Why can't coworkers donate sick days to each other?
Standard workplace policies often prohibit employees from sharing or donating accrued sick leave to coworkers facing serious illnesses. When workers exhaust their own limited days off, they face severe financial hardship and the risk of losing their jobs during medical crises.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Donating personal or excess sick days to a shared sick bank
- 2Relying on colleague donations solicited via email
- 3Accumulating and rolling over sick days over multiple years
- 4Washing hands
- 5Taking vitamin C
- 6Taking precautions to avoid getting sick
- 7Considering switching to virtual teaching
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Last spring I was diagnosed with a serious illness. I had a lot of people reach out to me to offer their sick days, but sadly they can’t do that anymore.”source ↗
“Isn’t it pathetic that we need this? Richest country in the world but you can run out of sick leave until you lose your job and die.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2Can you get fired for using sick days for mental health?
- 12Why do I feel so guilty for taking a sick day?
- 4What to do if you get sick right before your wedding
- 7How to avoid getting sick when everyone at work is sick
- 3How can I take a long break to travel without losing my job?
- 4How to stay positive when you get sick or injured while traveling