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Comment by cameronh90 | Hacker News Reader

Sick days shouldn't be countable except in extreme cases. If someone is unfortunate enough to get something that requires extended time off work, losing income shouldn't be a worry.

What is needed is a national insurance scheme that pays your salary when sick beyond some minimum that your employer has to cover.

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(Devil's advocate) And employers will be happy to cover it for their employees, especially since they'll be paying them 10-20% less to account for their increased costs :)

If they could get away with paying 10-20% less, don't you think they'd do it now in a heartbeat?

I think if you are out 2 weeks, requiring some official documentation is reasonable.

I think in most circumstances, 2 weeks illness would qualify as some level of 'extreme' -- that's rarely something not serious. So you and the parent are probably in agreement.

"The Crud", which is a southern US ailment that lasts weeks, it makes you cough and snotty, and generally lethargic. It isn't awful, but when you feel it coming on you're in for at least 2-3 weeks. It isn't serious, at all. It's just similar to or a cold that generally presents in the warm months.

Some jobs coughing and whatnot is frowned upon.

I live in the northern part of the US and it’s not uncommon for people to refer to common viral infections as crud or “feeling cruddy” regardless of what time of year it occurs. But, it’s not taken to mean anything more than another way of saying you have a cold. Though I kind of understand because the combination of hot weather and cold symptoms just makes it feel worse.

Lived in the south my whole life and never heard of this once

I've been informed that it's possible it's a Louisiana (or thereabouts) thing. And it may be the common cold (whatever that means), but the cough lasts multiple weeks, and there's no medicine for it except guaifenesin and dextromethorphan. I've lived in the PNW, i was raised in LA County, CA, and i've spent a decade and a half in the US South.

I bet there's things you've heard of in the south that i've never heard of, too.

Totally fair, I've mostly lived in one part of the south so it's likely regional.

Two weeks is extreme? Maybe if you're a healthy 30 year old without any chronic illness - and even then bone breaks can take more than a month before you can get the cast off.

I'd guess for an average person aged 40 to 60, two consecutive weeks off would be a one in maybe five years kind of event. Any minor surgery, mental health, cancer treatment, heart issue or significant infection like shingles, pneumonia, mono, hep could easily lead to two weeks off.

Two weeks definitely isn't an every year thing for most people but it's certainly not extreme.

2 weeks straight? Sure.

2 weeks total over a year? Doesn’t seem unreasonable to me. I’ve never actually used that much sick leave myself, but I have it if I need it. Doesn’t seem crazy to me that everybody have the same benefit (or, we could just be reasonable and not actually have sick leave and just let people stay home).

In France, the social security pays a part of your salary during the leave only if it is more than 3 days

Doesn’t FMLA come into play during those circumstances?

I had an extended leave and there was no issue once my manager worked with me to do the FMLA documentation.

FMLA isn't required to be paid. That depends on what state you live in.

Private insurance for that is relatively cheap.

Totally agree. I was just thinking baby steps towards something reasonable.

How could it possibly be reasonable?

How could codified leave be reasonable? I’m not sure what you’re asking?

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