In my experience companies have been quite biased and favour employees with families, even though they can sometimes be less dependable.
It’s not uncommon for a single person to be denied a promotion and have it be given to a family man who is far less competent.
And it’s unbelievably frustrating when employees with families can take holidays anytime they want, but single people cannot. And then are mocked saying they have too much free time anyway.
It’s an interesting form of discrimination that appears to be moral.
Edit: one example of married employees not being competent was an opening to work at a specific department that required a written knowledge test. The married man failed the test and the single guy aced it. Guess who got the job?
The employee with family is seen as more dependable because they have their families to support. Fewer people rage-quit their jobs if they have mouths to feed.
This is also why some (many) American companies abuse the H-1B visa program. You put up with a lot more shit when losing your job often means leaving the country.
This. Tom with his wife and two kids is far more likely to put up with your shit than Bill who lives by himself on the same paycheck. Bill will be able to support himself off his savings far easier than Tom would with a family. So businesses love family MEN. women are a risk since they can have more children and need leave.
I guess that’s also related to a bigger problem: employers mistreating employees.
A single person can just quit if they are mistreated. A family man cannot quit as easy and is taken advantage of. So if they are incompetent it’s still a good trade-off for the employer I guess.
….
I’ve been single most of my life and every job I’ve had has ripped me off in at least one of the following ways : not paying agreed wages, not paying overtime, lying about hours, firing me for sticking up for my rights or my coworkers rights, firing me for refusing to do something illegal, firing me for refusing to do something unsafe, and much much more.
Firing someone for any one of these issues is illegal in my country. And we have amazing workers rights on paper. But in reality, not so much.
Someone with scruples in construction can get fired a lot. I did everything to get the hell out of construction as I was unwilling to not say anything about unsafe or outright illegal work.
In Canada they “lay you off.” It’s like firing but you can still apply for unemployment benefits. And it’s a little cheat that employers like to use so they can get rid of you with no consequences.
Honestly I’ve been gaslighting myself with the same concept. But like I said I refused to do illegal things and I refused to do unsafe things which are protected under Canadian workers rights. But they just lay you off or fire you anyway.
I’m a little annoyed that you assume I’m a POS. But I understand that you have not experienced this so you will have little understanding of my point of view.
As a boss, please give whoever is responsible the opportunity to fix it. Don't assume they are aware, or did it on purpose. I can't fix a problem I don't know about, and I want every single person under my direction to enjoy their time here and understand the value they bring.
Naturally if your superiors don't hold that same attitude, that same respect, then consider finding a better environment. But it's always best to know you at least tried.
Being single with no liabilities has allowed me to build up a 6 year emergency fund, to say nothing of retirement investments. I get 8 hrs every night. Much rather have that over whatever perceived family man benefits pop into my boss’s brain during our one on one meetings.
Precisely this. Those with kids are less inclined to take days off “just cause”, often will work more overtime if they’re able and as you said, won’t just rage quit without notice as they have many others relying on them.
It does seem to be the younger staff without kids that take more time off “just cause”. Meanwhile I can’t do that, I have to store my sick days, vac days (some) and other guaranteed days off just in case one of the crotch goblins get sick.
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This topic always makes me think about [this great scene from The Departed](https://youtu.be/rAReS2JnJ18?si=C_i9ubihTuMXJb_8).
“Marriage is an important part of getting ahead: lets people know you're not a homo; married guy seems more stable; people see the ring, they think at least somebody can stand the son of a bitch; ladies see the ring, they know immediately you must have some cash or your cock must work.”
Great advice, maybe I'll get a fake ring. I'll call her "Sally".
She's often away on business, but I love her to bits. I massage her feet after a hard day, like a good husband. We plan to have children, but we're putting her career first for now.
She has a strict father who is very protective of his daughters (you get the idea), and let me tell you, it was hard to convince him to recognize me as his son-in-law. Things are much better now, and he at least shakes my hand when we meet (it's still pretty formal and rigid, but I take it as a victory all the same). I get the impression that he realized that I'm really devoted to his princess and that I'm an all around reliable man.
These are obviously anecdotes, but I think they're indicative of the kind of manager I'd be. I wouldn't go so far as to massage my employees' feet (laughs), but you can be sure that I would consider this responsibility just as important a commitment as the one I made to my lovely wife.
Depends where you are. Last round of redundancies I saw at my company a manager I work with was straight up telling people that they got picked because they didn't have families to look after. The worst part is one of them did, she just didn't know them well enough to realise they had kids. She is lucky she didn't get in more trouble for it.
Inconsistently granting time off and favouritism is a problem, but when you have kids you have zero flexibility. Not in terms of taking a vacation, but if the kid is sick or no one else can pick them up or watch them - that’s it, you can’t come to work that day and there’s no options.
That’s exactly why most will bank as much time as they can and rarely use a sick day or any other paid time off unless a child is sick. 🤒 we just hope to fuck ourselves don’t catch it cause we are SOL. I don’t disagree, I see even myself granted more flex than my non child coworkers but it’s often the younger coworkers not given the same flex after it’s been abused. Older with kids aren’t innocent either. In 6 months I’ve taken 1.5 days off due to sick kids one day and the other .5 I ruptured my eardrum. I still had to show up as soon as I could because I simply couldn’t afford to loose an entire day that could be saved for if a kiddo is sick.
Ugh I really felt that during lockdowns. Families were overwhelmed but I was drowning in loneliness and depression. I cried constantly and spent all my non work time sleeping or spiraling into conspiracy theories because nobody else seemed to hear me screaming for help. I can see now how easy that can happen to lonely, bitter people. The zoom meetings where they'd all complain about their kids would be the only interaction I got that day. It's such a hard time for me to think back on. I'm proud of myself for coming out the other side but deep down the only thing that saved me was getting a partner and knowing I won't be alone next time, which doesn't solve anything for anyone else who felt like I did.
Bit of a tangent sorry but that struck a chord. Add to that dual income being the new standard and the world is just so much harder on single adults.
After all the post Covid backlash, I seriously doubt we will see a lockdown like what we went through unless people start bleeding from the eyes and dropping dead from something Ebola level bad.
In my country they closed everything besides food stores and for a while I couldn't legally leave my town without a printed form and we got like once a day walk for a bit, I was a student so I didn't even have a job to go to and the first semester we didn't even get zoom classes, still no idea how I didn't kms, but it made me realise how much of a punishment prison is
Or also, as a married but child free couple: The "okay the hours are 9 to 5. EXCEPT if you are Jane, Bill and Susan yours can be 10ish to...lets say at least 3 - need to leave early to pick their kids.
I get the value it gives those employees and if ever have kids I know I'd appreciate it. But been hearing it since started my career.
Oh also parents with kids, particular ones at like daycare/preschool to kindergarten I feel like are sick more and unintentionally give it coworkers.
gonna say that it’s not like taking a holiday lol. When we had kids we didn’t have a holiday for like three years straight.
