Ditto bayview, the peninsula is a terrefic place in summer and it's great when you still have enough time after work to go to the beach for a swim then home for a bbq, all before the sun sets!
The overall picture to consider is; if we - as as Country - are struggling to compete on the world scale due to higher production costs; can we afford another day of lessened productivity?
I wonder if other Countries with more Pub Hols are paid hols?
The sickie mentality is quite strong, and there are plenty of other goodies that we have which other Countries don't, which add to the overall (labour) cost of production in a business.
Never been outside Qld long enough to be anything but a Queenslander. We had a DS trial in the early 90's. It probably works well and seems to be popular for the southeast and folks along the coast, but out Emerald way in the middle of summer you're hanging out for the sun to go down so you can get some relief from the heat.
Canberra not only has family and community day (today) as a public holiday- they also have Canberra Day in March. Plus all the hols that NSW has.
I had to work it today but was paid appropriately. It goes a very small way towards all the PHs I had to pay for in the business. I was only allowed to close it for three days of hols. On days when the business dropped way back.
Taking a sickie is no different from a company using dodgy advertising to sell their stuff. Everyone wants to maximise their gains while minimizing input, companies and workers alike.