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Mostly here to vent. My dad is at a fairly high quality ALF close by. Either mom or I visit 5 days a week. The employee turnover rate is low, which is good. However, the absentee rate seems high. Lots of "she's out sick"... yada yada. Most recently, they brought in a young pregnant woman to work directly with the memory-care unit, and now she's out with bad morning sickness for going on 5 weeks. I think it was pretty lousy of management to bring in someone in that state to work directly with the memory care patients. She was "supposed" to be the activity director for them :(

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I think it's the nature of the work ethic in the younger generation, after watching their parents (the "we can have it all" generation) put in long hours and drag themselves into work when they should have stayed in bed - often to the detriment of the family - they put themselves first and expect to have a life outside of work.
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My state has requirements of aide to patient ratio (along with nurses etc). You can call your state agency on aging to determine the ratio. If the ALF brings in subs for the day, they are meeting the requirements. But an activity director may not be required. The ALF where my MIL was had an unbelievable turnover rate. Ultimately, we moved her as each time someone left, it took forever to bring in a replacement. So-o one nurse would be covering 2 locations (and there never seemed to be one at MIL's place).
You can watch and report. But this has been an unusually bad flu season. Is she new to this facility?
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We’re in one of the worst influenza seasons since ‘swine flu’. I’ve had this intestinal variety and it makes ‘swine flu’ NOTHING. Well my own health isn’t generally as good either. It’s a bad winter.
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Having a life outside of work is a great concept. I have run my own business since 1996 and don't have the option of sick days unless I'm in the hospital. Too many people want all of the material things and leisure activities without putting in hard work. For example, Google the story about the young couple who's sailboat sank in John's Pass in Tampa last week. But, this is a whole other topic.

I don't know how you run an ALF, taking care of people with 24-hour needs, hiring pregnant women who then take advantage of a cushy maternity leave. The ALF has two buildings, and BOTH activity directors are AWOL at the moment. The director is out as well.
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Are you sure this employee is taking advantage of a cushy maternity leave? Is she getting paid for those 5 weeks off? I suspect that she got paid for a few sick days, if she had been working there long enough, and all the rest of those days are unpaid. If she is lucky she still has insurance coverage.

Activity Director at an ALF would not be a particularly strenuous job. Generally, a pregnant woman could handle it. But not if she is heaving her guts out every morning. Most pregnant women can work throughout their pregnancy. Some cannot. My doctor was out for a few months of "bed rest" with her third pregnancy. I did not question her work ethic. And she hated staying in bed! She did not consider it a cushy benefit.

I wonder if the young activity director feels real lucky bending over the toilet at 6 am and wondering how she is going to pay her bills with no check coming in.

In the good ol' days of strong work ethic, employers often turned down young women applicants because they might get married or might get pregnant, and there goes their training time right down the drain. This precaution is, of course, no longer legal.

I can understand how frustrating it is to see your father's care center understaffed. Vent away. With the flu at fever pitch, I imagine it is difficult to even find substitutes.(You can believe that the staff that shows up is venting.)

But let's not conclude that it is the fault of an entire generation of lazy bums, or that pregnancy should be a bar to employment, or that management should be able to manage flu epidemics better. The current situation is a bad break for the residents. I am sorry for them. You are entitled to vent.
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I take offense to the whole "younger generation" being "entitled and lazy with poor work ethic" comment, I have 4 young 30-something kids and their spouses, as well as a whole slough of 20-30 something niece's and nephew's who All work in Great careers, have great work ethics and bring in Big paychecks.

Work ethic is a very personalized issue, and not a generational thing IMO! That this particular employee isn't living up to the expectations of her position should be addressed by the Assisted Living Director or Administrator, especially if the Residents are being shortchanged and their social needs aren't being met.

It would seem that an interim or substitute Activities Director should be brought in at the very least, especially when the residents are paying such a high price to live there! If my parent was living in such a place, I would be complaining, and being adamant about their needs not being met! Get other family members on board, as this kind of absenteeism shouldn't be tolerated! I can see a few days or a week, as sickness and personal emergencies do happen, but surely there are company's who could assist them with temporary assignment type folks to fit the bill.

I do understand your frustrations though, but take offense on those who think that "kids these day's" are entitled and lazy! Mine certainly aren't!
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LOL thanks all for the responses. I was never implying a lazy generation or really bashing on the employee. I just find it an odd match to bring in a young pregnant woman to be the activities director in a memory care unit where most of the residents are very elderly but need daily stimulation. Mostly I feel it was a lousy match, which rests on the employer at some level. 5 weeks out is an awful long time, I mean she literally just started around Christmas time, so she's basically not been there, at all. I do guess that the way corporations run nowadays, she is probably out of sick days and money. It is truly tough for young women today trying to juggle it all and it's a tough start for so many of those in their teens, 20s and even 30s in today's world!!
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