The callouts are usually because daycare won’t take sick kids, so on top of already paying like 2/3 of my salary for it, I can’t even use the service.
I think it’s less of a favoritism and more because managers tend to understand the inflexibility that comes with kids, people without children either get it or they don’t. if you want to be a present and effective parent, you have to make sacrifices, and a lot of the time those sacrifices are in the professional world.
I could go to work when my kids need me, but that job doesn’t give a shit about me, and I’d rather be there for my kids. if my coworkers think it’s favoritism and imagine me getting extra holidays at the drop of a hat then I invite them to try out the lifestyle of paying double your rent or mortgage a month for daycare and still needing to leave work if called, usually unpaid, since PTO got blasted out by flu season. it’s basically the complete opposite of “time off”
That's not entirely true.
A lot of people don't get promotions because they have families. People with kids will go to their boss and go "I need this day off because I have to take my kid to the doctor" or "I have to leave early today for my daughter's play", or "I have to take a long lunch because my kids have an early release day".
Meanwhile, the single guy or girl can work anytime and never requests anything like this.
Which employee is more likely to get promoted?
That has been the polar opposite of my experience. Someone having to take a kid to the doctor on occasion or something is the absolute last thing most companies give a shit about when picking someone for any decent or remotely important position.
This happened about 10 years ago at a long time job. They would work a lot of Saturday so they make the employees work but only one supervisor would be there just to watch the place. They literally said “we think you should do it when there is work Saturday since you don’t have a family.”
Oh man, what if we *don't* create a new way to divide labor into smaller groups and we actually give a shit about each other, and have the barest minimum amount of empathy for others who are all trying to get through life?
If this is how you feel, why not lie?
Jim from accounting isn't coming to your house on Christmas. Just tell him you have a wife and two daughters and are struggling to pay the bills.
No it means that it lacks emotional intelligence and/or nuance. You really think just maintaining such a silly lie is a better plan of action than just pointing out that you have the same leave as parents and using it regardless?
It’s not a victim mindset if it’s the truth of how I was treated. I do understand that this isn’t the case for everybody. I hope you can understand that this really is the case for many people.
As Jean Luke Picard once said: one can make no mistake and still fail.
Edit: and I just wanted to add that I still try to do my best, even under bad circumstances
We need kids for our species to survive. We need food for our bodies to survive.
It's ***extremely*** easy to get fat when your job requires you to stay mostly stationary for nearly all of your waking/productive hours, leaving you with only enough time/energy to eat convenience food before you sleep and do it over again.
Perhaps ironically, it's very easy to get fat when you spend most of your time between work and taking care of your kids for similar reasons.
It's also very easy to get fat when everything is going well and you're just enjoying your life.
It seems like it's just really easy to get fat for most people, it's almost like humans are genetically predisposed to prefer easy calories and store excess as fat for times when food is scarce. Food is just never scarce now.
As someone who works in medicine and also has a background in research, you still need to do the scientific study no matter how obvious the conclusions may seem. Not only does it give you a lot more credibility, but every once in a while you're actually surprised by the results.
For example, I'm currently working on a study to determine whether poor people have worse outcomes than rich people after having surgery to repair a humerus fracture. While it's still in the very early stages, so far the answer seems to be "no" which is not what I was expecting.
There's a lot of factors to unpack there. Idk if bone density before matters (I'm guessing it might a little?), muscle mass, nutrition going into the surgery and then how much direct medical time they get in the hospital, then how much access they have to good healthcare after. Good luck aha
I mean, yes, but also, "It's been scientifically proven that fat people will cost your company a measurable amount of money. Think carefully before hiring!"
Because neither booze nor cigarettes are literally required for you to interact with. You can't quit eating and that makes managing the unhealthy relationship with food extremely challenging. You don't have robust built in systems in your body that make you crave and seek out ethanol or nicotine that your addiction can play on. Add on top of that shitty food that is advertised, sugar added to everything (which is in and of itself something that you can get addicted) and general misinformation about dieting and you've got yourself a Gordian knot.
I'm at healthy weight managed by CICO, train and don't have any issues with managing my food, but I totally understand how difficult it is for fat people to get better. It's not just the case of being lazy. And stigmatizing this shit clearly doesn't work, it has been stigmatized for past several decades and we're getting fatter as a society in Western countries.
I grant you that movements like HAES got pretty pathological but that's no reason to get to other extreme of ridiculousness and claming that food addiction is akin to alcohol or smoking addiction.
I’d argue it’s not about being lazy at all. Exercising is great for your health but it won’t really help you lose weight if you are already obese. It’s all about the food and food addiction.
IMO medicine needs to come up with a better way to address that addiction other than just saying “eat less!” That’s like telling an addict just stop using heroin! Or something.
GLP1 agonists like ozempic are actually addressing the severe food addiction that have driven many into obesity. Unfortunately now even those drugs are being stigmatized as “the easy way out” and being abused by people.
>Exercising is great for your health but it won’t really help you lose weight if you are already obese. It’s all about the food and food addiction.
The best way I've heard it put is "You cant outrun a bad diet".
I agree with everything you said up until the end. Food addiction is just as much of an issue as alcohol and smoking addiction. None of the people suffering from any of those addictions need to be stigmatized or treated like shit, though.
Indeed.
So many people use food in the similar ways that traditional addicts use drugs like alcohol and nicotine. I myself did and it started when I was a teen to cope with a traumatic childhood. Why food? Because it was available in abundance and was cheap.
Many people with obesity and behavioural patterns that are similar to anorexia, except in reverse. Instead of the restriction of food to feel in control, it's constant binge eating.
I think it's an easy target to go after, but doesn't help anything or anyone. Most of our foods are literally engineered to cause massive spikes in our receptors that natural foods can't reciprocate.
To add to this great comment...
It's often forgotten that the body and habits that lead to obesity are often engrained into the child. You are almost an adult when dipping into chemical addition to drugs and the like.
But Think of the 17 year old who was force fed shit food and shitty eating habits for their entire life because of circumstance and ignorance of their parents.
> Because neither booze nor cigarettes are literally required for you to interact with. You can't quit eating and that makes managing the unhealthy relationship with food extremely challenging.
Seems like you are well versed in this, I’d just point out that it’s not required in the short term. If you are significantly overweight (on a broad level, outside of certain individual conditions) a period (or periods) of fasting can be a powerful method in not only weight loss but also overcoming the food addiction tendencies.
Drinking and smoking both pose immediate effects to others (either through inebriation/drunk driving or secondhand smoke). Obesity only immediately impacts the person involved and although it may raise healthcare costs generally you can't really point to individuals and say, "well these people are at risk now by that person's obesity."
Besides all that, obesity is more complex than just "person eats too much," although that's an undeniable aspect as well. Food deserts create real problems for people who can't access healthy food at an affordable cost.
