It was close to lunch time so I said, “OK, will you jon us for lunch then?” She said “I’m sorry, I have too much work. I will maybe grab a sandwich later.”

She never saw the irony. She was able to be 3 weeks off due to her own stupid eating decisions, and no one missed her. Yet she still had an illusion that she could no take 30 minutes off – at the risk of another sick leave.

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A company I used to work for encouraged us to stay home if we were sick. But I felt that was more out of concern we'd infect other people with our germs and slow down productivity for everyone. That's understandable. But working from home when you're sick seems to slow down the bodies ability to fight off disease. You should be resting.

At times, a simple cold would linger for weeks when the worst of it should've been over in 2 or 3 days. Doesn't that slow down productivity as well?

I love my country, but I think this is an area we can stand to improve in.

A company I used to work for encouraged us to stay home if we were sick. But I felt that was more out of concern we'd infect other people with our germs and slow down productivity for everyone. That's understandable. But working from home when you're sick seems to slow down the bodies ability to fight off disease. You should be resting.

At times, a simple cold would linger for weeks when the worst of it should've been over in 2 or 3 days. Doesn't that slow down productivity as well?

I love my country, but I think this is an area we can stand to improve in.

Though, many small business owners lose that feel of “connection”, and also that “edge” when they leave their businesses for more than a couple of days at a time. They ARE the business – they are payroll, sales, accounting (sometimes), maintenance, human resources, etc.

Case in point: a former business partner of my father that has owned a successful industrial equipment business for many years recently took a 3-day, fully paid, all-inclusive, vendor-funded vacation to a Cuban relaxation resort. One of VERY few vacations he takes other than annual deer-hunting, after his plane was lay-overed another day, he was itching in his pants to get back to the business. The kind of relationships made in business can BECOME your life! Your friends are met through business in small towns (as you regularly deal with the same people, and you have probably ALREADY known them all your life), your respect, character, and personal committment to customers lies on the line, and you become emotionally attached to your “baby” which you have been beside ever since its infancy. Vacations are what you make of them I think, but once I experience more life, maybe my views on that subject will change. . . .

1) They person doing the work has no motivation to do their best, learn the duties, etc. as it is not “their” task to perform on a regular basis. Plus any screw-ups, they can blame on lack of training.

2) The person on vacation is held accountable for the work that is being done “in their name” while they are gone on vacation. If the person that is doing their work is unprofessional while they are gone, then they are the one who will not get the fat promotion, get reprimanded, etc.

3) Management does not harbor teams which enable cross training, and good will to other members of the team. If they do try, they are usually undermined by the people on their team.

At the end of the day, it is a cycle. Until that cycle and environment are broken, you wont get out of it.

And come to think of it, the guy rarely took a vacation. He would link up his vacation hours with three-day weekends to give himself four- and five-day weekends, but he never went away from the office long enough to really unwind.