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Comment by FrenchDevRemote | Hacker News Reader

>(sure, and no holidays or sick days if you're the kind of person that does those).

the kind of person that does those? you mean humans?

Usage of sick days seems to follow a bimodal pattern. There are people that use them up like vacation days for all kinds of reasons and people who very rarely use them (<1 day a year on avg).

This was true through my entire career and even back in high school. I think usage of sick days is likely to follow a learned behavior from parents/siblings growing up.

So what if you are sick? You are using your normal vacation days?

I don’t get sick that frequently? I’ve had a cold like once in the last decade.

I envy you.

It’s more about the definition of “sick”. I’ve seen people take a week off because they had a bit of a throat/head ache. And others that worked from home when they had a flu.

Except for the first few days when your fever is through the roof, I think that’s reasonable?

I dunno, my mom taught me that if I’m only really sick if I spend the day in bed (in preference to anything else I could be doing).

I think it’s a fair definition.

Honestly? I stay home and might check email when I'm bored but don't do any real work, but I don't usually file sick days either because the bureaucracy is a pain (seriously, I'm already sick, I can't deal with that added stress and I'm not going to the doctor just to spread my viruses and be told to go back home and rest). And as long as we're talking about 2 or 3 days, nobody really seems to care.

So you are on sick leave without letting your boss know. I guess that works, but it puts the 'bimodal' comment in a different light.

Eh, if your boss doesn’t notice that you’re gone for a few days that’s probably on the boss.

I've always had managers who care more about what I deliver than when and where my butt is in a chair. Maybe I'm lucky, maybe I'm good enough that it works out that way.

Have you considered just informally notifying them that you're out because sick? I mean, not doing that is fine too if you can deliver, but informing them might build more trust.

No, I mean, that’s perfectly acceptable. If your boss cares only that you deliver, and doesn’t notice/care that you are gone for a few days due to sickness, that’s still not on you.

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