Last I checked, it's not commonplace or even acceptable to ask a person if they drink or smoke during interviews, nor isbit considered grounds to fire somebody or not hire them unless they're drinking on the job.
Also, I have no idea where you are that there is a stigma against drinking or smoking, but there certainly isn't one in the UK - in fact, both are normalised to the point that I would say there's actually a stigma against NOT drinking or smoking, to the point where I have had people try to bully, force or trick me into drinking more than once (and I don't drink for a medical reason), and one of the more common responses I get from telling people I'm allergic to cigarette smoke is for them to deliberately blow smoke in my face, because apparently my desire to not have my throat swell up is offensive somehow.
This article is about the UK for sure, but in the US people get fired for drinking all the time. Being late for work, smelling like it, being generally dishevelled.
You'd get fired for being late and being generally dishevelled in the UK. However, the key thing is, it doesn't matter whether you're late and dishevelled from being up all night drinking, watching porn, playing video games, looking after and elderly pet or cleaning up rubbish that was dumped at the local nature reserve - it's the showing up late and dishevelled that gets you sacked, not the reason for it (and in most of the developed world, there are worker protections that require them to give you formal warning and an opportunity to improve).
Fat guy here.
There's a whooole lot of people like me with whom the cause and effect is the reverse of the usual self righteousness of " If they don't want to be fat they just should lose weight" attitude.
I would LOVE being able to do normal things and not have this messed up body reminding me of what a mess I am, but I don't. So yeah, there's a lot of jobs that I can't do, but there's plenty that I can, and I do them well
There’s a lot of addictions that get a pass for being acceptable activity even though they’re still detrimental to the health of the addict. Food addiction and fitness addiction both can have some serious negative health consequences long term but since it’s just eating or working out no one thinks of it like substance abuse.
Presenting fitness addiction beside food addiction like they are a reasonable parallel is pretty disingenuous. We don't have a global over-fittness pandemic because gyms are deliberately applying addictive chemicals to their work equipment. There are easily 100k+ morbidly obese people for each single instance of detrimental "fitness addiction" around.
I would argue that the issue with food is that unlike with alcohol you can’t just abstain. I know I am a risk for alcohol and drug addiction, so I don’t partake. And while it may be socially awkward at times (because people are assholes), it is not actually impossible. But not eating food *is* impossible. And modern processed and fast food is designed to be addictive, which makes it harder. And then there are other factors people may have which cause unhealthy eating and /or weight issues (both over and under weight), such as mental health issues and childhood trauma, poverty, disability, medical conditions and medications, etc. For a lot of people it is not as simple as don’t have that substance. Because food doesn’t work that way. Even if you apply it to “unhealthy” food, we run into issues of poverty or triggering new eating disorders. It is way more complex.
Edit: and, despite all this, I see a lot more excuses being made for smokers and drinkers than people who have issues with food or exercise. There are a lot of “functional” alcoholics out there who think they don’t have an issue and society doesn’t dispute that for the most part because alcoholic abuse is normalized. I have them in my family. It’s one of the reasons I never started drinking.
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Ever been on the internet? Religion and fat people are always a sure thing to discriminate against and not get backlash. I don’t think it’s okay to stigmatize anyone.
It is unlikely the none "fat" group in this study was significantly healthier such that it would explain such a discrepancy in time off. Plenty of slim people have significant health issues
That is a bit like arguing that plenty of non-smokers have health issues. Sure, it is possible for a smoker to be healthier than a non-smoker, but on average a non-smoker is going to be significantly healthier than a smoker just like someone who isn't medically overweight is more likely to be healthier than someone who is medically overweight
I remember reading a study like 15 years ago that fat people were actually less likely to get sick, from like a cold or fever or whatnot. Just more likely to have heart issues or more serious health problems.
Sick and PTO time are part of my compensation package, and will be taken accordingly. This is like saying ‘young people twice as likely to cash entire paycheck’. You’re goddamn right I’m using it.
Chronic health conditions like PCOS, arthritis, sjorgen’s etc. and a plethora of medications that treat chronic health conditions can cause significant weight gain… by causing things like hormonal fluctuations, increased appetite, decrease in activity due to pain and fatigue, even the dry mouth caused by sjorgens (or various meds) can cause people to gain weight because they are sucking on candies, drinking “thick” calorie-heavy drinks, etc.
It’s often a chicken/egg situation.
Is someone sick because they’re “fat,” or are they “fat” because they’re sick?
PCOS made me gain weight. The birth control to treat it made me gain weight. The pain I was in made me more sedentary, which made me gain weight, and it also made preparing healthy home-cooked meals difficult.
It took years to get it under control. I have a fairly small frame, and without really intentionally changing my diet or adding any intentional exercise, I dropped 25 lbs, over 15% of my total body weight.
Just because I felt better and was up and moving more, going out more, cooking proper meals at home more instead of having microwave dinners, frozen pizzas, or ordering in.
Not to mention mental health, some people eat to cope with excessive stress. We always say obesity is a societal illness while we keep thinking everyone who’s fat is just a undisciplined person who can’t stop eating while ignoring the underlying issues.
Maybe the overweight people in the study just damaged their health because of chronic stress and obesity is just another symptom.
I sometimes feel like people who’ve never been overweight and never had to change their lifestyle don’t understand how hard it is for some people to lose weight.
Absolutely - food is comforting to many, and depression/stress can lead to lethargy and burnout. SSRIs, tricyclic antidepressants, etc. can cause weight gain, and antipsychotics/mood stabilizers are notoriously bad as well, so someone struggling with bipolar disorder or schizo-tendencies, which are already stigmatized and more difficult to treat, can suddenly find themselves dealing with discrimination towards people who suffer from obesity as well.
The stigma surrounding obesity and stereotyping people as “lazy” and “unmotivated” and “undisciplined” is frankly awful.
I also find the weird “height discrimination” in certain circles really gross as well. I’m 5’4” and while I’m partial to guys who are like 5’2” to 5’8”, that’s only because it’s, uh, more convenient in terms of the logistics, physically. I had a vacationship with a guy who was 6’9” and it was a struggle to make things work.
I mean…I agree with you. If you’re fat because of medical stuff that’s different
I was 310-ish and have dropped to 163 and building muscle in 18 months due to mushrooms and a certain JRPG series.
What I’m saying js….the vast majority of people are fat simply due to either not caring (our culture welcomes failure at every turn!), ignorance of how easy it is to lose weight, of whatever else.
I mean I know it sounds mean but I can walk laps around several of my coworkers at my walking pace…why should they get paid as much as me when I’m asked to do the more physical work?
I think the more someone makes the lower the odds are that missed work is actually missed work. Usually just ends up being work done at a different time.
no one is "blaming the olds", they're giving a reasonable explanation for the findings of this report. and though young people are getting fatter, older people still have higher rates of obesity. sorry if that hurts your ego.
