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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Do Americans not get sick leave?? What’s your sick leave policy?

131 replies

Youngandfree · 27/04/2019 12:46

Just that really and posting here for traffic? I’m forever seeing posts on Facebook etc from ppl in the US (and actually sometimes uk) about how they are sick all week and so they have no pay from work?? Surely if under a permanent contract then you have sick leave allowance, I can understand in some jobs (0 hour contracts etc). Genuinely interested, not criticizing! I have known ppl in jobs to be off for months at a time with back problems/stress etc and they have been paid. What’s your Sick leave policy?
Mine is as follows:
For an ordinary illness, a teacher has access to 183 days of paid sick leave in a rolling four year period. This is subject to a further limit of 92 days of full pay in any single twelve month period. After 92 days full pay sick leave in a twelve month period, the teacher will move on to half pay.

OP posts:
Troels · 27/04/2019 15:20

arkela You have a very nice benifits package and are very lucky. Unfortunately it isn't really the norm.
Dh worked for a very large company also, we had fantastic medical dental and optical cover, (with a low deductable)but after 10 years he still got 15 days annual leave and 5 paid sick days. He also has a lovely pension plan with them and so those were the draw for him. If we were still in the US and he stayed with them till retirement he could even have continued the medical/dental/optical with them.

GabsAlot · 27/04/2019 15:25

my dh gets nothing for first 3 days then full pay for a month and 80% for a further 3 months

i dont thinkits legal to not give staff annual holidays troell

thethethethethe · 27/04/2019 15:26

Americans mostly only get 2 weeks' holiday a year too
Post Brexit, expect the UK to become much more like the US. It's largely what Brexit is about.

goldenchicken · 27/04/2019 15:27

Americans mostly only get 2 weeks' holiday a year too.

Post Brexit, expect the UK to become much more like the US. It's largely what Brexit is about.

BINGO! Full house. What do I get?!

WaxOnFeckOff · 27/04/2019 15:28

I've been fortunate to always be in jobs with decent sick pay policies. Mostly 6 months full pay and 6 months half pay.

In my 35 years working my total sick leave is probably about 2 weeks and I haven't been off sick for at least 5 years. I'm lucky to be healthy and lucky to have protection in case I'm not.

SenecaFalls · 27/04/2019 15:31

But for smoking in your OWN garden? WTAF?

I don't agree with firing someone for being a smoker, but I think those policies are driven in large part by health insurance costs. It costs more to insure smokers for obvious reasons.

SprogletsMum · 27/04/2019 15:33

Dp gets up to 6 months full pay for sick leave. But it's at manager's discretion which basically means its SSP only.

PlasmaRain · 27/04/2019 15:38

arekela no one has said the USA is really shitty, I love the USA, I love my life here but I’m not blind to the systemic flaws and glaring holes in cover with regard to, among other things, employee rights and benefits here. When compared to the UK, they are for the most part - with all due respect to the fortunate posters here including me who appear to have good packages and are well-paid - pretty much a random crapshoot for so many others in the majority of states and are defendant on so many variables. Vacation, sick leave/sick pay, maternity leave etc in the UK at least have statutory minimums enshrined in law and you can’t be fired or lose your healthcare cover for being long term sick there either.

notacooldad · 27/04/2019 15:38

I'm in the UK

I get 6 months at full pay and 6 months at half pay.

archivebuildingsite · 27/04/2019 15:42

I live and work in Germany. If we're off sick the health insurance pays. It's not health insurance in the American sense though, more like national insurance because the state pays it for disabled and unemployed people, children he get it free (named on parents policy at no extra charge, the same goes for non working spouses of working people) and it's a % of your income, so you pay very little if you earn very little and a lot if you earn a lot). I don't think there's a maximum.

The health insurance also pays if one parent needs to be off with a child up to age 7, and for children over 7 if they're admitted to hospital and the hospital writes a letter to confirm that they needed a parent present (not usually for routine things but I got one to stay ten days in hospital with a then 10 year old following an emergency admission).

I get 30 days holiday even though I don't work full time, but I have to work some weekends and bank holidays and if I want to be sure in advance of a weekend and/ or bank holiday off they don't count as holiday days themselves but I have to book the days each side as holiday.

DH is full time and has 35 days holiday plus bank holidays and bridge days (bank holidays can fall on any day not just Monday here - if they fall on a Thursday or Tuesday the Friday or Monday is a bridge day)

Maternity leave is a year and your job has to be held for 3 years, with 2 years unpaid. I don't know what my company's maternity pay is as I joined when the children were older.

On the flip side it isn't that easy for 2 parents to work full time in our area (Germany varies hugely by state on this) as school finishes at lunch time (11:20 two days per week, 1pm the other days) and fairly expensive ( €220 per month including food, reduction if you send all your own food in, per child) primary school after school clubs close at 4pm.

