The Wall Street Journal

Bosses have a problem: staff are using their sick leave

Bosses have a problem: staff are using their sick leave
(Image: Rachel Mendelson/The Wall Street Journal, iStock)
The Wall Street Journal
By Te-Ping ChenThe bar for taking a sick day is getting lower, and some bosses say that’s a problem.US workers have long viewed an unwillingness to take sick days as a badge of honor. That’s a laurel workers care much less about these days. The number of sick days Americans take annually has soared since the pandemic, employee payroll data shows. Covid-19 and a rise in illnesses such as RSV, which can require days away from work, are one reason.Managers and human-resources executives also attribute the jump to a bigger shift in...

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