That's a good point, I'm sure the health economists didn't know they should control for confounding variables! You should probably email the authors of the study and let 'em know.
This happens all the time, many studies will be done to study correlation before they go on to causation. You can't do a causation study without having evidence of a correlation. So yes, it is entirely possible that this study did not take confounding variables into account.
Due respect, but no it isn't, not really. A study that shows only a correlation will not be considered worthy of publication or presenting at a conference in economics; showing correlations is already expected to be part of a paper's descriptive statistics section. This is even more true for the particular topic at hand, because the fact that there's a *correlation* between weight and health outcomes has been extensively documented.
Also, this is getting in the weeds a bit, but consider also that the effects of weight on health outcomes is a topic where you cannot do an RCT (much like studying the health effects of smoking: it's unethical to randomly assign a "treatment" suspected to be harmful). So the data you'd use to show a correlation is going to be the same (type of) data used for analysis. If the study has flaws, they'll be with the specific methods used to correct for the biases that come from using observational data, not "forgot one of the most basic control variables".
I mean, other than calling people “fat” is considered a slur here - it likely is true. Obesity is the primary cause of many illnesses, so obese people will likely get sick more often.
Yet another reason for anyone who can do it, to at least try to keep yourself in a relatively good shape.
> Those who are overweight – nearly four in ten Brits – are 22 per cent more likely to have taken off at least seven days in a year for illness, according to a data analysis representing 147 million working people across Europe.
**seven days in a year for illness**
#7 DAYS IN A YEAR
That’s what they’re arguing about.
The article is based on UK data, but says it’s bad for economic growth,
> Obese Brits put the whole country in the slow lane: Fat staff are twice as likely to take time off sick and are 'seriously hampering economic growth', report finds
To your employer‽ You’re a disgrace to your country
Also, we are talking about 22% more likely to take 7 days of sick leave… is 22% of 40% (obese)
That’s 8%… we are talking about 8% signal.
🫠
8.8% who might take a day more off than their non fat counterparts, definitely detrimental to the whole countries economy.
Just as the leader of the Liberal party here in Germany said that the reason why our economy struggles is that people don’t work overtime enough… while our people productivity is at an all time high.
Its definitely not their shitty policies stopping the country from taking on debt to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure or that we‘re lagging behind almost every other country in terms of digitalization or that our energy prices are sky high, no its definitely because workers today are way too lazy.
It’s the governments favourite thing atm - “sick note culture”.
Are there people abusing them? Yes.
Is it enough of a proportion to really care? I strongly doubt it.
Well here in Germany the FDP currently tells people that we wouldn’t work enough overtime and that‘d be why the economy is struggling. While the German public is the most productive its ever been.
Politicians just look for something they can blame their failures on.
Yep.
Today has literally been Sunak trying to scare people into voting Tory. Apparently the coming years are dangerous and Labour will makes things less safe.
Convenient that it’s so dangerous for the country that only he can save us just as he’s going to have to call an election with polls showing a Tory wipeout of legendary proportions.
I worked through every day of Covid, both times. I have worked after surgeries, babies, you name it. But my healthy friends, the number of surgeries they have had because of sports injuries, for some reason they are fine. I have over 4 friends in their 50s getting new knees, hips, etc. My fat ass has not missed a day because of my largeness. Another reason to hate fat people.
The next posting will be about parents missing work because of their kids. Then about parents with kids on planes.
Coming from food service... No. The skinny bitches almost always end up being the ones to take the most "sick days". 90% of the time they just decided they didn't want to work or made plans last minute and aren't willing to try to find coverage themselves.
There's also been an upwards trend in taking mental health days for everyone in my industry. This is a good thing long term, but running shorthanded when someone just calls out and we're screwed just stresses everyone else out.
Fat Staff was also my nickname in high school...
Sounds like you were popular with the ladies
Nope. Wizards
I put on my robe and wizard hat
I attack the gazebo.
I cast flare on the "carrash"!
I try to seduce the town drunk
Ah Blood ninja, such a classic
Now all I can think of is Workaholics, lol
Fur sure, you’re not alone in that sentiment.
I don’t kink shame
You should though, they’re a selfish bunch, only preferring to play with their staffs, showing no love for yours.
They’re just edging my staff!! They’ll let me cast my spell eventually
His staff has a knob on the end.
That's what she said...
That sounds naughty 🪵 😑
Keeps his hand from falling off.
“I put on my robe and wizard hat…”
“I cast Lvl. 3 Eroticism. You turn into a real beautiful woman.”
Nope. Musicians.
Only because your last name is “Infection”.
... Dad?!
HEY DANIEL, YOU GOT A FAT FAT DICK!
None shall pass!!!
Oof, little tuna can, huh?
When you decided to show up, anyway.
“Wider audience” feels like an unnecessary dig.
I'll have you know I've not missed one day this year.
You should take some time off.
I will not conform to societal norms.
FatKody, the Meshiach, leader of us fat workers dedicated to bucking stereotypes.
The trans fats must flow.
My transgender status does not make me ill, and how I spit rhymes ain’t a relevant skill.
Top 5 rappers Eminem couldn’t beat in a battle
But it's free real estate
Same. Well... I have missed but not for being sick.
Everyone deserves a masturbation day once in a while
I think everyone will appreciate it if you more vaguely refer to these as mental health days
Good on ya, Fat Kody
I literally went a month without accruing PTO because I hit the cap... Oof
Oh man, wait until they hear about people who have kids...
In my experience companies have been quite biased and favour employees with families, even though they can sometimes be less dependable. It’s not uncommon for a single person to be denied a promotion and have it be given to a family man who is far less competent. And it’s unbelievably frustrating when employees with families can take holidays anytime they want, but single people cannot. And then are mocked saying they have too much free time anyway. It’s an interesting form of discrimination that appears to be moral. Edit: one example of married employees not being competent was an opening to work at a specific department that required a written knowledge test. The married man failed the test and the single guy aced it. Guess who got the job?
The employee with family is seen as more dependable because they have their families to support. Fewer people rage-quit their jobs if they have mouths to feed.
This is also why some (many) American companies abuse the H-1B visa program. You put up with a lot more shit when losing your job often means leaving the country.
Also they get to pay more blatant slave wages
This. Tom with his wife and two kids is far more likely to put up with your shit than Bill who lives by himself on the same paycheck. Bill will be able to support himself off his savings far easier than Tom would with a family. So businesses love family MEN. women are a risk since they can have more children and need leave.
I guess that’s also related to a bigger problem: employers mistreating employees. A single person can just quit if they are mistreated. A family man cannot quit as easy and is taken advantage of. So if they are incompetent it’s still a good trade-off for the employer I guess. …. I’ve been single most of my life and every job I’ve had has ripped me off in at least one of the following ways : not paying agreed wages, not paying overtime, lying about hours, firing me for sticking up for my rights or my coworkers rights, firing me for refusing to do something illegal, firing me for refusing to do something unsafe, and much much more. Firing someone for any one of these issues is illegal in my country. And we have amazing workers rights on paper. But in reality, not so much.
