should employee use sick time for doctor’s appointments? — Ask a Manager

A reader writes:

As a relatively new manager, I’m wondering about how to navigate sick time. Background: We’re 100% remote. I have weekly standing meetings with employees; apart from that, I don’t require details on what they’re doing through the day.

When I know someone is at a doctor’s appointment for a few hours, is it appropriate to ask them to use sick time? They didn’t originally document it as such, and I’m sure made up their work in other ways, but I’m struggling to find the balance between flexibility in the current situation, and enforcing workplace rules.

I answer this question — and two others — over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here.

Other questions I’m answering there today include:

• Asking coworkers to go to vegetarian-friendly restaurants on business trips
• What do I do when I inadvertently pass on bad info from a coworker?