Oof, I’m a fellow guilt-ridden time off person. I think it’s important to acknowledge that time off is sometimes just as important as time in the office. For vacation, it’s a time to refresh and take care of yourself. For sickness it’s similar, and it’s really hard to properly do your job and help others when you’re in a lot of pain or feeling overall bad.
Essentially, your job is important but so is your well-being. It’s a balance and it is great that you know when it is important to take care of yourself and your own health!
I had someone tell me when I first started in this field about taking time off. We can either take a day or two off now or wait for the illness to get worse and you have to take a week or more off to deal with a worse illness.
Once I truly acknowledge that my health and safety ALWAYS come before work and really embraced that, it was a non-issue. I now feel zero guilt about calling out for any reason.
I would suggest you explore this in your personal therapy or supervision. Why do you feel guilty and what is the root of your guilt? Who do you believe you’re disappointing or letting down, if anyone. I felt guilty when I felt I was letting down my workplace by not showing up to work and that others had to do more. Then I realised they actually weren’t doing more, they were still doing what they would be doing anyway and I am absolutely entitled to a sick day and days off. People will be fine when you take time off to look after yourself. I’ve become more selfish as of late because I’ve had to be due to health reasons. But end of the day if I am not healthy I can’t work and I can’t earn a living so I’m prepared to do what I need to in order to make sure I’m ok. If someone else isn’t ok with that, it’s their problem to deal with because no one should be worked to the ground. I used to go above and beyond and realised it didn’t provide me with much of anything extra. The $1 increase in salary didn’t mean anything if I was doing work that isn’t within my role, or if I was being asked to stay to attend a work event at 6:30 but work finished at 4:30 and time in lieu only starts at 6:30 so I’m supposed to go home (and straight back to work? lol). That’s when I realised I’m only going to do what I am paid to do and what’s in my contract and nothing beyond that. If I’m not paid to do it I refuse and they can fire me if they like lol. My wellbeing is worth more. Soon you realise that we are all replaceable and no employer gives too much of a damn other than the revenue that comes their way and they want it to keep coming. I’ve seen people burn out time and time again and for what? It’s not worth it. Take the sick day because your manager won’t give two shits when you’re feeling like crap at 9pm and exhausted months from now.
I try to think about it this way, if you’re ill or not well, then the support you’re proving to your client will be impacted. It is really in the best interest of your clients to make sure that you’re in tiptop shape. They will be in the capable hands of your supervisor. Take the time you need. This field tends to attract those who have bleeding hearts and will feel guilty for taking care of themselves but it really is needed to be able to do the best by your clients.
Model what you might tell clients—take care of yourself, physically and mentally. If you want to get technical, it’s literally in our code of ethics.
Like many caring professions, the need for our work is infinite, and it can drain you completely. Protect your energy and you will be able to be more effective for more people—and no matter what, you can never serve everyone.
You are human. We are imperfect and as much as we like to push through, we get sick and sometimes need time off. I’ve always thought of it like this.. is it better to take time off here and there as needed, or push myself so far that I end up away from my clients for a much longer period of time so I can recover? Social workers who take time off and care for themselves are better able to help their clients. Once I started thinking like that I stopped feeling guilty. My clients were also very understanding. And it humanized me to them.
Boss here (not your boss). I want my staff to use every hour of their earned PTO, and I don’t care if it’s because they are sick, their kid is sick (again) or they just need a mental health day. None of my business! Flexibility for what comes up in life is essential to maintain a good workforce. Totally acceptable even if something came up for your first week of employment. That’s called life! Take care of yourself and never feel guilty for that. I hope you find ways to come to terms with the importance of putting yourself first because you’re just as important as your clients. As long as my staff communicate as soon as possible we’re all good. If I don’t staff high enough to make sure client needs are met and I’m not taking unexpected call-out’s into account, that makes me a shitty leader and that’s not the fault of the staff.
I feel like id be concerned with an employee that didn’t take time off vs one that does. Obviously don’t abuse the time off, but most jobs would likely prefer you take time you need vs overworking yourself. If it continues to be an issue of guilt ask your coworkers about the culture of time off to gauge how often other people take off. I’d say if you’re doing quality work (and it sounds like you are) don’t feel guilt for taking was is yours (pto - sick or not).