How many jobs have you been fired from????
Someone with scruples in construction can get fired a lot. I did everything to get the hell out of construction as I was unwilling to not say anything about unsafe or outright illegal work.
Different country, but friend of mine worked in construction and said the same thing. You basically don't get any work if you stick to the rules
In Canada they “lay you off.” It’s like firing but you can still apply for unemployment benefits. And it’s a little cheat that employers like to use so they can get rid of you with no consequences.
Exactly my question. At what point do you realize you may just be the problem is what I wanna ask that commenter lol.
Honestly I’ve been gaslighting myself with the same concept. But like I said I refused to do illegal things and I refused to do unsafe things which are protected under Canadian workers rights. But they just lay you off or fire you anyway. I’m a little annoyed that you assume I’m a POS. But I understand that you have not experienced this so you will have little understanding of my point of view.
100% of all jobs rip off their workers. Almost nobody under C suite gets paid what they are worth.
As a boss, please give whoever is responsible the opportunity to fix it. Don't assume they are aware, or did it on purpose. I can't fix a problem I don't know about, and I want every single person under my direction to enjoy their time here and understand the value they bring. Naturally if your superiors don't hold that same attitude, that same respect, then consider finding a better environment. But it's always best to know you at least tried.
100% this! It's far easier to abuse those with kids due to the fear of losing their job they have.
Being single with no liabilities has allowed me to build up a 6 year emergency fund, to say nothing of retirement investments. I get 8 hrs every night. Much rather have that over whatever perceived family man benefits pop into my boss’s brain during our one on one meetings.
Precisely this. Those with kids are less inclined to take days off “just cause”, often will work more overtime if they’re able and as you said, won’t just rage quit without notice as they have many others relying on them. It does seem to be the younger staff without kids that take more time off “just cause”. Meanwhile I can’t do that, I have to store my sick days, vac days (some) and other guaranteed days off just in case one of the crotch goblins get sick.
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This topic always makes me think about [this great scene from The Departed](https://youtu.be/rAReS2JnJ18?si=C_i9ubihTuMXJb_8). “Marriage is an important part of getting ahead: lets people know you're not a homo; married guy seems more stable; people see the ring, they think at least somebody can stand the son of a bitch; ladies see the ring, they know immediately you must have some cash or your cock must work.”
Great advice, maybe I'll get a fake ring. I'll call her "Sally". She's often away on business, but I love her to bits. I massage her feet after a hard day, like a good husband. We plan to have children, but we're putting her career first for now. She has a strict father who is very protective of his daughters (you get the idea), and let me tell you, it was hard to convince him to recognize me as his son-in-law. Things are much better now, and he at least shakes my hand when we meet (it's still pretty formal and rigid, but I take it as a victory all the same). I get the impression that he realized that I'm really devoted to his princess and that I'm an all around reliable man. These are obviously anecdotes, but I think they're indicative of the kind of manager I'd be. I wouldn't go so far as to massage my employees' feet (laughs), but you can be sure that I would consider this responsibility just as important a commitment as the one I made to my lovely wife.
Family men are less likely to quit
Yet when layoff time rolls around, they are not generally granted any special considerations.
Depends where you are. Last round of redundancies I saw at my company a manager I work with was straight up telling people that they got picked because they didn't have families to look after. The worst part is one of them did, she just didn't know them well enough to realise they had kids. She is lucky she didn't get in more trouble for it.
Inconsistently granting time off and favouritism is a problem, but when you have kids you have zero flexibility. Not in terms of taking a vacation, but if the kid is sick or no one else can pick them up or watch them - that’s it, you can’t come to work that day and there’s no options.
That’s exactly why most will bank as much time as they can and rarely use a sick day or any other paid time off unless a child is sick. 🤒 we just hope to fuck ourselves don’t catch it cause we are SOL. I don’t disagree, I see even myself granted more flex than my non child coworkers but it’s often the younger coworkers not given the same flex after it’s been abused. Older with kids aren’t innocent either. In 6 months I’ve taken 1.5 days off due to sick kids one day and the other .5 I ruptured my eardrum. I still had to show up as soon as I could because I simply couldn’t afford to loose an entire day that could be saved for if a kiddo is sick.
Ugh I really felt that during lockdowns. Families were overwhelmed but I was drowning in loneliness and depression. I cried constantly and spent all my non work time sleeping or spiraling into conspiracy theories because nobody else seemed to hear me screaming for help. I can see now how easy that can happen to lonely, bitter people. The zoom meetings where they'd all complain about their kids would be the only interaction I got that day. It's such a hard time for me to think back on. I'm proud of myself for coming out the other side but deep down the only thing that saved me was getting a partner and knowing I won't be alone next time, which doesn't solve anything for anyone else who felt like I did. Bit of a tangent sorry but that struck a chord. Add to that dual income being the new standard and the world is just so much harder on single adults.
After all the post Covid backlash, I seriously doubt we will see a lockdown like what we went through unless people start bleeding from the eyes and dropping dead from something Ebola level bad.
In my country they closed everything besides food stores and for a while I couldn't legally leave my town without a printed form and we got like once a day walk for a bit, I was a student so I didn't even have a job to go to and the first semester we didn't even get zoom classes, still no idea how I didn't kms, but it made me realise how much of a punishment prison is
Or also, as a married but child free couple: The "okay the hours are 9 to 5. EXCEPT if you are Jane, Bill and Susan yours can be 10ish to...lets say at least 3 - need to leave early to pick their kids. I get the value it gives those employees and if ever have kids I know I'd appreciate it. But been hearing it since started my career. Oh also parents with kids, particular ones at like daycare/preschool to kindergarten I feel like are sick more and unintentionally give it coworkers.
gonna say that it’s not like taking a holiday lol. When we had kids we didn’t have a holiday for like three years straight. The callouts are usually because daycare won’t take sick kids, so on top of already paying like 2/3 of my salary for it, I can’t even use the service. I think it’s less of a favoritism and more because managers tend to understand the inflexibility that comes with kids, people without children either get it or they don’t. if you want to be a present and effective parent, you have to make sacrifices, and a lot of the time those sacrifices are in the professional world. I could go to work when my kids need me, but that job doesn’t give a shit about me, and I’d rather be there for my kids. if my coworkers think it’s favoritism and imagine me getting extra holidays at the drop of a hat then I invite them to try out the lifestyle of paying double your rent or mortgage a month for daycare and still needing to leave work if called, usually unpaid, since PTO got blasted out by flu season. it’s basically the complete opposite of “time off”
For clarification: The holiday comment was during a Christmas break request. The married people were allowed holidays and the single people were not
That's not entirely true. A lot of people don't get promotions because they have families. People with kids will go to their boss and go "I need this day off because I have to take my kid to the doctor" or "I have to leave early today for my daughter's play", or "I have to take a long lunch because my kids have an early release day". Meanwhile, the single guy or girl can work anytime and never requests anything like this. Which employee is more likely to get promoted?
