In theory I absolutely agree with you. When one hospital I worked for switched from the traditional (sick/vacation/holiday times all separate) to the personal leave system they pointed out that if some employees who traditionally used a lot of sick time used all their personal leave days as "sick days" well, they ended up with no time left for vacation. On the other hand, if the you took fewer "sick days" well, you would have more time to take scheduled vacations. It didn't seem to work, at least over the three years I was there. Maybe it takes a long time to become a workable thing. Wish someone on the board who works in personnel ('scuse me, it has a different name these days and I can't think if it) could add a note or two here.
Part of me thinks the whole issue is also affected by the kind of work you're in. If you have a job that is 24/7 like nursing or policework it is different than folks with maybe business jobs, or office work where you are setting your own hours and work independently.
Originally Posted by BellaBoo
It's hard to believe that jobs still have sick days and not changed to personal days. Personal days are for any reason, it's up to the person to use them wisely. Also the companies that allow some unused personal days to be carried over to the next year have seen a dramatic drop in absenteeism. Sometimes changing old outdated ways is for the better.