Calling in sick

[leapricot]

About 3 weeks ago I had tonsilitis (never had it before) and I don't think I've ever been so ill in my life. I called my boss on the Sunday to say I wouldn't be in on the Monday which was fine by him. I called back on the Monday afternoon saying I would not be in on the Tuesday. Tuesday morning, I get a call from my boss asking me if I could work a few hours that day (I work from home but I was really in no state to do so). I couldn't believe him. He said it was really busy so it would help. I said no but felt so guilty about it and was made to feel guilty about it.

 

[LemonLife]

Retail was savage I was part of the management team for a large company and it was expected that we would show up even if we were at deaths door! I did shifts full of flu, with stitches in my head, with a fresh tooth extraction, with ligament damage in my knee, with migraines that led to me cashing out the till in the dark...

I’m now a teacher and if we cannot be present, we text the admin team and someone emails/texts/rings us back to check we are okay! No expectations they just want to know how we are

I don’t begrudge any of my staff for calling in sick if it is entirely genuine, but the hours were given from head office sometimes mean that shifts are run literally to the wire and one person not coming in could mean the difference between being able to take a lunch break or not. I’m a retail manager and I’ve done double shifts (13+ hours) on no break because a staff member is hungover (or so I’ve seen on Instagram.. ) and I never get thanks for it from the staff member, the staff on shifts or my bosses. So I’m literally on both sides of this! I still come in to work with colds and there are times when maybe I shouldn’t have been at work to try and set a precedent that ‘the sniffles’ is not a valid excuse. That’s probably way harsh to a lot of people but that is unfortunately the culture in retail - everything is trimmed right down to the wire with budgets for hours etc!

This is true I sometimes did 16 hours no break but I would have never ever berated the staff for not turning in

 

[Bitofthebubbly]

Come to think of it, it was a regular occurrence in the supermarket I worked in for people to be taken ill mid-shift. Fainting, upset stomach, migraines etc, often they would mention in the morning that they weren’t feeling great.

People shouldn’t have to drag themselves into work only to be sent home just so management sees that they’re really sick. I do hope after covid there’s a bit more understanding and less judgement when it comes to this. There will always be chancers constantly trying to get time off, but I believe most people only call in when they’re genuinely unwell and they don’t need to feel guilt on top of being sick.

 

[Blancmange]

The 2 worst managers I had when it came to sickness were both in the NHS.

I was admitted to the hospital I worked in for 8 days, my manager came to my bedside to ask when I'd be back at work.

The other one I had to ring her every day I was off even if I wasn't on shift. I didn't because I was so ill and she proceeded to give me a good shouting at.

 

[Samf2020]

In my current company we get 3 paid sick days a year. Thats it no more and it doesnt matter if you have a doctor's note you dont get paid.
Been wfh since March and there have been days where I felt truly awful but knew I would lose a days pay if I rang in sick but also be made to feel guilty for not working.
My manager will work through anything and never goes sick so its assumed that you will too.
I once worked for a company that rewarded those who didnt take a sick day with a 200 pound bonus at the end if year.
Bloke who sat beside me would come in with all sorts of ailments because he wanted that bonus. He made about 10 of us sick once and we lost our chance at the bonus because of him.
Another place was horrible I worked nights so had to ring in before 2pm if I wasnt going in. Once I was so sick I was rushed to A&E by ambulance and had to ask for a note to prove I was there as I knew my manager wouldnt believe me.

 

[slugella]

Totally agree about the retail comments! I've worked for 5 big retail stores in the past and they were all the same. They never believed staff, you got hounded with a return to work interview after, and they were v judgey about time off.

I once got put on disciplinary at a retail job because I was still in my probation and had to take 3 weeks off as I was in hospital. I only worked 6 hours each Saturday so wasn't really that many days/hours off. Even with my hospital note they didn't care.

It's reminded me too of full time attendance prizes in school. I think it's so silly, you're not any worse of a student if you're ill and it shouldn't be encouraged to come in when you are genuinely sick, especially if it's something contagious.

I still feel anxious calling in now so don't really have any advice sorry! I get myself worked up but tell myself that it's fine and I'm always glad I took the time off to get better.

 

[TeaAndYoutube]

Yes but I take it a step further and hate taking any time off. I accrue paid time off (PTO) each month and it carries over year to year until you reach a certain amount of hours. We have to use paid time off for everything including sick days and holidays or basically for any other reason why you may want time off work. I've been at my same job for several years so I've accrued quite a bit of hours but I can't bring myself to not feel guilty for taking time off. I even have understanding managers who encourage us to use our time as it is important for mental and overall health. I've earned the hours and I'm entitled to use them but it's such a mental block.

