An article in this morning’s Star-Telegram about excuses people give to get out of work caught my attention.  It seems that people give some pretty weird and off-the-wall excuses to get out of work.

• “I was sprayed by a skunk.”
• “I tripped over my dog and was knocked unconscious.”
• “My bus broke down and was held up by robbers.”
• “I was arrested as a result of mistaken identity.”
• “I couldn’t find my shoes.”
• “I totaled my wife’s Jeep in a collision with a cow.”
• “My cat unplugged my alarm clock.”
• “I had to be there for my husband’s grand jury trial.”
• “I had to ship my grandmother’s bones to India.” (Note: She had passed away 20 years earlier.)

I would think that if someone wanted a day off they could just claim to be sick with something that would keep them incapicitated for a day but that wouldn’t likely require a doctor’s visit.  At least that kind of thing is vaguely plausible. 

But this got me to thinking about something that I’ve noticed about some employer policies.  I notice that they treat sick time kind of like vacation in that it accrues over time.  It seems odd to me to do this, since it would also encourage the use of sick time as a form of vacation.  Further, it could end up putting people into a nasty position if something major happened that required more sick time than was accrued.

In my case I don’t get a set amount of sick time.  If something major were to happen, I wouldn’t have to worry about running out.  But I also have plenty of options about when I work.  I have some flexibility so if I need to run an errand or take off on an afternoon for an appointment, then I can just make up the time elsewhere.  All that really matters is that I meet my commitments to the job.  I can see how people would be tempted to take sick time if they didn’t have these options.