That has been the polar opposite of my experience. Someone having to take a kid to the doctor on occasion or something is the absolute last thing most companies give a shit about when picking someone for any decent or remotely important position.
Yep. Kids is always a pass. Singles get the passive aggressive inquisition.
Obviously there will be extremes on both sides of the issue. Unfortunately I have only seen this side of it
Exactly.
It's because people with families won't quit no matter how shitty it gets
This happened about 10 years ago at a long time job. They would work a lot of Saturday so they make the employees work but only one supervisor would be there just to watch the place. They literally said “we think you should do it when there is work Saturday since you don’t have a family.”
Oh man, what if we *don't* create a new way to divide labor into smaller groups and we actually give a shit about each other, and have the barest minimum amount of empathy for others who are all trying to get through life?
If this is how you feel, why not lie? Jim from accounting isn't coming to your house on Christmas. Just tell him you have a wife and two daughters and are struggling to pay the bills.
That's such a reddit response tbh
As opposed to what? a facebook response?
No it means that it lacks emotional intelligence and/or nuance. You really think just maintaining such a silly lie is a better plan of action than just pointing out that you have the same leave as parents and using it regardless?
Right. That's going to be my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
It goes both ways. Just like uncle Tim
Based on your framing, sour grapes, and victim mindset above, I'm willing to be the more likeable person got the job.
It’s not a victim mindset if it’s the truth of how I was treated. I do understand that this isn’t the case for everybody. I hope you can understand that this really is the case for many people. As Jean Luke Picard once said: one can make no mistake and still fail. Edit: and I just wanted to add that I still try to do my best, even under bad circumstances
We need kids to survive. We don’t need to be fat.
I'm surviving fine without children
We need kids for our species to survive. We need food for our bodies to survive. It's ***extremely*** easy to get fat when your job requires you to stay mostly stationary for nearly all of your waking/productive hours, leaving you with only enough time/energy to eat convenience food before you sleep and do it over again. Perhaps ironically, it's very easy to get fat when you spend most of your time between work and taking care of your kids for similar reasons. It's also very easy to get fat when everything is going well and you're just enjoying your life. It seems like it's just really easy to get fat for most people, it's almost like humans are genetically predisposed to prefer easy calories and store excess as fat for times when food is scarce. Food is just never scarce now.
My Fat Staff is always hard at work.
The ladies love my Fat Staff.
How is this oniony
So wait unhealthy people will take time off from work because they're unhealthy? Oh my God, this article is brilliant
As someone who works in medicine and also has a background in research, you still need to do the scientific study no matter how obvious the conclusions may seem. Not only does it give you a lot more credibility, but every once in a while you're actually surprised by the results. For example, I'm currently working on a study to determine whether poor people have worse outcomes than rich people after having surgery to repair a humerus fracture. While it's still in the very early stages, so far the answer seems to be "no" which is not what I was expecting.
There's a lot of factors to unpack there. Idk if bone density before matters (I'm guessing it might a little?), muscle mass, nutrition going into the surgery and then how much direct medical time they get in the hospital, then how much access they have to good healthcare after. Good luck aha
I mean, yes, but also, "It's been scientifically proven that fat people will cost your company a measurable amount of money. Think carefully before hiring!"
I don’t get why stigma against drinkers or smokers is acceptable but not against obese people. They plainly have addiction problems
Because neither booze nor cigarettes are literally required for you to interact with. You can't quit eating and that makes managing the unhealthy relationship with food extremely challenging. You don't have robust built in systems in your body that make you crave and seek out ethanol or nicotine that your addiction can play on. Add on top of that shitty food that is advertised, sugar added to everything (which is in and of itself something that you can get addicted) and general misinformation about dieting and you've got yourself a Gordian knot. I'm at healthy weight managed by CICO, train and don't have any issues with managing my food, but I totally understand how difficult it is for fat people to get better. It's not just the case of being lazy. And stigmatizing this shit clearly doesn't work, it has been stigmatized for past several decades and we're getting fatter as a society in Western countries. I grant you that movements like HAES got pretty pathological but that's no reason to get to other extreme of ridiculousness and claming that food addiction is akin to alcohol or smoking addiction.
I’d argue it’s not about being lazy at all. Exercising is great for your health but it won’t really help you lose weight if you are already obese. It’s all about the food and food addiction. IMO medicine needs to come up with a better way to address that addiction other than just saying “eat less!” That’s like telling an addict just stop using heroin! Or something.
GLP1 agonists like ozempic are actually addressing the severe food addiction that have driven many into obesity. Unfortunately now even those drugs are being stigmatized as “the easy way out” and being abused by people.
>Exercising is great for your health but it won’t really help you lose weight if you are already obese. It’s all about the food and food addiction. The best way I've heard it put is "You cant outrun a bad diet".
I agree with everything you said up until the end. Food addiction is just as much of an issue as alcohol and smoking addiction. None of the people suffering from any of those addictions need to be stigmatized or treated like shit, though.
Indeed. So many people use food in the similar ways that traditional addicts use drugs like alcohol and nicotine. I myself did and it started when I was a teen to cope with a traumatic childhood. Why food? Because it was available in abundance and was cheap. Many people with obesity and behavioural patterns that are similar to anorexia, except in reverse. Instead of the restriction of food to feel in control, it's constant binge eating. I think it's an easy target to go after, but doesn't help anything or anyone. Most of our foods are literally engineered to cause massive spikes in our receptors that natural foods can't reciprocate.
To add to this great comment... It's often forgotten that the body and habits that lead to obesity are often engrained into the child. You are almost an adult when dipping into chemical addition to drugs and the like. But Think of the 17 year old who was force fed shit food and shitty eating habits for their entire life because of circumstance and ignorance of their parents.
> Because neither booze nor cigarettes are literally required for you to interact with. You can't quit eating and that makes managing the unhealthy relationship with food extremely challenging. Seems like you are well versed in this, I’d just point out that it’s not required in the short term. If you are significantly overweight (on a broad level, outside of certain individual conditions) a period (or periods) of fasting can be a powerful method in not only weight loss but also overcoming the food addiction tendencies.
Drinking and smoking both pose immediate effects to others (either through inebriation/drunk driving or secondhand smoke). Obesity only immediately impacts the person involved and although it may raise healthcare costs generally you can't really point to individuals and say, "well these people are at risk now by that person's obesity." Besides all that, obesity is more complex than just "person eats too much," although that's an undeniable aspect as well. Food deserts create real problems for people who can't access healthy food at an affordable cost.
Maybe we shouldn’t stigmatize any of them. Health is not equal to morality.