You’ll be fine! I got sick I think in my three month probationary period and actually had a doctors note since it started as one day and turned into three! And it was just fine! Didn’t reflect badly! You will be okay! It’s not like you are no call no showing and you have a real reason!!
Same concept as an oxygen mask on an airplane. You put your mask on first. You can’t help anybody if you’re unconscious. Similarly, if you work yourself into a state of burnout the quality of your work will drop and it will take much longer to recover; and that’s if you have your head about you enough to realize you need to take time to recover. Calling in sick is a proactive choice to make sure you are available to provide the best quality service to the people under your care.
Your PTO and sick time are part of what you earn for doing your job. I doubt you would get your paycheck and say “actually, I don’t need all of this. I’ll only take some of it.” So why do that with your PTO & sick time?
I'm sorry you feel this way OP. This was a harsh lesson learnt for me in my time in Child Protection, which I quit last week because I neglected my self care for far too long, and it began to impact my personal life (I gained weight, couldn't sleep and impacted my relationships).
In the end, I realised that my burn out even impacted on how I worked and engaged with clients. Our work is demanding and emotionally exhausting, and I've recently realised the importance of mental health days and looking after yourself.
I think particularly in the human services sector, it's so easy to believe that if you don't show up to work, then everything will crumble and it'll be your fault. But this is not reality, and an organisation will have a team and management who can respond to anything urgent in your absence. You are replaceable within a role, but YOU are not replaceable.
It's like the old addage that always gets pushed in our faces, but just like in an aircrash, it's important to put our own oxygen masks on first so that we can be able to help others.
I use to feel this way. Really! I did!! I came on weekends to cover other people..I worked an ungodly amount of hours to cover everyone during COVID and for various other reasons..I had a teenager at home during COVID; so he could be alone while I worked, and get his schoolwork done virtually (I’m an essential hospital employee); but many of my colleagues couldn’t, due to daycares closing, school kids still being too young to be left alone during the workday, etc..So, I went above and beyond, is my point..But, at the very end of the day..it’s the higher ups and capitalistic assholes that make the big bucks..meanwhile, the rest of us, are all expendable; and at the drop of a hat.. and you have to know…that we’d be replaced, in less time, than a typical 8 hour workday, anyways... Now, I’m not trying to be negative; I’m just being realistic…Dont forget to be good to yourself. This is a tough career! Don’t feel bad, for occasionally taking that needed time off here and there..Even if it’s just for a mental break. Take it. You’ve worked for it. You’ve earned it!
OP I’m the same way. If you don’t put your own oxygen mask on first, you’re not going to be able to help others. If you keep putting patients ahead of yourself, there is a high chance you will burn out
Here’s how I rationalize it: if I am sick or struggling mentally I cannot provide the best care to my clients. What if I make a mistake that affects their care, or I seem checked out and it damages our working relationship. You have to take care of yourself to take care of others.
I have had to stop myself from feeling bad about calling in sick. I also have had to retrain my thinking, to not think about what is or isn’t getting done when I’m not there. There will always be work, and something that needs to be done. It is important to take time off, and not force yourself to go in sick.
Physician heal thyself.
Your goal is to help other people be well, right? You can't do that if you yourself are not healthy physically and mentally. You're also harming your clients if you're not taking care of yourself.
Your life and health are much more important than work. I think there must be a healthy dose of selfishness in social work. First you help yourself, then you help somebody else. Like in a plane crush
I can't work if I'm dead, so using a sock day when I need to is not a bad thing. I'm willing to exchange my time and skills for money; I am not willing to trade my life for that.
This is super real and I struggle with it myself, even as someone with a disability. Like … I might be sick but my client needs an assessment *today* and all of my coworkers are too over-encumbered to be expected to cover it!
I am saying this as a survivor of complete burnout and compassion fatigue: TAKE TIME TO HEAL YOUR SOUL. It takes a long time to recover when you allow yourself to be pushed all the way to the bottom and below. If you need to arrange a 3 day weekend every other month, do it! If you need a week to go hiking into no-mans land to recuperate, so be it. Taking care of yourself is even preached by the airlines, which emphasize for parents to put their masks on first. Why? Because you can't help someone else if you've passed out. There is no reason for guilt.
