I have come to think of attendance in college classes as an obligation comparable to attendance on a job. As a faculty member at Western I am allowed two sick days per month (22 or 23 work days). These accumulate so that if I don't take any sick days one month, I can take four the next.

The two sick days amount to approximately 10% of the monthly work days--which is really a pretty generous allowance. I feel obligated to be as generous with my classes. Students may have approximately 10% of the class meetings as sick days. For MWF classes this means four days, for TT classes it's three.

Just as workers may be docked pay if they exceed their sick days, so students may have their grades affected. If there are extraordinary circumstances, I can request extraordinary considerations from my employer, and students may do so too. (An example would be when the university declares a snow emergency and suggests that people driving in from out of town stay off the road.)

Barring such circumstances, however, I am expected to be on the job, and students are expected to be in class. Sick days as a rule are to be hoarded. One can never tell when they will be needed later on.