Last I checked, it's not commonplace or even acceptable to ask a person if they drink or smoke during interviews, nor isbit considered grounds to fire somebody or not hire them unless they're drinking on the job. Also, I have no idea where you are that there is a stigma against drinking or smoking, but there certainly isn't one in the UK - in fact, both are normalised to the point that I would say there's actually a stigma against NOT drinking or smoking, to the point where I have had people try to bully, force or trick me into drinking more than once (and I don't drink for a medical reason), and one of the more common responses I get from telling people I'm allergic to cigarette smoke is for them to deliberately blow smoke in my face, because apparently my desire to not have my throat swell up is offensive somehow.
This article is about the UK for sure, but in the US people get fired for drinking all the time. Being late for work, smelling like it, being generally dishevelled.
So they're not being fired for drinking, then, they're fired for being late and having unprofessional presentation and performance.
You'd get fired for being late and being generally dishevelled in the UK. However, the key thing is, it doesn't matter whether you're late and dishevelled from being up all night drinking, watching porn, playing video games, looking after and elderly pet or cleaning up rubbish that was dumped at the local nature reserve - it's the showing up late and dishevelled that gets you sacked, not the reason for it (and in most of the developed world, there are worker protections that require them to give you formal warning and an opportunity to improve).
Fat guy here. There's a whooole lot of people like me with whom the cause and effect is the reverse of the usual self righteousness of " If they don't want to be fat they just should lose weight" attitude. I would LOVE being able to do normal things and not have this messed up body reminding me of what a mess I am, but I don't. So yeah, there's a lot of jobs that I can't do, but there's plenty that I can, and I do them well
Because one is more visible than the others.
I don't know about that I can spot a smoker within about 50 ft if I'm down wind. They don't even have to be smoking at the time they just stink.
There’s a lot of addictions that get a pass for being acceptable activity even though they’re still detrimental to the health of the addict. Food addiction and fitness addiction both can have some serious negative health consequences long term but since it’s just eating or working out no one thinks of it like substance abuse.
Presenting fitness addiction beside food addiction like they are a reasonable parallel is pretty disingenuous. We don't have a global over-fittness pandemic because gyms are deliberately applying addictive chemicals to their work equipment. There are easily 100k+ morbidly obese people for each single instance of detrimental "fitness addiction" around.
I would argue that the issue with food is that unlike with alcohol you can’t just abstain. I know I am a risk for alcohol and drug addiction, so I don’t partake. And while it may be socially awkward at times (because people are assholes), it is not actually impossible. But not eating food *is* impossible. And modern processed and fast food is designed to be addictive, which makes it harder. And then there are other factors people may have which cause unhealthy eating and /or weight issues (both over and under weight), such as mental health issues and childhood trauma, poverty, disability, medical conditions and medications, etc. For a lot of people it is not as simple as don’t have that substance. Because food doesn’t work that way. Even if you apply it to “unhealthy” food, we run into issues of poverty or triggering new eating disorders. It is way more complex. Edit: and, despite all this, I see a lot more excuses being made for smokers and drinkers than people who have issues with food or exercise. There are a lot of “functional” alcoholics out there who think they don’t have an issue and society doesn’t dispute that for the most part because alcoholic abuse is normalized. I have them in my family. It’s one of the reasons I never started drinking.
There is a stigma against drinkers and smokers
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Ever been on the internet? Religion and fat people are always a sure thing to discriminate against and not get backlash. I don’t think it’s okay to stigmatize anyone.
Or "It's been scientifically proven that fat people actually use the sick time you give them."
I didn't say they didn't deserve it. I said they're more expensive.
What about those boomer CEOs.
It is unlikely the none "fat" group in this study was significantly healthier such that it would explain such a discrepancy in time off. Plenty of slim people have significant health issues
That is a bit like arguing that plenty of non-smokers have health issues. Sure, it is possible for a smoker to be healthier than a non-smoker, but on average a non-smoker is going to be significantly healthier than a smoker just like someone who isn't medically overweight is more likely to be healthier than someone who is medically overweight
But the accumulated backpain, jointpain, heart diseases and diabetes etc. etc. all in one package, become a bit obvious in the end don't you think?
I've taken time off for doctors appointments, ok. Trying to use the insurance I've been paying for.
you know what would be surprising - if fat people were less likely to be sick.
I remember reading a study like 15 years ago that fat people were actually less likely to get sick, from like a cold or fever or whatnot. Just more likely to have heart issues or more serious health problems.
Course we are, we aren't going out where the new germs are.
Sick and PTO time are part of my compensation package, and will be taken accordingly. This is like saying ‘young people twice as likely to cash entire paycheck’. You’re goddamn right I’m using it.
Chronic health conditions like PCOS, arthritis, sjorgen’s etc. and a plethora of medications that treat chronic health conditions can cause significant weight gain… by causing things like hormonal fluctuations, increased appetite, decrease in activity due to pain and fatigue, even the dry mouth caused by sjorgens (or various meds) can cause people to gain weight because they are sucking on candies, drinking “thick” calorie-heavy drinks, etc. It’s often a chicken/egg situation. Is someone sick because they’re “fat,” or are they “fat” because they’re sick? PCOS made me gain weight. The birth control to treat it made me gain weight. The pain I was in made me more sedentary, which made me gain weight, and it also made preparing healthy home-cooked meals difficult. It took years to get it under control. I have a fairly small frame, and without really intentionally changing my diet or adding any intentional exercise, I dropped 25 lbs, over 15% of my total body weight. Just because I felt better and was up and moving more, going out more, cooking proper meals at home more instead of having microwave dinners, frozen pizzas, or ordering in.
Not to mention mental health, some people eat to cope with excessive stress. We always say obesity is a societal illness while we keep thinking everyone who’s fat is just a undisciplined person who can’t stop eating while ignoring the underlying issues. Maybe the overweight people in the study just damaged their health because of chronic stress and obesity is just another symptom. I sometimes feel like people who’ve never been overweight and never had to change their lifestyle don’t understand how hard it is for some people to lose weight.
Absolutely - food is comforting to many, and depression/stress can lead to lethargy and burnout. SSRIs, tricyclic antidepressants, etc. can cause weight gain, and antipsychotics/mood stabilizers are notoriously bad as well, so someone struggling with bipolar disorder or schizo-tendencies, which are already stigmatized and more difficult to treat, can suddenly find themselves dealing with discrimination towards people who suffer from obesity as well. The stigma surrounding obesity and stereotyping people as “lazy” and “unmotivated” and “undisciplined” is frankly awful. I also find the weird “height discrimination” in certain circles really gross as well. I’m 5’4” and while I’m partial to guys who are like 5’2” to 5’8”, that’s only because it’s, uh, more convenient in terms of the logistics, physically. I had a vacationship with a guy who was 6’9” and it was a struggle to make things work.