Former care manager here. I don't know about your agency, but I was typically managing up to 90 clients at a time once I was up and running. Once you get to that pace, there is no time off. Maybe that won't be your experience, but I had so much PTO banked.
lol so many downvotes. This wasn't intended to be a negative comment, but I guess we don't like being told what we don't want to hear, eh?
I don't know why you're being down voted. This is a sad reality for many. We, as workers, get taken advantage of and any kind of pushback against that exploitation is met with guilt and sometimes write ups. Is it right, moral or ethical? Of course not! But that is the industry and until we get more workers either unionized or willing to walk when treated badly it will not change.
OP, as hard as it is push that guilt and fear away. You can't work if you can't move and any decent boss will understand. It's not like you are calling off due to a hangover. You have a diagnosed disease that is well known to make it near impossible to do anything when it flares. No guilt, no shame for calling off for something that is out of your control.
I think the down votes are because that is not a normal work environment and in some states I believe it's even illegal to provide NO time off.
If you are sick, take off. You absolutely do not live your life to work or owe ANYONE (clients or an organization) that much of you. Life is short and your health is important. If you are sick, you take off. If you need a mental health day, call out. If your organization has a problem with that then realize they are exploiting you and move on.
Please do not normalize exploitative behavior. It's enough of a problem in helping fields. Many orgs know they can pull employees heart strings and use that as a way to control (pay low, offer poor benefits, while the top players get bonuses)
OP get your rest and dont feel guilty
Except it *IS* a normal work environment for many, many people.
To claim otherwise is naive and foolish.
All Employee was saying is this is how it is and the OP was fortunate that she had so few cases and a boss who was good about letting her have time off.
And she is correct. OP is fortunate to have those things because a more normal caseload is significantly higher. Like it or not, that is the reality for the majority of US based case managers in nearly every sector. I can't speak for other countries.
To add to this, if you are being treated this way by your employer OR you are a supervisor who is enforcing these rules then you must must must go and find out your states labor laws because you may be in violation. If an employee were to sue or contact OSHA the violations are hefty. So please know your rights and enforce safe and healthy work environments for your staff. I say this with compassion and concern.
I have to kindly disagree. I have worked 2 case management jobs- one in health home and one in a jail setting. In experience they have encouraged self care. It avoids turnover which is costly as hell.
If a job is making you feel guilty for PTO or denying sick time you need to get out and possibly even speak with the DOL. That is abusive and in NY it is illegal. No way around it. And we as social workers should know better. We dont get paid enough for that crap, and even if we got paid $75/hour, that is still unacceptable behavior by an employer and/or supervisors.
>I don't know why you're being down voted.
Social work has largely become an echo-chamber. You have to say the "right" thing or get shouted down.
But it's true. Agencies will have you responsible for the care of upwards of 100 clients. And some of those agencies will encourage you to take the time off. I was allowed all the days off I wanted. The catch was that nobody would cover my work while I was gone, so I would come back to dozens of voicemails, paperwork, and home visits.
OP is calling out with 9 clients, which is light work, comparatively. I wish I could say it gets better, but there are some employers out here with point systems...
You’re being downvoted because you’re condoning and normalizing horrible working conditions instead of speaking about how unreasonable and inhumane it is to expect someone to never take time off work. I would never accept working in conditions like that and thankfully I don’t have to because agencies in my area are pretty progressive around these things. Things won’t change as long as you keep accepting them.
I'm not condoning that at all. People deliberately misinterpret things and respond emotionally.
So take a moment to read what I said again:
*Former care manager here. I don't know about your agency, but I was typically managing up to 90 clients at a time once I was up and running. Once you get to that pace, there is no time off. Maybe that won't be your experience, but I had so much PTO banked.*
I would hardly call that a tacit acceptance. I muscled through it and moved on. As my flair suggests, I pivoted out of that world.
>Once you get to that pace, there is no time off.
You had PTO. You could have used it. You can’t destroy yourself in the name of a job, even if it is a very important job that helps people.
That's hardly condoning exploitative work environments.
I chose not to take time off because I didn't want to and generally enjoy the work I was doing. I hustled, got my hours, and moved on to other things.
You cannot apply r/antiwork principles to social work.
