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What to do about sick days?What to do about sick days?Article supplied by Anne Fulton, Organisational Psychologist: anne@careeranalysts.co.nz With winter around the corner, we thought it was time to touch on a subject that is often asked about – sick kids. Children are children, and at times they get sick and are unable to attend school or day care. Unfortunately this can happen at the drop of a hat. Most parents have experienced a time when their child is sick just before they walk out the door to work. This situation can be a very difficult one, especially if you have a boss who is not very receptive to you taking time off for a sick child, or if you are particularly busy at work and cannot afford to miss a day. However, if you have exhausted all a venues and the only answer is to stay home, or if your child is so sick he/she really needs you to be there, remind yourself that “it’s ok to take time off work to be with your sick child”. But it is a good idea to have some contingencies in place, well in advance for days when you find this scenario unfolding at home. With parents working, responsibility for child will still often fall on ‘Mum’. There are many reasons for this; the father of the child may earn a higher wage and his job may be deemed as ‘more important’ (often sad but true), and employers are often much more likely to accept a mother staying at home with a sick child rather than a father. Again – very sad but true… So – the only way to deal with a situation like this is to go into autopilot, which means you need to have a plan. This plan needs to be formulated well in advance of its use! Have all the numbers of people you can call on for help at hand, friends, relatives or trusted child carers.
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