A reader writes:
Lengthy-time avid reader with a query I’d love your tackle earlier than I carry it to my supervisor.
I’m a supervisor for an eight-person group for a place that requires 100% of labor to be performed in-person, on-site, at set occasions. It’s price noting that this in-person group is often the bottom paid and most blue collar in our group. Virtually everybody else in my group has some flexibility by way of the place and after they work, starting from full-time distant to at some point every week WFH. For these WFH positions, our group is tremendous versatile with issues like appointments, flex schedules, often working with sick youngsters at residence, and dealing from residence once you’re sick sufficient to not are available in, however not so sick you want a sick day.
Recently I’ve been seeing our on-site group coming to work sick with chilly and flu signs. We do provide sick time and PTO, however I do know a few of them are working low on sick time on account of household diseases and this horrible chilly and flu season.
Wouldn’t it be cheap and/or authorized to supply full-time non-remote employees extra sick depart than individuals who have distant flexibility? It appears cheap since I, as somebody who can earn a living from home as wanted, can select to work for a day with my sick child or gentle chilly signs, however they haven’t any possibility however to burn via a sick day or come to work sick.
YES.
Sure, sure, sure, sure.
Please advocate for this. It’s the answer to a number of issues:
• First, it addresses the very actual actuality you identified, that on-site employees find yourself needing to make use of extra sick days as a result of they don’t have the choice of working from residence whereas sick that a few of their colleagues have. (Additionally they may be extra prone to get sick within the first place, since they’re coming to work and getting uncovered to different people who find themselves in the identical scenario they’re.)
• Second, it would assist preserve germs out of your office, thereby maintaining different individuals capable of come to work and proceed doing their jobs. That’s a win for the everybody, together with your employer.
• Third, it acknowledges the totally different burden placed on on-site employees, and may very well be an actual step towards easing among the comprehensible resentment some on-site employees have developed towards distant colleagues over the previous couple of years. (Hell, should you actually need to present appreciation to your on-site employees, you may go a step additional and provide them some Life Occurs days too, which they will use for the life administration stuff that requires being at residence — cable man, damaged washer, no matter it’s — however which their WFH coworkers are capable of work via.)
Each employer with a mixture of employees the place some can earn a living from home and a few can’t ought to provide further paid days off to their on-site workers. Counsel it!