#sicktime

I had to call off work today due to my inability to control my sneezes and what may come out.

I feel better BUT my nose still has a mind of its own.

I felt very unproductive today.

And I just sent a work email to say home tomorrow too.

Lame.

Earlier this week I signed my work contract.  This blog post isn't about serious details, but an attempt to explain some of my benefits that I receive in my current position.  These are the questions I asked that would have been important for many Americans in any contract/job position discussion, questions that were considered foreign and weird here. For example, sick time and vacation, and if and what a comparable FMLA program would be.

Sick time in Germany is regulated by the government/union contracts.  You are always paid for your sick time, there are no sick days offered by companies because if you're sick you don't lose pay.  If you are sick 3 days or more you must provide a doctor's note. When you see the doctor they will write you a note for a specific period of time; for example if you go to your physician and they say you should be out of work for 5 days your note will be for 5 days (it can cover future sick days).  You are paid for all of that time. Calling in sick is considered the responsible thing to do if you feel you can't complete your job here.  There is no working through the pain, or coming to work with a stuffy nose.  

Don't get me wrong, like in the US, they know that their sick time policy can be abused.  Because there are so many protections in their contracts for workers in Germany, someone could get a doctors note for a week of sick time, go to work the next week, and then get a doctors note covering the next week.  In theory, one could take an entire half year sick time and your employer couldn't do anything about it. Despite this potential, they keep those protections for their workers (citizens and immigrants like myself).

Their equivalent to FMLA, at least at my current job, provides me with 6 weeks full pay and then from what I understand another 6 weeks that are covered at 60% by the government.  To explain...if I were to break my leg I would get paid for 6 weeks leave by my company (if I need that much time), at 100% and then an additional 6 weeks at 60% by government.

Vacation, as determined by my current job, is also government/union regulated.  I am promised 30 days of vacation each year.  That doesn't include holidays, I don't think. My vacation is fronted, so that means I don't have to wait for it to accumulate.  I'm not sure yet about the rules for vacation carryover, but based on what I know from others you don't lose your vacation.  I think there is probably a limit to how much you carry over but I'm also not sure about that.  Because my first day is May 1st, I was only fronted 20 days vacation because I'm working a partial year.

I will update ya'll more on the details and more about regulations and rules as I learn them.  I think one of the easiest things that exists in this day and age is the art of misunderstanding.  There is this "misinformation" wave, right? I know a lot of people disparage socialized democracies because they think they provide inferior options/help.

I have talked to multiple people who have called in sick since I've moved here, and when you need to see a doctor it almost always happens on the same day. If you are sick one day you get can get an appointment with the doctor the next day.  The only time there are serious wait times are when you're seeing a specialist. Then it can take a bit of time, like 1-2 months.  However, I would like to emphasize that anytime I've tried to make a similar appointment in the states it also takes just as long as so many of those specialized doctors are always booked at least a month out. So the health care system, from what I can see now, has similar accessibility if not better than in the US.

Another thing to understand about what many call "Socialized healthcare" for Germany is a misconception. You aren't locked into a single government healthcare program.  Before I start on my first day I am expected to pick out the healthcare program I want to participate in (like with many jobs in the US), the exception being that I get to pick any of the programs that are available from the pot.  I'm not limited to what my company is participating in. I just look up the program I want based on what benefits I want to pay for, notify my company, and then they will take care of the rest.  

You are legally required to have health care here, but unlike in the US you have the freedom to choose from all the options available to everyone else. In the US you may have the right not to pay for health insurance, but you are always limited by costs and options.  If you don't choose the program your company participates in then your costs go up exponentially.  Here everything is more standardized, and what you pay is also adjusted based on what you earn.  You still get the same benefits, you just pay a certain percentage based on what you earn. Everyone pays the same percentage for their health insurance, thus is the standard of living and care in Germany much higher overall than in the US.

It’s been literally years since I’ve been sick - the kinda “knock you down, kick your butt, make you miss a week of work” kinda sick. Years. It caught up to me once again, after all of this time. The dreaded kick-ass cold that turns into bronchitis. You know the one - the one that makes you feel like, well - a Great Dane is sitting on your chest! Two boxes of tissues and counting, hot tea (Yogi brand throat comfort tea works well), cough medicine, and rest. Rest would be nice... But I have a 4 1/2 month old puppy. She doesn’t do rest on my terms, only on her own. Now don’t get me wrong, she is a great sleeper at night. She will sleep from about 8 pm until her internal 0645 alarm clock goes off each morning, if we don’t get her up earlier than that. Nighttime hasn’t been my best time to sleep with all of this funk. Nighttime tends to be the time that the coughing creeps in, accompanied by her best friend, nasal congestion. Yippee! I wake exhausted and Maggie wakes raring to go! I know, this too shall pass.