But why would someone take a 40+% pay cut by choice? That time must be more valuable than money. There are plenty of reasons besides laziness why this might be true. 

Rudeness bothers me. It occurred to me that I could refuse in protest. Make everyone wait until the woman came out of the handicapped stall so we could all stare her down as she washed her hands. 

Unless you fired them for something super unethical or illegal (like sexual harassment, fraud, violence, or microwaving cabbage soup), there’s no need to report it. Let the state make the call.

If a California-based employee leaves, check that your provider calculates the accrual on a calendar day basis. If the employee has used some of their balance, this can get tricky. 

It takes strength to show calm, respect, and humanity to someone who isn’t giving it back or "did this to themselves." It takes discipline to hold space and structure until order is restored.

Your organization isn’t a spreadsheet. You can’t just delete the cells with numbers you don’t like.

It’s not that people don’t care, they just don’t know what to do about it. And the job still needs to get done.

For years, health insurance costs have already been increasing at more than double the rate of inflation. But even factoring in that trend, next year’s numbers seem like a prank. 

Both of these tools are available to companies for less than a dollar per employee per month. They can transform someone’s exit from cold paperwork to meaningful support.  If it rips your heart out to see what’s happening in the job market, Callings and Kept are two things you can offer right now that make a real difference.