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Opinion : Is it a snowy Monday or a ‘sickie Monday’?

| December 11, 2017

The snowy weather is still with us on the first working day of the week.

No doubt many who were supposed to go to work decided to ‘pull a sickie’ and phone up their employers to say they were ‘ill’. Of course the prospect of staying at home in the warm is very tempting on a cold winters morning.

A friend sent me a message to tell me that many people at their workplace have done just that and over the weekend an unusually high number of people have gone down with colds, coughs and other illnesses that supposedly prevented them from working on Monday.

With a depleted workforce businesses are unable to function and profit will be lost. Of course the workers who do turn up have to work harder to make up for those who are ‘sick’ at home which is surely most unfair?

As for my good self, well, yours truly made it through the snow. What’s more my good self arrived at work on time, bright eyed, bushy tailed and ready for a hard days work.

In times of snowy weather everyone should go to work or nobody should. Why can’t the Government declare a ‘snap Bank Holiday’ so people don’t have to attend giving the authorities time to get the transport routes clear or for the snow to melt of its own accord.

Those who ‘pull a sickie’ should have to get a doctors certificate to prove their illness or be sacked. It’s just not on deciding not to turn up for work when others struggle through. If the ‘sickie crew’ were removed from the workforce their jobs could be given to those who do want to work.

Of course there have been  hundreds of schools closed due to the snow. No doubt there are many teachers who were able to stay at home while the children have lost a days schooling.

I know there are safety implications to having children traipsing through the snow but surely saying ‘stay at home in snowy weather’ message is just instilling the ‘pull a sickie’ mentality in the youngsters from an early age?

With many roads passable, but a high likelihood of snow and ice, surely the speed limits on the roads should be lowered to, say 15mph, to prevent accidents?

To my amazement some drivers were whizzing around the roads of Wycombe as if it was a bright summers day even though snow and ice was all around.

Don’t forget to check on the elderly and vulnerable in the neighbourhood where you live. Pensioners and the like can find the wintry weather especially challenging. Birds and other wildlife can also suffer if they are unable to find food.

Anyway, my coffee break is over so that’s enough for my special blog today.

A bit of snow won’t deter me. Indeed I shall be partaking in my regular lunchtime walk around the town centre later this morning.

What do you think?

My blogs are published every Tuesday and Friday evening around 8.00pm here on the WycombeToday.com website.

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