Megan, that IS depressing!!
Luckily, pre-offer I negotiated a few days off for my brother's mid-week wedding next month. And once I started I also asked for my hours of freelance work this spring to count as time off rather than get paid for them. So I actually have 11 days this year. If I hadn't negotiated that, I wouldn't get any vacation until January. When I said I work for The Man, I meant it.
Luckily, The Man is based in NY and my managers here seem very lax about appointments and such. I basically work 8:30 - 4:30 and can probably work at home from time to time. So I don't the sick time thing will be a big deal.
(Do NON managers know of the written/unwritten rules?)
It all under the HR policies section that anyone can access.
Other thing is that I'm a "play through the pain" kind of person. I don't stay home unless I am pretty much incapable of working, so I never take random sick days, and I usually have stuff to do cause I always leave stuff until the last minute.
as long as you aren't bringing me germs.
Actually, DH is a work through the pain guy - but I spent 5 years in retail where I never had the choice, and always worked through the pain.
Never miss a deadline. Never be late for a meeting. Otherwise, their time is their own, and I don't keep track of it. They come in anywhere from 7AM to 10AM (one is an early riser, the others are not), and leave approx 8-9 hours later.
See, that's what I'm talkin' about...I am not an early riser. But I'll come in for your 8AM meeting if you want me to. (But if I know you well enough I'll beg you not to schedule them several times a week, like one project manager did at my last job...) And I came to work with a broken ARM once in order ot meet a deadline, and THEN went to the ER. Not to mention all the hassles of travel. But if I have nothing urgent on my plate, and I dont' feel good? Let me use my damn PTO time.
See, that's what I'm talkin' about...
It's all about treating adults like adults. Granted, in a start-up biotech, we have room for creativity. Obviously if we personally served clients or the public, I'd have to manage the "floor" time a bit more. Thank dog I don't. But even with fixed schedules, giving employees a choice among a couple of options goes a long way to making people feel more like humans and less like robots.
Just for the record, I don't generally share my waxing/shaving habits with people IRL. Only with you guys on the Internets cause I'm somewhat incognito (though I have met some of you IRL).
There's something about staring at someone as they describe their pubic hairstyling that's just...I don't know why this pings me, given the things that get talked about. Nether piercings don't twig me (well, unless it's a hot guy--that's distracting), but genital topiary just frazzles my brain.
Working for myself it all gets blurry. I do a lot of long long days and work through weekends quick a bit, but I also have been taking a total of about 2 months a year off for the past few years, which, to me, is a pretty good deal.
Argh - Mal's grampa's flight is delayed by 2 hours. Out of a three-hour flight. Now he gets in at midnight.
FWIW, the DH's secretary in Athens (American, older than his mother) informed him and the other officer in the section that she has a Brazilian. This has been regarded as a wildly inappropriate workplace topic by everyone.
Working for myself it all gets blurry. I do a lot of long long days and work through weekends quick a bit, but I also have been taking a total of about 2 months a year off for the past few years, which, to me, is a pretty good deal.
Yeah, but I've also seen you work multiple 16-hour days sicker than a plague victim. Don't get me wrong--I go into work sicker than I should too, but I've seen you barely able to get out of bed and still suffering through a week without a break.
