An article by L.M. Sixel in the July 31, 1998 Houston Chronicle pointed out a problem some corporations may be creating for themselves. Apparently, some companies are pressuring employees to take vacation days, rather than sick days, when they are ill.

Daryl Koehn, Director of the Center for Business Ethics Studies at the University of St. Thomas, says this forces workers to lie about themselves. "They (employers) complain about people lying on resumes, but now they want employees to lie on their time sheets." (Good point Daryl.)

Sixel spoke with E. Dale Wortham, assistant business manager for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 716. Wortham said some employees require an employee to be sick for two days in order to receive pay. This backfires on employers, as employees often will take off two days, when only one is needed.

Believe it or not, at the city of Houston's public works and engineering department, employees must notify their supervisors 24 hours in advance of being sick in order to avoid an "occurance." An employee may be fired if he has too many "occurances."