There is a movement afloat, sponsored in part by the Take Back Your Time organization, that is calling for legislation to block companies from not allowing separate sick days and vacation leave. These companies instead combine the days and simply give you x number of days per year to take.

The Fair Labor Standards Act was passed 70 years ago with guaranteed vacation as part of the package. The premise behind their push is that the right to a break from work should not depend on how healthy you or your family are. Now this movement wants to have guaranteed sick time also.

On this one, I feel differently. In past postings, I’ve dealt with vacation deprivation and the reasons why many people struggle to use even their allotted time off. In the companies that provide both sick leave and vacation time, so many honest and hardworking people who would never call in sick just to take a day off, and who often struggle into work even when they should be home recuperating, end up losing all of their sick leave time because it is rarely reimbursed.

Compare this to those people who think that because they have “earned” two sick days a month they are entitled to call in sick at least two days a month. These people leave no spare days on the table.

I think it is much fairer for everyone to have the right to use all of their allotted time without having to fake illness. I would be interested in hearing opinions from both sides–those whose companies offer the separated days and those whose employers bundle the packages.