Call me old fashioned, but I just happen to believe sick pay is for when you are sick and it is banked for when you are sick, especially for when extended sickness or injury may present out of the blue.
When sick leave is squandered on what can only amount to "righteous absenteeism", bottom lips tremble when those same employees encounter a prolonged sickness or non work related injury and there is nothing in the sick leave bank.
I have a large number of employees and something like 10% habitually have little or no sick leave accrued ... and they are generally in a demographic where "sickness" is not the issue ... I have had to counsel a few in these circumstances.
Also, who says rec leave can't be used for a month of 4 day weeks during a busy period in one's life ... imo, its a tad righteous to assume rec leave has to be exclusively "me time" ... what is wrong with taking a day's rec leave to attend the funeral of a famiy friend ... did that friend mean so little as to only attend by use of absenteeism on "sick" leave?
Anyway, enough from me on this topic ... I can see I just think differently about it than most.
