So this has been going on for awhile but it got worse during Covid. Employee would call in sick, boss would say no, employees were stuck coming to work sick. Some times the person would come in, work their shift and then go to the doctors only to be told they had Covid. So they exposed a whole daycare class to covid. Awesome.
I work in the childcare industry. Getting sick comes with the territory. We have a few employees that call out all the time. And we're insanely short staffed so instead of raising wages and hiring workers, we're left being spread too thin because we can't find anyone to work for trash wages.
So because they can't deal with the call-ins, we're now being told no one can call in unless they have the flu or covid. We're also being told that a note from Wellnow (urgent care) is no longer good enough and that we need a detailed note from our doctor.
I tried discussing with them before that not everyone has a doctor or health insurance. And I'm definitely not one to go to the doctor over every little illness. If someone just has a stomach bug what's a doctor going to do anyway?
Our doctors and urgent care are overwhelmed with sick children and adults but employers are requiring employees to get sick notes over a stomach bug or an illness they just need to wait out?
I've worked here for awhile. I've barely used any sick time. I have about 2 months worth by now. I don't call in because we're either guilted, shamed, or denied.
I have a doctor and decent health care through my husband's employer but not everyone is so lucky.
They don't understand that not everyone can afford insurance. Not everyone can afford a visit to urgent care to get a doctors note. And to make it worse, out of the 3 daycare centers they own, only a handful of workers have health insurance through our company. No one else gets paid enough to afford it.