Just as a data point - at my work we get a decrease in our performance rating if we're off sick because other people gave to do our work while we're off.

Let me throw in my 2 cents. I get a cold every single year, lasting about 3 months on average. For most of my life, I have averaged around 8 to $10,000 annual salary. A low-end appartment here runs around $600/month (California), but I, like most people, bounced between renting space in someone's garage, staying with friends, etc, and typically had $40 a month or so left for food after rent and gas to get to work. It was hard, but I worked hard and did ok. Now I am lucky enough to have a good job, so I can affort my own appartment and luxuries like fresh produce, instead of ramen and potatoes every day. Back then (and still, for most people I know), a three month sick leave every year would mean homelessnes. Anyone who has ever heard me coughing and told me I should go home, meaning I should become homeless because of a cold, is still my enemy today. If some swine can take sick leave and still afford food and rent, great for them. But don't yell at the rest of them down in the real world. I may have become successful, but I won't forget the little guys.

You live in a sheltered world, don't you? People who skip work because they are horribly ill...are often quickly among the ranks of the unemployed...not to mention the financial encumbrances caused by lost workdays.

Nobody could convince me otherwise, that an employer would truly can someone who is so obviously ill.

Well, I've seen it happen, so I beg to differ.

Not good for anyone! If you have a fever, it means your body is fighting off something that shouldn't be there and shouldn't be introduced to anyone else......stay home!

And how forgiving will the landlord be when the rent's not paid due to several days' absence by a low wage worker (in many larger cities, landlords charge late fees for rent not paid on time; these late fees often accumulate on a daily basis)? How forgiving will the utilities be? Will the grocer forego payment because you were in bed four days with the cold?

I agree, ideally, someone who is sick SHOULD stay home. But the sad truth is, not everybody CAN (and, among the low wage earners, those that do are often labelled "welfare bums" by bosses who assume they don't WANT to work).

Illness is more prevalent among the low wage earners. Poorly insulated and/or ventilated houses cause a myriad of illnesses and symptoms from environmental factors such as carbon monoxide poisoning. In addition, poor nutrition renders their bodies ill equipped to fight off the diseases that would have minimal effect on most of us.

Again, I appreciate the sentiment (and am inlined to stay home the FEW times I get sick), but also realize it doesn't work in reality.

You live in a sheltered world, don't you?

My god, Gideon. Have you ever read one of my blogs? I am well aquainted with low paying jobs, welfare, and all the other issues that accompany poverty.

Thanks for bumping an article I wrote more than a year and a half ago, but I said it back then, and I feel the same way now: while I do not condone skipping off work for every little minor illness, and I understand that major companies, mine included have strict attendance policies, there are definite times where it is your RESPONSIBILITY to take care of yourself.

If you are taking care of yourself responsibly, your rent payments and grocery purchases can sustain a couple of days without a paycheck.