Employers keep cutting back paid time off as well as holidays, so what can one really expect? And if you are in any kind of low wage work without benefits, forget any paid time off or only a miserly accrual at best. My wife worked at a grocery store and they got 5 holidays and 5 leave days a year. Where is the fairness in that? If I used up my leave time when I was sick, then I would never have any time off for vacations or just getting away from work for a while, and in my line of work I burn out frequently.

It is just the culture we live in. Look at the movies and the "rags-to-riches" type success stories. Hard work through and through seems to be the theme. Pushing through at whatever costs, and if you start slipping, watch out, because somebody else wants you job so you better perform well. And on the note of policies at the workplace, since companies always include the lame statements in their employee policy manuals like "this is not a contract...blah, blah, blah...we reserve the right to ammend, modify, these policies...blah, blah, blah..." If the company can do anything they want at any time as it is deemed in the best interest of the company, then what good is all that legalese for anyway?

If people got real time off, then yes, they w(and I) would stay home when sick.