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Lee E. Meadows, PhD.
Professor of Management –
Authored: Silent Conspiracy &
Silent Suspicion
Exploiting sick days may short-circuit your career
Those of us who have honed our skills in the behavioral
profession suffer from a twenty-four seven @ 365 internal omni-directional
antenna that is tuned to the highest band frequency of people issues. So, when
I overheard a corridor conversation between two employees of a local insurance
company who were essentially bragging about how much they enjoyed calling in
sick just to get time off, the blips from my antenna sounded like rhythmic
scratches from a rap CD. Like any well meaning person who doesn’t want to be
overly involved in the activities of strangers, I’m frequently confronted with
the question, “Now, am I supposed to say something?”
I had more than just a passing relationship with both of
them having worked a consulting assignment at their location. I hoped the
nature of the relationship gave me a little bit of license to ask a few
questions. I followed one employee back to their cubicle and asked if I could
have a few minutes to talk. I calmed the initial reluctance by assuring that I
was harmless, but curious about a specific issue. Given the lack of privacy in
the cubed environment, we spoke in semi-whispered tones. I bluntly asked the
question, “Why do you devote so much time to this façade of being sick just so
you don’t have to come to work?”
What resulted from that discussion was an indictment against
an entry-level position that did little more than maintain a lifestyle just
above poverty. The complaints ran the gambit from hourly rate being ridiculous
to the company doesn’t care about its employees. “I use my sick time as a
mental health day. The company says I can take sick time, so why shouldn’t I use
it since they are using me.” Naturally, those rationalizations serve a
therapeutic purpose, but mask a core issue that is as obvious as the frequent
Thursdays and Fridays used as unofficial mental health days. This employee
represents a segment of the work population that operates in a
passive-resistance mode to offset their dislike for the job. It’s a
not-so-clever game that involves stretching company policies to its greatest
point of tension without causing it to break. The result is a lifestyle based on
the ability to put in at least three good days of work, with the fourth being
reserved for the standard end-of-the-week wind down. “Well, assuming you’re not
happy with this job, what are you doing to make sure you that you haven’t
brought your career to a premature dead end?” I was not surprised to hear the
employee claim to ‘Not have time to worry about that right now’.
The patterns of chronic absenteeism, abuse of sick leave and
misuse of FMLA are well documented across a series of organizations and
industries. This steady increase in creative job avoidance creates a
dysfunctional element in organizations by forcing time spent on crafting new
rules that go after the abuser rather than time spent in support of those for
whom the policy was intended. Entry-level positions are seen as the beginning
of the career building process. It is the place where the basics of work life
are shaped and the process for upward advancement is illuminated. These kinds
of positions were never designed to be dead end, unless a person actively
chooses to build a fence around their cube and sit tight. I wonder how many
people take an inordinate amount of time away from work, Mondays, Thursdays and
Fridays being particularly noteworthy, and think nobody notices?
Perhaps this wanton abuse may be linked to questions that
the abuser rarely takes time to think about:
- Am I happy in my job? It’s
a rare employer who expects every employee to behave like Charlie in
Willie Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, but to extend the metaphor, if you’re
tired of eating chocolate, then try another flavor. Don’t punish other
chocolate eaters just because you no longer like the taste.
- Am I committed to carving out
a successful career? The need for a job has lead many of us to
entry-level positions that, in our minds, we knew were only stepping
stones to bigger and better opportunities. If your current job is viewed
by you as only a job, then you will treat it accordingly. If the mindset
is one of a successful and dynamic career, then every minute, hour and day
is seen as a chance to only get better at what you do.
- Am I actively learning new
skills? Other than the skill of
‘early-weekend-work-withdrawal’, there are always new skill opportunities
waiting to be learned and applied to your career portfolio. Whether it is
leaning a new software package or learning how to facilitate a productive
meeting, the work environment poses many challenges for those who are
consistently in attendance to reap the benefits.
- Am I blaming the company for
my lack of advancement? Companies take an action
based on your behavioral cues. If left to objectively analyze a clear
pattern of absenteeism that rears its’ head on Fridays and Mondays, I can
only conclude that the employee wants me to exclude them from any
promotional opportunities. Unless there’s information to the contrary,
what would any reasonable person conclude?
- Am I willing to leave? This
is a tricky line to walk because your chronic absenteeism suggests that
you are ready to leave, though probably unwilling and possibly unable. So,
in the meantime, you go through a weekly wrestling match with your
instincts and aspirations to try and answer the neo-Shakespearean question
of ‘To work or not to work’.
The truth of the matter is, as a chronically absent
employee, you really aren’t fooling anyone, except yourself.