Vacation = Stress?

So I've had to take a few days off from work.

Ok, so it's more like a month. I tore my ACL clean through and I had to have reconstructive surgery on my knee.

Now, the question is, how does my work deal with it?

That brings me to a couple of different ideas. First, how does a job deal with it when someone goes out with an injury? And second, what can you do when you're hurt?

Therein lies a problem that I'm sure most of you face when you're at work. But I'll get to that. It's the BIG PROBLEM with employers. At lease in America. But first on to answering the first two questions.

A job deals with an injury fairly normally. They tell you to take the time off. They set up disability and stuff.

No time is a good time to get hurt. But not everyone just sits around when they get home and watches television. Some people actually go outside.

Accidents happen. The people hurt already have enough pain without their employers getting angry. My job didn't get angry. They were not happy, as would be expected. When you're one of three or four employees that does a specific kind of job, that doesn't help things. That's a large percentage of a company. Like maybe 33%.

Undoubtedly, there will likely be some ill feelings, however undeserved.

Now, what can you do when you're hurt?

You should contact your employer frequently. They wonder about you. It doesn't really matter if it's an e-mail. The question then is, what do you say?

You tell them how your surgery/recovery is going. You give them a best case scenario for your return. You tell them no promises.

The reality is this: You will probably have multiple jobs over the course of your life. Your knee or elbow or hand or foot will be with you for your whole life. It's better to heal rather than make your employer happy. Although they might see it a little differently, which is completely understandable.


BIG PROBLEM!

Here's the problem: I'll give you an scenario.

You want to take Friday off. You tell your employer well in advance. You have vacation days, so it shouldn't be a big deal. You have to get 20 reports done per week.

That means you should only have to do 16. You'll be off Friday, so you can't do the work that day. But the job still wants you to do 20. In 4 days. So now it becomes way more stressful just to finish so you can go on vacation. That shouldn't happen. That's not fair to American workers.

People wonder why Americans take the least amount of vacation. It's because employers expect a full year's work no matter how much vacation you take. It's a broken system, and one day, it might change. But it's not likely.

So here's some advice: Never take vacation. Never get hurt. Never get sick. Because if you do, you're going to pay the price one way or the other.

Just remember this. Your health is more important than any job. Although a job can certainly help with your health.

In that case be a doctor. Then you can heal yourself.