Jobacle.com, the career advice and employment news Web site, has released its second annual Official Sick Day Calendar. Available as a free download, the 2008 calendar highlights days that have “optimal sick day potential.” Notably, days that bridge standard holidays into longer leaves of absence.

“With close to 600 million vacation days lost by American workers each year, it’s quite likely that the number of wasted sick days is even greater,” says Andrew G.R., creator of the calendar and the founder of Jobacle. “We hope you don’t need your sick days when you’re really sick. However, with some proper planning you can get the most out of a flawed system.”

With more and more companies eliminating personal days and flextime, employees are counting more than ever on sick days to fulfill their vacation needs.

Among the calendar’s official sick days:

• Leap Year. An extra day…to work…without extra pay? Hell no! You need to call in sick on Friday, February 29 and do something out of the ordinary with the three-day weekend.
• With a little planning, Valentine’s Day and President’s Day can be connected for a mini six-day festivus.
• If you only take one fake sick day this year, make it the day after Thanksgiving. If your employer is too cheap to give it for free, you need to overeat and cry fowl.

The Official 2008 Sick Day Calendar is available in both black and printer-friendly white. Learn more at the Jobacle blog.

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