Madam, - Simon Carey (November 25th) has perhaps unwittingly, hit many nails on the head. He tells us, with admirable honesty, that the vast majority of uncertified teachers' sick days - 59,992 in 2007/2008 - were taken to facilitate family weddings, funerals and attendance at hospitals with sick children.
To be blunt, none of the above is an allowable or justifiable reason to claim to be sick. Taking a day off for a wedding, and claiming to be sick and therefore to be due a day's sick pay, is theft from your employer, nothing less. I do hope that he will explain this clearly to those he is paid to teach and to whom he would presumably wish to set a good example.
He also raises a question. If the number of uncertified sick days taken is equal to one per teacher, which I do find hard to believe, why are teachers allowed 31 such days per year? Bearing in mind that the teaching year is only about 38 weeks long, such an allowance is unjustifiable and from the figures supplied is totally unnecessary and therefore should be abolished, or severely reduced.
It is important to point out that, in addition to uncertified sick leave, a primary teacher may avail of up to 365 certified sick days over a four-year period, presumably paid. As there are only about 760 teaching days in a four-year period, this amounts to the staggering ratio of being allowed to work two weeks out of three, and to take sick leave for the third week!
Finally, he asks if private sector workers do not do the same. As someone who has always worked in the private sector, both as an employee and an employer, I can assure him that such blatant abuse of a sick-pay system would not be tolerated. In many employments there is no such thing as sick pay! It is about time that those in State employment realised just how different things are in the real world. - Yours, etc,
ANDREW WALLACE,
Ballacolla,
Abbeyleix,
Co Laois.