Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Isn't It Ironic

Yesterday I published a snippet of a post about people ringing in sick. The reason?

One of my drivers had rung in sick the day before, or rather his girlfriend had done it for him.

Julesonline published this post about coincidence.

I came into work, did some things, read my regular blogs, one of which is Julesonline's. By 8.00 AM I received a phone call from another driver to say that he was sick as well. So I was faced with a small bit of crisis management. We're a small Company with six drivers employed so you can imagine that the effect of two being absent can be significant. The planning was done, all looked under control, then I got another call. From the wife of another driver!

Jay, the Baldrick type hero came into his own and did one driver's run as well as many other pick ups. The other driver, distinctly lacking in skill but full of enthusiasm, was me.

Like Julesonline I don't believe in fate or destiny. Unlike her I haven't got the faintest idea about Jungian Synchronicity. It sounds like an expensive watch to me.

So yesterday afternoon I could have been spotted whizzing around the streets of West London collecting stuff, thinking about coincidences, ringing in sick and divine retribution.

And Alanis Morissette.

2 comments:

Ian Selvarajah said...

Ah yes...calling in sick...I remember a previous job when my agents would call in sick. I think my worst situation was when I had 6 staffed and 4 called in sick!

Speaking of sick days, [and given that you run your own business] what's your company's policy on that? Do they get compensated for not using them? Or do you "lose" unused sick days after a certain period?

We used to lose the sick days, so needless to say, people got more "sick" around yearend! ;)

Rhythmic Diaspora said...

Ian - I don't know if labour laws are different here compared to Canada but we don't have a legal requirement to give any kind of allowance for sick days here. Many Companies do but we have chosen not to for the exact reasons you have mentioned. However, when people are sick we have to pay them in full for a certain period of time (I'm not sure what that is), after which they get statutory sick pay.

As a Company we're very "above board" and comply with all the legislation, erring on the side of generosity. I'm not sure whether that's a good or a bad thing, just the way we are.