"Incentivizing" Taking Sick Days over Personal Days
Hi,
I know this might not be a question for Principals as it's usually more of an HR decision, but was curious about thoughts...
My wife and I teach in different districts, but both of us have good attendance (above 95% most years, something like 5-7 days total absent per year). We do not have kids of our own, which helps. Our parents - the ones still with us - are in pretty good health. My wife is in year 20 and I'm in year 16. Our districts are not small, but not huge. We have preferred subs that we personally reach out to to cover our classes. We do things "the right way," in our opinion.
Every Labor Day, there is a music festival that we attend about 5 hours away. Over the past 10 years, we've probably attended it 8-9 times. We have never had our request for a Personal Day on the Friday before Labor Day (the festival starts Friday night) denied...until now. Mine was approved, hers wasn't.*
We had heard that Upper Admin at her district were trying to crack down on teachers/staff taking Personal Days before a 3-day weekend. It is not in the contract that this is not permitted, but there was communication that requests would "typically be denied."
I understand the district's position. However, thinking strategically, I still find it incredibly short-sighted. It's also a classic "A few people took advantage and they ruined it for everybody" situation (because its easier to make a rule that hurts 400 staffers than cracking down on the staff with chronic absenteeism).
While my wife is not dumb enough to call in sick that day - we're probably just going to cancel our 1st night at the hotel and miss out on the first night event (which absolutely sucks) - it does mean that, in the future, the district is sending a strong message that having good attendance, as a teacher, is of no real benefit. Basically, a teacher who misses 20 days a year is the same as one who misses 8 is the same as one who has near-perfect attendance.
It also means that, in the future, there is really no incentive not to "game the system" by keeping track of others' sick days - we get a daily email with every teacher's absence - and essentially "crack the code" for how many personal/sick days a teacher uses on average. If I learn that the average teacher in my building is out 12 days a year, and I'm out 6, that's telling me that I really need to start calling off more (as long as it's not abutting a holiday).
What policy exists in your district? Do you find it effective? Are we just being "butt hurt" as the kids say?
TLDR - My wife got denied a Personal Day, it has ruined our Labor Day plans, we both have attendance of 95% across 15+ year careers but "HR is cracking down," so now we're just wondering why she (and I) shouldn't be maliciously compliant in the future.
* You might be thinking why we don't just work that day and then drive the 5 hours. After a long day of teaching (we both get up around 5:30 AM and work till 3) and then having to deal with rush hour traffic through the entire state, at our age, we'd likely reach the hotel and pass out. Thanks, but no thanks. The denial of leave screwed Night 1 for us.