To be very glad I don't work with some Mumsnetters

[sootyisback]

You shouldn't take sick leave unless you're practically at death's door.
As soon as you're capable of crawling out of bed you should be back in work.
You should never, ever be even 5 minutes late no matter what the circumstances or how flexible you've been re working extra time.
Unless there's 20 ft of snow blocking your front door you should get yourself into work.

Honestly, I'd have been sacked long ago if some of them were my boss.

www.seek.com.au/career-advice/does-your-job-define-you

There seem to be a lot of people on here these days who just can't tolerate shades of grey - it's all black and white thinking and snappy phrases in place of reason. I agree with this.

I also don't think many posters actually believe what shit they write on here. They've made their mind up what tack they're going to take on a particular thread and will spout off accordingly with self righteous indignation. If they paused to reflect on how similar things have played out in their own lives they'd maybe be more understanding. (Not all posters, some have impressed me with intelligence and empathy).

Polar not quite sure what that link is meant to be telling me? It talks about you passions - well, I work with something that is one of my passions, my biggest passion in fact.

And I understand that my case is not the case for everyone - I'm making the point that you didn't seem to realise that your case isn't the case for everyone.

We don’t all have good or understanding employers tho
Amber weather warning here today and yet at 6.30am this morning a message comes through from work that we must all come in -no excuses and must leave earlier to be on time - even though those of us with kids didn’t know for sure if school was open or not until later
We aren’t allowed to be late and yes I cannot have a day off unless I physically can’t get there ( I once went in with vomiting and diarrhoea- because I was under a disciplinary for not coming in with a cold shortly before)
And Because people wait 3/4/6 months to see me and it’s a massive headache to move 16-20appointments to another time
Is it fair ? No not to us staff or our customers
But it’s the reality

RiverTam - cool. Do you have a plan for when you retire, get made redundant though? Nothing lasts forever. I see it in military people when they leave. A lot of them have been completely defined by their career and really struggle in the outside world where nobody cares if they were a captain or whatever.

I don’t think most people feel the same. Millions of low paid jobs out there. I doubt very much that the supermarket cashier in Waitrose who served me earlier is defined by that. I imagine they don’t have too much loyalty! Why would you? It’s a supermarket chain.

Um - OK. Plenty of people work in my industry until retirement, or they can become a freelancer which often happens, and which I've done in the past. It's nothing like the military.

I'm a bit baffled by your comments, to be honest - you seem convinced that no-one can enjoy their job, it be very important to them but also have a normal balanced life.

Well, we will have to agree to disagree! I’ve never found a job I love. And I’ve tried quite a few. I just find it incredibly difficult to imagine loving a job to the extent of it being a major part of my identity. But you’re obviously one of the few people who do something they enjoy.

There’s no right or wrong, everyone is different.

I think loving a job is different to loving an employer too. Well an organisation isn’t a sentiment being with thoughts and feelings to reciprocate the love.

A job can be something that you do well and enjoy doing. Okay I can see that. But loyalty to a company? I find that hard to understand!

I'm a nurse and the only excuse for ringing in sick for a shift is if I'm actually dead. Even being prostrate with a thready pulse isn't a good enough reason.

Not permitted to be late for handover from the previous shift either.

Have to get there through the snow and we all slept over last year so shifts could still be covered.

why? If they treat you well, look after you, promote you, support you - why not? DH's employer (same industry as me) has treated him very well and has been very supportive during difficult times.

Maybe you have a good manager. They exist. But they aren’t the company.

But any company will get rid of you if they have to, without a second thought. And once you leave the company you are forgotten within days. We are all just numbers and we are all replaceable. Just human rescources much like a chair or computer.

That doesn’t mean you can’t go to work and do a good job. It’s an exchange. You do your job and the company pays you.

It's not the lack of loyalty that causes employers to show less care. It's employers trying to wring every ounce out of their employees for as little pay as possible, treating them as disposable, and refusing to accept that their employees are human and not machines that results in people having no loyalty to their employers

Personally I think it can be both; there are good and bad employees and the same applies to employers

Nobody wants a totally inflexible boss and such types don't get the best out of folk anyway, but it's also far too common to hear "I'd give so much more if they'd just do such-and-such", when there's no intention of ever doing more than the bare minimum, if that

And yes, it's the employee who's hopefully giving their time and effort, but it's also the employer who's doing the paying