Out of Sick Days at Work

It depends on the company. Have you looked into having a babysitter "on call"? There are usually other moms around open to making some extra money.

It depends on your employer's rules. I work for a very big employer. here you take your sick leave first, then vacation leave if you have no more sick days left, but still want to receive pay. Then it is unpaid leave.
We also have shared leave, where employees with excess accrued leave can donate some of their days, to others who have run out (this is typically reserved for employees with very serious conditions though).
Ask you HR department if you have one - or your boss.
Good luck!

Usually you use all your sick days, followed by vacation then leave without pay. Talk to you employer about working on a weekend, or from home for a few hours. Not sure if this is an option but I don't see any way around it. Or see if he'd let you make up the hours during the next pay period.

Hi Sally,

Ask if you can move your schedule a bit to accommodate your illnesses. Other than a lenient boss, I think it's fair to resort to your vacation days. I'm assuming since you say that you and the baby are sick often, the company is already generous with sick days off?

I would invest in a good absorbable multivitamin and a few other things to build your immune system. Common illnesses don't have to be common. I know I've mentioned a detox before but there are other things that assist in building your immune system like changing eating habits and exercise as well. All of these in combination should rid you of the need for sick days. My family doesn't get sick anymore and we once were sick ALL the time. I was in the hospital on and off, more on than off, all my life until I determined that there were God-given ways to avoid it.

My two cents :)

M.

You really need to talk to the HR person at your company. Can you take your vacation days without notice? Are you able to take unpaid days? Your job may be protected under FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) if you need to take additional days, but you'd have to take them unpaid.

Otherwise, you may need to take a look and see what you can do to build your immune systems. Does your baby go to a daycare center? My daughter had a perpetual runny nose...I changed her center (for a number of reasons) and the runny nose was gone in a matter of days. She's rarely been sick in the last year. There may be something there doesn't agree with her system.

Additionally, I put myself on a good vitamin (prenatals, actually) and my daughter on a natural vitamin and some immune support herbs.

My employer would let me make up some hours on the weekend and in the evenings if I had to take a sick day. I still had to take a "sick day" but once I ran out I would just go without pay for the day and then make up some of the hours by working extra hours on other days.

The best thing is to check with your human resources dept or employee guidelines as each company is different. If you or hubby is sick for an extended period of time that requires a doctor's care, you may be able to get short term disability or extended medical leave, this is based on your employer's guidelines.

My old employer required us to use all paid time off before we'd have unpaid time off. When my sick days ran out I had to use any other illness-related days off as emergency vacation days. After both the sick and vacation days were used everything else was unpaid time off, and I got reprimand letters from the human resources dept. Sorry, but my kid's sick and it's very hard to find someone willing to watch sick kids on a moment's notice! No need to reprimand me, I think the unpaid time off is punishment enough!

Talk to your HR department to get the facts of your rights and how to use your Leave. Talk to your boss to see if you can come up with creative solutions. Get a backup plan for when your child is sick. I know that is hard, but it can make a difference.

Does a hospital near you have sick child care? How close are you to Torrance Memorial? There are rules about how contagious the illness is, and you need to pre-register (don't just show up one day with a sick kid). Its staffed by pediatric nurses and nursing students who can give meds, check temps, etc.

Is there no way your husband can take off if there's a sick baby? My daughter was born in January of 07 and they used up all my vacation and sick days for my maternity leave, even though I wanted to take it unpaid. So my husband took off whenever the kiddo was sick, and if I was sick, I took it off unpaid.