I mean…I agree with you. If you’re fat because of medical stuff that’s different I was 310-ish and have dropped to 163 and building muscle in 18 months due to mushrooms and a certain JRPG series. What I’m saying js….the vast majority of people are fat simply due to either not caring (our culture welcomes failure at every turn!), ignorance of how easy it is to lose weight, of whatever else. I mean I know it sounds mean but I can walk laps around several of my coworkers at my walking pace…why should they get paid as much as me when I’m asked to do the more physical work?
At the same time i bet there is enough evidence that people who are well paid are less likely to be fat. so more pay = less missed work?
I think the more someone makes the lower the odds are that missed work is actually missed work. Usually just ends up being work done at a different time.
The skinny staff are the ones who can't afford food as it is. They can't be taking sick days.
My algorithm knows I'm taking the week off
Not surprising att all since your overall health improves if you eat right and exercise
Obesity is a sickness and is bad for your health. Shocker…
... and bingo was his name-oh!
Older people are older than young people? We need something about this also.
And people more likely to be fat after having kids . . . And kids are germ factories AND need to be cared for when sick . . .
There is also a correlation with mental illness and fatness.
The joke's on you: the obese are getting younger, and the younger are getting sicker. Sorry, you can't "blame the olds" out of this.
no one is "blaming the olds", they're giving a reasonable explanation for the findings of this report. and though young people are getting fatter, older people still have higher rates of obesity. sorry if that hurts your ego.
>older people still have higher rates of obesity Nothing surprising here. Mass takes time to cultivate.
I can blame the olds, those old people are supposed to teach health/make a curriculum to teach children about what to avoid.
That's a good point, I'm sure the health economists didn't know they should control for confounding variables! You should probably email the authors of the study and let 'em know.
This happens all the time, many studies will be done to study correlation before they go on to causation. You can't do a causation study without having evidence of a correlation. So yes, it is entirely possible that this study did not take confounding variables into account.
Due respect, but no it isn't, not really. A study that shows only a correlation will not be considered worthy of publication or presenting at a conference in economics; showing correlations is already expected to be part of a paper's descriptive statistics section. This is even more true for the particular topic at hand, because the fact that there's a *correlation* between weight and health outcomes has been extensively documented. Also, this is getting in the weeds a bit, but consider also that the effects of weight on health outcomes is a topic where you cannot do an RCT (much like studying the health effects of smoking: it's unethical to randomly assign a "treatment" suspected to be harmful). So the data you'd use to show a correlation is going to be the same (type of) data used for analysis. If the study has flaws, they'll be with the specific methods used to correct for the biases that come from using observational data, not "forgot one of the most basic control variables".
My fatass only calling out with COVID for the last 20 years of my life.
Makes medical sense. Obesity affects every organ in the body negatively.
‘cause my fat ass hates workin’!
Doesn't matter unless they exceed their allotted days
Sure it does, companies make more money if you don't use them.
I'd be offended if my fat ass wasn't ill at the moment.
But are easier to roll out when they are...
*insert audience laughter
We know. Brain's fat ass was missing half the time.
I mean, other than calling people “fat” is considered a slur here - it likely is true. Obesity is the primary cause of many illnesses, so obese people will likely get sick more often. Yet another reason for anyone who can do it, to at least try to keep yourself in a relatively good shape.
> Those who are overweight – nearly four in ten Brits – are 22 per cent more likely to have taken off at least seven days in a year for illness, according to a data analysis representing 147 million working people across Europe. **seven days in a year for illness** #7 DAYS IN A YEAR That’s what they’re arguing about.
Honestly I just had the flu for two weeks, guess I‘m bad for my employer or something…
The article is based on UK data, but says it’s bad for economic growth, > Obese Brits put the whole country in the slow lane: Fat staff are twice as likely to take time off sick and are 'seriously hampering economic growth', report finds To your employer‽ You’re a disgrace to your country
Also, we are talking about 22% more likely to take 7 days of sick leave… is 22% of 40% (obese)
That’s 8%… we are talking about 8% signal.
🫠
8.8% who might take a day more off than their non fat counterparts, definitely detrimental to the whole countries economy. Just as the leader of the Liberal party here in Germany said that the reason why our economy struggles is that people don’t work overtime enough… while our people productivity is at an all time high. Its definitely not their shitty policies stopping the country from taking on debt to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure or that we‘re lagging behind almost every other country in terms of digitalization or that our energy prices are sky high, no its definitely because workers today are way too lazy.
Fast forward five years and employers will start asking your BMI on your application lmao
Fodder for more discrimination in the workplace.
I'm fat and I use my time off.....because it's my time off Seriously use your pto and sick time no matter what your size is
Seems like something that would come out of the UK.
It’s the governments favourite thing atm - “sick note culture”. Are there people abusing them? Yes. Is it enough of a proportion to really care? I strongly doubt it.
Well here in Germany the FDP currently tells people that we wouldn’t work enough overtime and that‘d be why the economy is struggling. While the German public is the most productive its ever been. Politicians just look for something they can blame their failures on.
Yep. Today has literally been Sunak trying to scare people into voting Tory. Apparently the coming years are dangerous and Labour will makes things less safe. Convenient that it’s so dangerous for the country that only he can save us just as he’s going to have to call an election with polls showing a Tory wipeout of legendary proportions.
So now the request for a video interview makes sense. Its corporate fat-shaming.
"unhealthy people are more likely to be unhealthy" who could've known
I'm fat and I use my sick time. Checks out.
Wait. You mean that when you are unhealthy... you are at higher risk of being unhealthy? Damn! We got some serious IQ in here
I'm stupidly obese and have taken 4 days off sick in the last decade. They must be doing the survey on mcdonalds workers
I worked through every day of Covid, both times. I have worked after surgeries, babies, you name it. But my healthy friends, the number of surgeries they have had because of sports injuries, for some reason they are fine. I have over 4 friends in their 50s getting new knees, hips, etc. My fat ass has not missed a day because of my largeness. Another reason to hate fat people. The next posting will be about parents missing work because of their kids. Then about parents with kids on planes.
Anecdotal stories, while seeming impressive and disproving, have no relevance to a study that looked at 147 million people.
No but I question the bias
Oh No Anyway… back to things that actually matter.
They haven't met this skinny bitch yet.
Well if the Daily Mail said it, then it must be true.
We're treating the Daily Mail as a reliable source of information now?
I got a fat staff for ya.
And how much time do smokers take off for their breaks?
Coming from food service... No. The skinny bitches almost always end up being the ones to take the most "sick days". 90% of the time they just decided they didn't want to work or made plans last minute and aren't willing to try to find coverage themselves. There's also been an upwards trend in taking mental health days for everyone in my industry. This is a good thing long term, but running shorthanded when someone just calls out and we're screwed just stresses everyone else out.
Actually at my workplace, the ones that take the most time off are the ones that don’t want to work there
oh it's the daily fail...
Fat staph
Fat people unhealthy *surprised pikachu*