfortunately couldn't quit because I had no days off to apply for other jobs, and missing out on even one day of pay was the difference between covering bills AND food, or having to steal food to avoid homelessness. I legitimately considered choosing to be homeless temporarily as a way out, because I pretty much lived at work anyway, I only ever slept at the apartment. Granted, my situation was particularly bad because they were actually stealing 50% of my earned wages (~$8300 over 10 months, which I eventually got back after threats of litigation).
I googled the law for several supposedly "progressive" state:
source:
Here's the fun part: you only get that if you work somewhere that obeys labor laws! Many (most?) restaurants pretend like they don't exist at all. I've worked at a place that would occasionally (3 times in the year and a half I worked there) fire a chef just after the pay-cycle without saying a word, so the chef works the next 2 weeks up until payday, asks "where's my paycheck" and the boss says "you don't get one you were fired last week".
On a chef's salary, that has potential to put them and their family on the streets.
The fun part is also with "at-will" employment (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/At-will_employment), which is effective for most employment in the U.S.
You can have as much TPO and sick day as you want, yet nothing stops your employer firing you because you used your TPO or sick day.
So basically they are meaningless...
I've had unlimited sick time via "if you're not well stay home" for like ten years. One job had limited vacation time (15 days to start that went up to 25 as you gained seniority), but the others has unlimited vacation time, too.
These have been small/medium startups.