Recent Posts

21

The Culture Tent / Re: Free Fall - Freier Fall

« Last post by Val on March 15, 2019, 08:58:31 pm »

thelastaerie, I would like to say that I appreciate your fics very much and that I am careful to see if you have updated some story for us.

I would like to hear from you and other members of the group who are interested in responding as Marc was thinking about that scene as he was cleaning the floor of his son's room. He was distressed, he looked angry. Was he thinking of Kay and what he was doing or was he just thinking about the monotony of his life? Maybe all these assumptions are correct?

22

Cellar Scribblings / Re: Cellar Scribblings

« Last post by brian on March 14, 2019, 11:42:00 pm »

In NZ, casual employees are entitled to sick leave and bereavement leave after 6 months of starting work if during that time they have worked:
an average of at least 10 hours a week, and at least one hour a week or 40 hours a month.

After I resigned from full time teaching (Australia) in 2002, I sometimes worked part-time which meant I had a fixed number of days per week for 1 term (10 weeks). I received sick pay and also pay for any public holidays (if a day I would have otherwise worked) and the following school vacation.
Other times I worked casual which meant I did not get any of those benefits but received a lot more pay per day to compensate.
I resigned from full time work in September 2002 at the end of term 3 (4 terms per year). I was paid for the following 2 weeks school vacation and also 3/4 of the long vacation (about 5 weeks) at the end of the year (Dec-Jan). I had worked in that job in a Catholic School for nearly 8 years so also received pro-rata the 10 weeks long service leave that I would have been entitled at the end of 10 years (compulsory to be paid if leaving after 5 years service).
Much better than when I left  the State system at the end of 1975. I had worked 10 years (began teaching in 1966) but had taken 6 months leave in 1974 to travel overseas so had only actually worked 9.5 years and lost all my long service leave. I was told if I went back to work full time with the State system for a year I would have been able to get that 10 weeks pay but, although I did part-time and casual work in State schools over the next 7 years, I was never employed full time again

23

Cellar Scribblings / Re: Cellar Scribblings

« Last post by CellarDweller on March 14, 2019, 09:29:11 pm »

Hiya BetterMost friends.

Yesterday was a crazy day at work, today went much better.

Aside from the fact that it's friday tomorrow, two of my coworkers will be out, so I'm hoping for a quiet day.     i'ts also payday! 

Ours was that way, and then the company went to a "lump" system. We were told the company had to do this because of a new city ordinance. (Don't ask me why or how the city has the authority to regulate employers in this way within its own bounds. I don't know the answer to that. It just does.)

I like it lumped together too, Jeff.  It's easier to track.

It would be illegal in both NZ and Australia to lump them together. In NZ the minimum is 5 days per year sick leave (even if you only work 1 day per week) while in Australia it is 10 days but that is for a person working 5 days per week, so a person working 1 day per week only gets 2 days sick leave (now called sick and carers leave so you can take time off for a sick child).   As a teacher, my vacation days were of course fixed (about 55 days) but I had 22 days sick/carers pay on full pay and another 22 days on half pay per year. I think 20 days accrued to the next year and, as I never took more than 5 days in any one year, I had a huge amount when I left but I did not get pay for them.  I only took it as carer's leave once when my mother (aged in late 80's by then) moved home. Some women teachers seem to have a sick child every 2 weeks and knew in advance (as they booked all their classes for the day into the library which annoyed me as the teacher/librarian).  I did occasionally have a "sick of work" day but never more than 2 or 3 in any one year and, as said, never more than 5 sick days in any one year.

Here, with sick days and vacation  days, if we don't use them, we 'lose' them.  Some jobs will pay you for unused sick days, but not my job.  I would assume most jobs don't.  We are allowed to carry over 40 hours to the following year, so I do that as a buffer, so I always have that extra week, just in case it's needed.

That sounded so weird I had to google it. I discovered Minneapolis and St. Paul both have ordinances requiring employers to pay "sick and safe time," even to part-time workers. What?? I've worked part time jobs and never knew I was eligible for sick pay, nor received any. I don't get sick very often, but it's happened now and then over the years.

I'm not quite sure how that relates to lumping sick days and vacation days into PTO, but I guess if a city can do the one thing it can do the other.

I can't remember if I had sick days way back in the day when I was a part-time worker at the grocery store.

24

Cellar Scribblings / Re: Cellar Scribblings

« Last post by serious crayons on March 14, 2019, 08:45:47 am »

Ours was that way, and then the company went to a "lump" system. We were told the company had to do this because of a new city ordinance. (Don't ask me why or how the city has the authority to regulate employers in this way within its own bounds. I don't know the answer to that. It just does.)