For sick days we're allowed to text, thankfully, our manager and let them know. I like that it can be a text because it's an instant paper trail rather than saying "I called and left a message". For call offs though I find you just need to be assertive. You're sick and that's it. You don't need to go into details about what's wrong. Keep it short but firm. "I'm sick and won't be working today" End.

I know rules vary by companies. A lot of my friends have a sick note rule at their job. If they've called off for 2 or more days in a row then they're required to bring in a doctor's note explaining why they were off.

Does anyone feel like they can't leave the house if they've taken a sick day? Let's say you were sick in the morning and called off but then feel better by the evening/after work hours and then need to go run an errand or run to the shop.

 

[Platformcrocs]

I also hate it because of bad experiences with terrible managers. I think I can count on one hand the number of sick days I've had over the last 10 years. I had a colonoscopy a few years ago and was feeling really rough the day after so called in sick, but my manager was extremely passive-agressive with the usual "ok, if you REALLY can't come in then just stay at home...". Another time I had a migraine that wouldn't shift, couldn't work through it so left a message with our HR department (manager wasn't in the office at the time) - manager then called me up and kept me on the phone for 20 mins to "make sure my work was covered". I was off for one day. ONE! She'd have survived.

Now I'm on the other side and managing people, I'm not bothered if someone takes a sick day. If you're unwell, you're unwell, and I trust people to not take the piss. The work isn't going to suffer because someone had one sick day.

Interestingly, my old workplace had a very high rate of absence and people in my team were constantly off sick, which I think was down to stress and it being a horrible place to work. Since covid and working from home, no one took a sick day in between March-December. WFH has made it a bit easier I think, if you've got an upset stomach you can probably manage that from the comfort of your own home, but screw commuting when you're feeling rotten.

 

[Glamourelle]

Oh my gosh petty shit like this drives me mad.

My partner had to go into hospital with kidney stones years ago so it was up to me to call his employer (McDonald’s at the time) to tell them he wouldn't be in for a couple of days. All I remember at the time is that they tried to ask me to get him to call himself, I was like well no because he’s laid up in hospital with no signal you idiot, me calling up on his behalf should be good enough, and then I hung up on them.

I think even if you had died some work places would still expect you to call up yourself to confirm

That last sentence just reminded me of this. If I don’t laugh at the truth of it I’ll just cry

 

[bookworm1403]

I work in retail. I was a Christmas temp when I first started. A week before Christmas (the same Christmas I started working there) my grandfather suddenly passed away. I worked the day he passed away and my supervisor (store manager was absent that day) was amazing and allowed me to work my 4 hour shift with a friend and 'take my mind off it'.
I called the Saturday before Christmas as a) I now wasn't coping and b) had to help my mum do last minute things for the funeral. I explained that I was sorry and I had tried to find someone to cover my shift. I said that I hadn't taken any bereavement days and I really needed a day off (as I'd worked four days in a row and was working on the Sunday also) to just deal with my loss. My manager sighed and just said "Fine. It's just an inconvenience for us."

I wanted to scream "It was a bit of an inconvenience for my 64 year old Gramps to pass away the week before Christmas too but we suck it up" GAH! Retail problems I suppose!

 

[Tinkerbell cat]

I hate ringing in sick, I doesn't matter how genuine I am, I always worry they won't believe me. I don't do it often but in my current job all you have to do is email the boss, who is fine about it. Thankfully I only had to do it once when I was in a car accident towards the end of last year and I was only off one day but honestly the guilt and anxiety I had even though I was being honest, was awful. I work for a great company though and everyone is respectful, its a good place to work, nobody takes sick days.

My previous job people took the piss all the time, One guy faked his own grandmothers death just because he had been on the coke the night before and hadn't made it to bed

I have worked in places late teens that would say no voicemails or texts, has to be a phonecall... then massive back to work disciplinary's etc when you did go back in.

Worked for Tesco when I was 18 and my manager was a real cow, one of our best friends committed suicide and I was really in a bad place because of it, I had told them I would be taking the Thursday off to go to her funeral which they said would be no problems however on the day off the funeral my manager rang and demanded to know where I was, I reminded her it was my friends funeral, she didn't even apologise for forgetting, just hung up the phone. I genuinely liked worked there and had made lots of friendships with both customers and staff so I was really sorry to leave.

I know some people seriously take the piss in regards to phoning in sick but some people are genuine and it just isn't fair to assume everyone is lying!

