Modify your sick-day policy

Welcome to this week's Reno News & Review.

I'm an instructor at the University of Nevada, Reno, right? After class, this week, one of my students was complaining that her employer said she has to get an excuse from her doctor before she can go back to work because she called in sick. She works at Ruby River Steakhouse, and she said she was told that it was a health code.

Well, it's not. In my opinion, it's a bullshit policy on the part of the corporate management that encourages the workers to work with communicable diseases, so the management won't have to deal with scheduling issues.

Here's how it works. Somebody is sick so they do what any responsible person would do, and they call in. At that point, they are notified of the policy. “I don't have $130 bucks for urgent care,” they say. “I'll come in.”

If they don't come in, they lose any tips they may have made, plus they are out the cost of a doctor's visit. If they're like I was when I was working service jobs, they don't have the money for a doctor's appointment at all, so they'll lose their job.

But no, instead they will come in, spreading flu germs to our plates and glasses, eating utensils, even our napkins. They spread the disease among their coworkers, who in turn potentially infect thousands of citizens in Reno, including people who have prior health issues or compromised immune systems and the youngest and oldest among us.

Every restaurant, business or retail outfit needs to rethink its sick day policy. A momentary inconvenience for a single manager can cost the community thousands of personnel hours and millions of dollars.

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Along other lines, I'm holding the results of the 95-Word Fiction Contest for a week. I'm doing this in part because I didn't want to draw out this Sparks coverage any longer than necessary, but I feel like we would be failing our readers not to cover it.