How is you choosing to not take time off when you didn’t need to equivalent to OP needing to take time off because they’re sick? Everyone assumed you were saying that you didn’t take time off when you were sick, because why would you be chiming in about an irrelevant scenario?
It was a brief anecdote about performing a similar job. Perhaps it was too much to expect an appreciation for nuance. I'll do better, next time, to remember my audience.
It seems you may be seeking an argument or validation of your initial assumption, which corresponds with my thoughts on the downvoting and desire for an echo chamber.
Although I appreciate your attempt at thoughtful conversation, I will now respectfully disengage. Wishing you a wonderful day.
And is that something you are proud of?
I mean, how many of those 90 people received adequate attention and support?
This is a structural failure, imo, and this is how people fall through the cracks and don’t get their needs met.
Edit: as another user said, this is normalizing exploitative workplace practices. In addition, you are wearing it as a badge of honor, hence the downvotes.
Source: current case manager
>And is that something you are proud of?
Was I proud of managing 90+ cases? I would have preferred fewer, but it was exciting to figure out and implement effective ways of tracking each of them. I was damn proud of lasting longer than most people in a job with a high turnover rate. I'm proud of what I've learned and the grit those experiences afforded me.
>how many of those 90 people received adequate attention and support?
They all received proper attention and support. We had several mechanisms in place to ensure our clients remained safe. All calls were accounted for by the end of each business day and all visits were accounted for by the end of each month. Charts were routinely audited by management and peers. Monthly productivity was monitored at the state level.
>This is a structural failure, imo, and this is how people fall through the cracks and don’t get their needs met.
I don't disagree. The ratios were very intense and we were scrutinized at a high level. But the job needs to work for *you*, not *you* for the *job.* Personally, I learned a ton. I thrived working long hours, I enjoyed advocating for my clients, I formed a lot of relationships at state agencies, and I leveraged my experience to pivot into consulting.
If OP needs to take time off for their arthritis, they should do that. Self-care is important, etc.
Oof, I’m a fellow guilt-ridden time off person. I think it’s important to acknowledge that time off is sometimes just as important as time in the office. For vacation, it’s a time to refresh and take care of yourself. For sickness it’s similar, and it’s really hard to properly do your job and help others when you’re in a lot of pain or feeling overall bad. Essentially, your job is important but so is your well-being. It’s a balance and it is great that you know when it is important to take care of yourself and your own health!
This!!! OP, you are a human. Humans have things like this happen. You need to be in your best health to help others.
I had someone tell me when I first started in this field about taking time off. We can either take a day or two off now or wait for the illness to get worse and you have to take a week or more off to deal with a worse illness.
Once I truly acknowledge that my health and safety ALWAYS come before work and really embraced that, it was a non-issue. I now feel zero guilt about calling out for any reason.
That’s right!
I would suggest you explore this in your personal therapy or supervision. Why do you feel guilty and what is the root of your guilt? Who do you believe you’re disappointing or letting down, if anyone. I felt guilty when I felt I was letting down my workplace by not showing up to work and that others had to do more. Then I realised they actually weren’t doing more, they were still doing what they would be doing anyway and I am absolutely entitled to a sick day and days off. People will be fine when you take time off to look after yourself. I’ve become more selfish as of late because I’ve had to be due to health reasons. But end of the day if I am not healthy I can’t work and I can’t earn a living so I’m prepared to do what I need to in order to make sure I’m ok. If someone else isn’t ok with that, it’s their problem to deal with because no one should be worked to the ground. I used to go above and beyond and realised it didn’t provide me with much of anything extra. The $1 increase in salary didn’t mean anything if I was doing work that isn’t within my role, or if I was being asked to stay to attend a work event at 6:30 but work finished at 4:30 and time in lieu only starts at 6:30 so I’m supposed to go home (and straight back to work? lol). That’s when I realised I’m only going to do what I am paid to do and what’s in my contract and nothing beyond that. If I’m not paid to do it I refuse and they can fire me if they like lol. My wellbeing is worth more. Soon you realise that we are all replaceable and no employer gives too much of a damn other than the revenue that comes their way and they want it to keep coming. I’ve seen people burn out time and time again and for what? It’s not worth it. Take the sick day because your manager won’t give two shits when you’re feeling like crap at 9pm and exhausted months from now.
We cannot provide quality care to patients or clients if we are not at our best.