 

[slabber]

The amount of stories here of people who work in public facing roles who are being told they still need to come in when clearly ill with sickness or diarrhoea is terrible! Not only is it not fair on you, or your colleagues, it's not fair on the members of public who you're being forced to face! I can't believe how harsh some managers are!

I know, reading people's experiences of this in hospitality would put you off eating out

 

[mobella]

A few years ago I called in sick to an early start shift as I had an awful migraine. I later found out they were all slating me behind my back, to anyone and everyone who would listen basically! (Editing to add that I had a split shift that day, and the top manager actually messaged me to make sure I was coming in later).

I had another horrible migraine a few months back, this time in a different job. It was another early start shift and because I (wrongly) felt so guilty about the time in my previous job, I actually went into work! I have no idea how I managed. I nearly passed out from pain and I can't remember anything of the shift. I get truly awful migraines and I still how on earth I managed to bring myself to go into work.

 

[LS932]

I’m quite lucky, you’ve only got to fart in my office and they’re on at you to go home

 

[1001 others]

I've worked in places where it's a rule that you have to phone in personally (including one where my colleague was told she didn't sound sick and if she didn't turn up she'd get the sack - so she did, only to faint mid-morning and have to be carted off to hospital).

Maybe it's just me, but I've always felt that if I'm sick, it's best to actually go into work and show everyone so they don't accuse you of trying to skive off. It's hard to prove things like stomach cramps though. I work from home permanently now, but in this COVID world I wouldn't hesitate to stay home if I was symptomatic.

 

[Smallpotato]

I’m a nurse and hate calling in sick. My brother in law was in a serious accident at Christmas - basically he was missing, we filed a police report and then found him as a John Doe in an ICU. I rang in work hysterical on the Sunday, saying I wouldn’t be in for the Monday. I got written up as I didn’t call on the actual Monday. Sorry Jenny hun, you guys were the last thing on my mind

 

[BooksNCats]

I have had some shocking managers in my younger years and still have that guilty feeling when calling in sick - now in a much better job and wouldn’t think twice if I needed to call in sick.

One thing that always stuck with me. A few years ago I was buying something from an arsehole-owned sports shop (yep, that one) and the girl serving me was literally crying while she was serving me, I asked her if she was okay and she replied that she had come to work with an ear infection and they wouldn’t let her go home and she was in agony. I spoke to her manager on the way out and gave them a bollocking - always wonder to this day if she was sent home.

 

[Pizzledizzle]

Same with retail, even forced to work with shingles & several broken bones. And the mental health side of things was even more impossible. Similar to other posters, expected to check in daily even when sectioned. Even now I don’t work in that environment, I still get terrible anxiety around being sick on a work day.

 

[ClockworkDolly]

I know exactly what you mean! I used to work in hospitality and they would have wanted you in even if you were in a full body cast. I once had norovirus, the worst of which had been over my 2 days off but I still couldn’t keep anything down/inside so phoned to say I’m really sorry but I am too ill to work and worried I’ll pass it on to someone else. The landlady of the pub I worked at’s reply was ‘but *** hasn’t had a day off and he’ll have to stay on if you can’t come in’ I was like fine dragged myself in, somehow worked a 10 hour bar shift. The next day I got a phone call ‘can you come in (6 hours) early, ***** (the landlady) is really ill and can’t be on the pub floor’ I was so pissed off not only was I not allowed a day off sick, which would have been unpaid too! But I was having to go in early because she’d made me come in and obviously caught the virus off me, it was karma though too

Proper grim what goes on in hospitality. God knows how many other people I passed it on to pouring drinks and taking food out

In my new job, I once ended up getting rushed to the doctors from the office as it was the middle of summer 30 degree heat and I was violently shivering, I’d ignored a UTI which had become a nasty kidney infection. I was sternly told to take time off if I need to to go to the doctors or call in sick! It was a totally foreign concept to me to do so!

I too worked in hospitality for years, working at various venues behind the bar. You should never have been allowed to work behind a bar if you had a sickness virus and the fact that your boss caught the virus off of you, was proof enough.

Like you said, karma paid her a visit.

 

[Bitofthebubbly]

I was also told recently after telling my boss i was going to be 20 mins late for a blood test that I'm not allowed to make doctors/dentists appointments in work time but I work 8.30 to 5 so it's almost impossible. She didn't ask me what the blood test was for or if i was okay either.

I got told this when pregnant regarding my midwife appointments when I worked in a supermarket. Pretty impossible to book appointments outside of work hours when your shift pattern literally changes from one week to the next, but they didn’t care or make any effort to accommodate