UNITED STATES—This week was a challenge for me America. I rarely get sick, but when I do it gets to a point where I have to ask that question, “Can I make it to work and do I actually want to go to work? Those are questions so many Americans have to battle at times. For many Americans, they cannot afford to take a sick day. Missing a single day of work can be a devastating blow for most Americans, in some situations it can be the difference between a bill being paid and a bill NOT being paid.

So what is the solution? It’s called sick days America and some companies need to take notice. I cannot find anything more annoying than when a company gets upset when a person calls in sick. Hello, this is life, it happens, people get sick and you should NOT expect everyone to come to work simply because you’re always willing to come to work. If you choose to do that, so be it, but you cannot expect everyone to do what you do. No two people are alike and companies need to realize that sooner than later.

With that said, a company should always have a backup. You cannot rely on one person to be your go to person because anything can happen at a given moment. That person could have an emergency transpire or become deathly ill and as a result they cannot work. You do not want to be placed in a predicament as you have no one to cover that shift. The company needs to ensure they have enough staff to prepare for call-ins when it comes to work when it takes place.

In addition, as a worker you have to decide if you have the energy to work when you are sick. Some people can push thru and make it, while others, it may not be that easy. You might have a slight cough and that is a problem if you have a job where you have to be on the phone. If you work from home it might be possible to still work while sick considering the level of work that you have to do, but you have to be the judge of that.

I see nothing wrong with calling in sick. People get sick that is part of life and if your place of employment causes a stir because you called in sick you might want to think about a new job. If you cannot have a sick day at your place of employment and you’re NOT full-time and you rarely call-in sick that says a lot about a company. Making the situation even worse is having a job where you don’t have paid sick days.

Some companies give you sick days, some give you paid sick days. My place of employment we have what we call PH days (Personal Holiday) where you still get paid if you don’t work. A lot of people I know have what we call PTO (Personal Time Off), where you still get paid if you call in sick or don’t come to work. There are some companies that do not offer these perks to their staff and that is an absolute shame to say the least people. The more you work the more sick time you should earn as a result, so you have it when you need to use it and guess what you don’t have to feel guilty about it either.

Pick your battles wisely America, but realize if you’re sick and you just cannot work, you cannot work. Being sick one day should not cost you to lose your job. If such is the case, you’re NOT working at the right place of employment because every company should be aware that being sick is a part of life. If it’s NOT an ongoing pattern of behavior missing one day of work should NOT be the end of the world and if it is for that company they need to hire more people because they’re relying on a select few with the impression that they will never get sick or call in sick and in life predictability is never a good thing.

Written By Jason Jones