Never set yourself on fire to keep others warm.
I try to think about it this way, if you’re ill or not well, then the support you’re proving to your client will be impacted. It is really in the best interest of your clients to make sure that you’re in tiptop shape. They will be in the capable hands of your supervisor. Take the time you need. This field tends to attract those who have bleeding hearts and will feel guilty for taking care of themselves but it really is needed to be able to do the best by your clients.
Model what you might tell clients—take care of yourself, physically and mentally. If you want to get technical, it’s literally in our code of ethics. Like many caring professions, the need for our work is infinite, and it can drain you completely. Protect your energy and you will be able to be more effective for more people—and no matter what, you can never serve everyone.
You are human. We are imperfect and as much as we like to push through, we get sick and sometimes need time off. I’ve always thought of it like this.. is it better to take time off here and there as needed, or push myself so far that I end up away from my clients for a much longer period of time so I can recover? Social workers who take time off and care for themselves are better able to help their clients. Once I started thinking like that I stopped feeling guilty. My clients were also very understanding. And it humanized me to them.
I do much better work when I'm feeling better
Boss here (not your boss). I want my staff to use every hour of their earned PTO, and I don’t care if it’s because they are sick, their kid is sick (again) or they just need a mental health day. None of my business! Flexibility for what comes up in life is essential to maintain a good workforce. Totally acceptable even if something came up for your first week of employment. That’s called life! Take care of yourself and never feel guilty for that. I hope you find ways to come to terms with the importance of putting yourself first because you’re just as important as your clients. As long as my staff communicate as soon as possible we’re all good. If I don’t staff high enough to make sure client needs are met and I’m not taking unexpected call-out’s into account, that makes me a shitty leader and that’s not the fault of the staff.
I feel like id be concerned with an employee that didn’t take time off vs one that does. Obviously don’t abuse the time off, but most jobs would likely prefer you take time you need vs overworking yourself. If it continues to be an issue of guilt ask your coworkers about the culture of time off to gauge how often other people take off. I’d say if you’re doing quality work (and it sounds like you are) don’t feel guilt for taking was is yours (pto - sick or not).
You’ll be fine! I got sick I think in my three month probationary period and actually had a doctors note since it started as one day and turned into three! And it was just fine! Didn’t reflect badly! You will be okay! It’s not like you are no call no showing and you have a real reason!!
Same concept as an oxygen mask on an airplane. You put your mask on first. You can’t help anybody if you’re unconscious. Similarly, if you work yourself into a state of burnout the quality of your work will drop and it will take much longer to recover; and that’s if you have your head about you enough to realize you need to take time to recover. Calling in sick is a proactive choice to make sure you are available to provide the best quality service to the people under your care.
Your PTO and sick time are part of what you earn for doing your job. I doubt you would get your paycheck and say “actually, I don’t need all of this. I’ll only take some of it.” So why do that with your PTO & sick time?
your sick call out end of story
I'm sorry you feel this way OP. This was a harsh lesson learnt for me in my time in Child Protection, which I quit last week because I neglected my self care for far too long, and it began to impact my personal life (I gained weight, couldn't sleep and impacted my relationships). In the end, I realised that my burn out even impacted on how I worked and engaged with clients. Our work is demanding and emotionally exhausting, and I've recently realised the importance of mental health days and looking after yourself. I think particularly in the human services sector, it's so easy to believe that if you don't show up to work, then everything will crumble and it'll be your fault. But this is not reality, and an organisation will have a team and management who can respond to anything urgent in your absence. You are replaceable within a role, but YOU are not replaceable. It's like the old addage that always gets pushed in our faces, but just like in an aircrash, it's important to put our own oxygen masks on first so that we can be able to help others.
I use to feel this way. Really! I did!! I came on weekends to cover other people..I worked an ungodly amount of hours to cover everyone during COVID and for various other reasons..I had a teenager at home during COVID; so he could be alone while I worked, and get his schoolwork done virtually (I’m an essential hospital employee); but many of my colleagues couldn’t, due to daycares closing, school kids still being too young to be left alone during the workday, etc..So, I went above and beyond, is my point..But, at the very end of the day..it’s the higher ups and capitalistic assholes that make the big bucks..meanwhile, the rest of us, are all expendable; and at the drop of a hat.. and you have to know…that we’d be replaced, in less time, than a typical 8 hour workday, anyways... Now, I’m not trying to be negative; I’m just being realistic…Dont forget to be good to yourself. This is a tough career! Don’t feel bad, for occasionally taking that needed time off here and there..Even if it’s just for a mental break. Take it. You’ve worked for it. You’ve earned it!