ThriftyMcThrifty · 27/04/2019 15:44

I’m in California and by law have to get three paid sick days a year, but my company offers up to ten. Then if you are properly sick you can claim disability through the state which is 68% of salary, and that’s for long term sickness.

Schuyler · 27/04/2019 15:46

In a previous role (UK), we had only SSP and the legal minimum of annual leave and it was minimum wage. That felt like a hard slog and not particularly easy when I got unwell. My current employer has above legal minimum of annual leave, excellent sick pay and as a general rule, I feel healthier as a result of having the ability to take annual leave when I need a rest.

I have close friends in the US and their experience is that they love their lives and their jobs but the remuneration from their job in terms of annual leave and sick leave is limiting.

Stormtrooper76 · 27/04/2019 15:53

I'm quite surprised by the generosity of lots of these packages. My experience is that paid sick leave isn't the norm in lots of permanent jobs in the UK. I'm an experienced vet with specialist qualifications. I'm only entitled to statutory sick pay (from day 4) and as an aside also only entitled to statutory maternity pay. This is totally normal, I can't think of any colleagues who get more, other than those in Government/Civil Service/Univeristy Teaching positions.

Parky04 · 27/04/2019 15:54

6 months full pay and 6 months half pay. Our company is very good.

kimlo · 27/04/2019 16:05

6 months full pay. But only because I have been there forever, you need to have been there for 10 years to have made your way up to that amount.

Original poster
Youngandfree · 27/04/2019 20:19

Thanks everyone. Very insightful indeed!!

OP posts:
BigChocFrenzy · 27/04/2019 20:38

I'm in Germany and I'm entitled to:

. First 6 weeks illness on full pay
but doctor's certifciate required after 3 days

. After 6 weeks, 80% of pay, paid by state / private health insurance
No limit in this afaik - one colleague had 2 years off after a horrific cycling accident

. Vacation = 30 days + Public Holidays
. Also can build up flexitime hours / days for personal errands

BigChocFrenzy · 27/04/2019 20:40

Employees get 2 extra days after 25 years service; 4 days after 40 years
Jobs for life still

adaline · 27/04/2019 20:43

I work in retail.

In the first three months (probation) you're only entitled to SSP, so first three days are unpaid.

After that, you're entitled to full sick pay for upto twelve weeks in any one year. You can't carry sick leave over. After the twelve weeks are up, you generally go onto half pay for twelve weeks, then SSP after that.

You get paid sick leave even if you're only off for a day, too. So no waiting x days for day to kick in. I'm currently off after an operation - I was on full pay from day one.

pinkgloves · 27/04/2019 20:49

Dh and I get no sick pay. I don't know a single person here who has had so much as a day's maternity leave. DH asked for paternity leave and got let go (sacked) the next day.

My friend had an extremely prem baby who was in hospital (two hours away) for 3 months. She got I think a week compassionate leave, took all of her holiday and all of the other teachers gave her their holiday. After that (it was about 3 weeks) she seriously considered breaking her leg so she wouldn't be able to work.

Rhubardandcustard · 27/04/2019 21:00

I'm in UK. Only get SSP and I've been with them 5 years. Whether you get full pay is down to manager discretion.

tudorchicken · 28/04/2019 08:14

Registered nurse. I work in Occupational Health. I don't get sick pay.
The advice I give employers for others is impossible for me we are under constant stress due to our work loads and I am not unusual in this this, this is the third employer I have worked for without sick pay and have work related stress and all my colleagues are the same. We are treated appallingly by employees and employers who use our service. Managers blame us for their failures and employees claim we have lied When they don't get the outcome they want. I change employment every couple of years due to work related stress and the lack of holiday we have, I take a few weeks between jobs to recover and start the whole ridiculous cycle again. This is also the only way to get a pay rise is by leaving. I am about to leave another job and the next job they will pay a discretionary 5 days sick pay after a year! I have looked into insurance and it is prohibitively expensive.

KateyKube · 28/04/2019 08:21

In the UK - my employer forced me to be classed as self employed so they didn’t have to pay maternity or sick pay or pension etc. If I didn’t work I didn’t get paid. And this wasn’t some crappy job either - I was an A-level teacher.

Original poster
Youngandfree · 28/04/2019 08:25

Good god, I actually cannot quite believe what I am reading!! The last time I didn’t get sick leave was when I was waitressing as a student!!

OP posts:
RighteousSista · 28/04/2019 09:17

Previous job was off work sick for 6 days filled out SSP form. Employer (small new business) replied they didn't 'pay' sick leave despite explaining to them this was statutory sick payment from UK government through their payroll service (apparently they don't 'do' pensions either) 😕

Ended up.having to take holiday days off to cover and replace missing income

Fortunately now working for civil service so 13 weeks full pay then 13 weeks half pay which increases with length of service