That sounded so weird I had to google it. I discovered Minneapolis and St. Paul both have ordinances requiring employers to pay "sick and safe time," even to part-time workers. What?? I've worked part time jobs and never knew I was eligible for sick pay, nor received any. I don't get sick very often, but it's happened now and then over the years.

I'm not quite sure how that relates to lumping sick days and vacation days into PTO, but I guess if a city can do the one thing it can do the other.

25

Cellar Scribblings / Re: Cellar Scribblings

« Last post by brian on March 13, 2019, 02:41:27 pm »

And both Australia and NZ have a compulsory minimum 4 weeks annual vacation leave per year.

26

Cellar Scribblings / Re: Cellar Scribblings

« Last post by brian on March 13, 2019, 02:39:24 pm »

It would be illegal in both NZ and Australia to lump them together. In NZ the minimum is 5 days per year sick leave (even if you only work 1 day per week) while in Australia it is 10 days but that is for a person working 5 days per week, so a person working 1 day per week only gets 2 days sick leave (now called sick and carers leave so you can take time off for a sick child).
As a teacher, my vacation days were of course fixed (about 55 days) but I had 22 days sick/carers pay on full pay and another 22 days on half pay per year. I think 20 days accrued to the next year and, as I never took more than 5 days in any one year, I had a huge amount when I left but I did not get pay for them.
I only took it as carer's leave once when my mother (aged in late 80's by then) moved home. Some women teachers seem to have a sick child every 2 weeks and knew in advance (as they booked all their classes for the day into the library which annoyed me as the teacher/librarian).
I did occasionally have a "sick of work" day but never more than 2 or 3 in any one year and, as said, never more than 5 sick days in any one year.

27

Cellar Scribblings / Re: Cellar Scribblings

« Last post by Jeff Wrangler on March 13, 2019, 11:43:36 am »

I'm not defending people who go to work sick, especially if they can work from home and not take PTO. But I wish companies would separate sick days and vacation days. Mine also lumps them altogether like that.

Ours was that way, and then the company went to a "lump" system. We were told the company had to do this because of a new city ordinance. (Don't ask me why or how the city has the authority to regulate employers in this way within its own bounds. I don't know the answer to that. It just does.)

But doing it this way simplifies record keeping for the company. Formerly, we had two separate time codes for reporting sick time vs. vacation time. Now the company bean counters only have to deal with one PTO code. It saves the bean counters time, and time is money.

I don't have a problem with having all PTO being lumped together because it also saves me having to keep track of sick time vs. vacation time.

It just seems simpler all around to me to have one PTO rather than sick and vacation.

28

Cellar Scribblings / Re: Cellar Scribblings

« Last post by serious crayons on March 13, 2019, 09:18:47 am »

I get between 5-6 weeks to be used as vacation time or sick time, so there's no reason to go to work sick.

Unless you want to take a long vacation! Or unless you get really sick, God forbid, and need the time later.

I'm not defending people who go to work sick, especially if they can work from home and not take PTO. But I wish companies would separate sick days and vacation days. Mine also lumps them altogether like that.

29

Cellar Scribblings / Re: Cellar Scribblings

« Last post by Jeff Wrangler on March 13, 2019, 09:17:58 am »

I also hope the hacking woman keeps the germs to herself.   I don't know how it is at your office, but at mine we all have laptops and the ability to work from home, so there's really no reason to come into the office sick.

That's the way it is, here, too, but if I'm too sick to come into the office, I'm not about to work at home.

30

Cellar Scribblings / Re: Cellar Scribblings

« Last post by CellarDweller on March 12, 2019, 10:10:42 pm »

God love her! 

They call that "presenteeism," coming to work when you're so sick you should stay home.

Today a woman who sits not far from me at work had a horrible, dry, hacking cough. I hope she keeps it to herself.

I hope you're feeling better soon. 

I am feeling much better.....I think I'll be back to 100% by Thursday, latest.

I also hope the hacking woman keeps the germs to herself.   I don't know how it is at your office, but at mine we all have laptops and the ability to work from home, so there's really no reason to come into the office sick.  So when someone does it, and then gets others sick, it's really annoying.

I don't know how much PTO time everyone gets at my office, but I know for my time with the company, I get between 5-6 weeks to be used as vacation time or sick time, so there's no reason to go to work sick.