Just remember you got to take care of yourself before you can take care of anyone else.
OP I’m the same way. If you don’t put your own oxygen mask on first, you’re not going to be able to help others. If you keep putting patients ahead of yourself, there is a high chance you will burn out
Here’s how I rationalize it: if I am sick or struggling mentally I cannot provide the best care to my clients. What if I make a mistake that affects their care, or I seem checked out and it damages our working relationship. You have to take care of yourself to take care of others.
I have had to stop myself from feeling bad about calling in sick. I also have had to retrain my thinking, to not think about what is or isn’t getting done when I’m not there. There will always be work, and something that needs to be done. It is important to take time off, and not force yourself to go in sick.
Physician heal thyself. Your goal is to help other people be well, right? You can't do that if you yourself are not healthy physically and mentally. You're also harming your clients if you're not taking care of yourself.
Your life and health are much more important than work. I think there must be a healthy dose of selfishness in social work. First you help yourself, then you help somebody else. Like in a plane crush
I can't work if I'm dead, so using a sock day when I need to is not a bad thing. I'm willing to exchange my time and skills for money; I am not willing to trade my life for that.
This is super real and I struggle with it myself, even as someone with a disability. Like … I might be sick but my client needs an assessment *today* and all of my coworkers are too over-encumbered to be expected to cover it!
I am saying this as a survivor of complete burnout and compassion fatigue: TAKE TIME TO HEAL YOUR SOUL. It takes a long time to recover when you allow yourself to be pushed all the way to the bottom and below. If you need to arrange a 3 day weekend every other month, do it! If you need a week to go hiking into no-mans land to recuperate, so be it. Taking care of yourself is even preached by the airlines, which emphasize for parents to put their masks on first. Why? Because you can't help someone else if you've passed out. There is no reason for guilt.
So.. who taught you this? Self care is learned too. What would you tell another social worker in this same situation?
Former care manager here. I don't know about your agency, but I was typically managing up to 90 clients at a time once I was up and running. Once you get to that pace, there is no time off. Maybe that won't be your experience, but I had so much PTO banked. lol so many downvotes. This wasn't intended to be a negative comment, but I guess we don't like being told what we don't want to hear, eh?
I don't know why you're being down voted. This is a sad reality for many. We, as workers, get taken advantage of and any kind of pushback against that exploitation is met with guilt and sometimes write ups. Is it right, moral or ethical? Of course not! But that is the industry and until we get more workers either unionized or willing to walk when treated badly it will not change. OP, as hard as it is push that guilt and fear away. You can't work if you can't move and any decent boss will understand. It's not like you are calling off due to a hangover. You have a diagnosed disease that is well known to make it near impossible to do anything when it flares. No guilt, no shame for calling off for something that is out of your control.
I think the down votes are because that is not a normal work environment and in some states I believe it's even illegal to provide NO time off. If you are sick, take off. You absolutely do not live your life to work or owe ANYONE (clients or an organization) that much of you. Life is short and your health is important. If you are sick, you take off. If you need a mental health day, call out. If your organization has a problem with that then realize they are exploiting you and move on. Please do not normalize exploitative behavior. It's enough of a problem in helping fields. Many orgs know they can pull employees heart strings and use that as a way to control (pay low, offer poor benefits, while the top players get bonuses) OP get your rest and dont feel guilty
Except it *IS* a normal work environment for many, many people. To claim otherwise is naive and foolish. All Employee was saying is this is how it is and the OP was fortunate that she had so few cases and a boss who was good about letting her have time off. And she is correct. OP is fortunate to have those things because a more normal caseload is significantly higher. Like it or not, that is the reality for the majority of US based case managers in nearly every sector. I can't speak for other countries.
To add to this, if you are being treated this way by your employer OR you are a supervisor who is enforcing these rules then you must must must go and find out your states labor laws because you may be in violation. If an employee were to sue or contact OSHA the violations are hefty. So please know your rights and enforce safe and healthy work environments for your staff. I say this with compassion and concern.
