Sick rota ...

In some organisations the sick rota is as equally cherished as who gets to kiss the bosses derrière. Everyone gets a go, it should be fairly shared after all not everyone needs to spend too long puckering up for another go on the derrière merry-go-round. The same applies when it comes to the sick rota - everyone needed a little time off, on the company clock - it just had to be managed fairly, or so you would think.

There was a time, quite some time ago, when I worked elsewhere - here the sick rota was something to be abused. You could set your calendar by specific team members. Seemingly oblivious to the needs of the team, each keen to get their slice of the sick rota without consideration to others.

One soul, was predictable - it did not take much for them to have a dose of the airs or suchlike. Knowing what additional 'contract' work they did. We soon observed a pattern that mysteriously coincided with assignment marking deadlines. After all, they were not the only soul working this ticket.

A few years after I left, joined my current organisation and eventually began to chair the module in question. I had an interesting request from the then current head of department - would I mind sharing a list of the assignment deadlines.

As this is publicly discoverable, I was more than happy to provide the information.

The impression I was left with, was that that manager was gunning to catch out my former colleague and their predicable sickness record.

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