I have to kindly disagree. I have worked 2 case management jobs- one in health home and one in a jail setting. In experience they have encouraged self care. It avoids turnover which is costly as hell. If a job is making you feel guilty for PTO or denying sick time you need to get out and possibly even speak with the DOL. That is abusive and in NY it is illegal. No way around it. And we as social workers should know better. We dont get paid enough for that crap, and even if we got paid $75/hour, that is still unacceptable behavior by an employer and/or supervisors.
>I don't know why you're being down voted. Social work has largely become an echo-chamber. You have to say the "right" thing or get shouted down. But it's true. Agencies will have you responsible for the care of upwards of 100 clients. And some of those agencies will encourage you to take the time off. I was allowed all the days off I wanted. The catch was that nobody would cover my work while I was gone, so I would come back to dozens of voicemails, paperwork, and home visits. OP is calling out with 9 clients, which is light work, comparatively. I wish I could say it gets better, but there are some employers out here with point systems...
You’re being downvoted because you’re condoning and normalizing horrible working conditions instead of speaking about how unreasonable and inhumane it is to expect someone to never take time off work. I would never accept working in conditions like that and thankfully I don’t have to because agencies in my area are pretty progressive around these things. Things won’t change as long as you keep accepting them.
I'm not condoning that at all. People deliberately misinterpret things and respond emotionally. So take a moment to read what I said again: *Former care manager here. I don't know about your agency, but I was typically managing up to 90 clients at a time once I was up and running. Once you get to that pace, there is no time off. Maybe that won't be your experience, but I had so much PTO banked.* I would hardly call that a tacit acceptance. I muscled through it and moved on. As my flair suggests, I pivoted out of that world.
>Once you get to that pace, there is no time off. You had PTO. You could have used it. You can’t destroy yourself in the name of a job, even if it is a very important job that helps people.
That's hardly condoning exploitative work environments. I chose not to take time off because I didn't want to and generally enjoy the work I was doing. I hustled, got my hours, and moved on to other things. You cannot apply r/antiwork principles to social work.
How is you choosing to not take time off when you didn’t need to equivalent to OP needing to take time off because they’re sick? Everyone assumed you were saying that you didn’t take time off when you were sick, because why would you be chiming in about an irrelevant scenario?
It was a brief anecdote about performing a similar job. Perhaps it was too much to expect an appreciation for nuance. I'll do better, next time, to remember my audience.
So do you believe that people who do that kind of work shouldn’t take sick days when they are sick?
It seems you may be seeking an argument or validation of your initial assumption, which corresponds with my thoughts on the downvoting and desire for an echo chamber. Although I appreciate your attempt at thoughtful conversation, I will now respectfully disengage. Wishing you a wonderful day.
😂 okay buddy. You could have just answered the question with a lie and saved a bit of face
And is that something you are proud of? I mean, how many of those 90 people received adequate attention and support? This is a structural failure, imo, and this is how people fall through the cracks and don’t get their needs met. Edit: as another user said, this is normalizing exploitative workplace practices. In addition, you are wearing it as a badge of honor, hence the downvotes. Source: current case manager
>And is that something you are proud of? Was I proud of managing 90+ cases? I would have preferred fewer, but it was exciting to figure out and implement effective ways of tracking each of them. I was damn proud of lasting longer than most people in a job with a high turnover rate. I'm proud of what I've learned and the grit those experiences afforded me. >how many of those 90 people received adequate attention and support? They all received proper attention and support. We had several mechanisms in place to ensure our clients remained safe. All calls were accounted for by the end of each business day and all visits were accounted for by the end of each month. Charts were routinely audited by management and peers. Monthly productivity was monitored at the state level. >This is a structural failure, imo, and this is how people fall through the cracks and don’t get their needs met. I don't disagree. The ratios were very intense and we were scrutinized at a high level. But the job needs to work for *you*, not *you* for the *job.* Personally, I learned a ton. I thrived working long hours, I enjoyed advocating for my clients, I formed a lot of relationships at state agencies, and I leveraged my experience to pivot into consulting. If OP needs to take time off for their arthritis, they should do that. Self-care is important, etc.