Calling in sick to work - random questions.

[locarb]

I only call in sick when I'm on my death bed or not being able to breathe like you. I also have kids who eat up most of my sick time. Thats shitty you are being watched. My last employer was like that. I prefer my sick time to be used on days o' fun v actual sick days.

[Deleted]

Sorry your boss made a snarky comment.  That stinks! I call in if I know I won't be able to properly function and take care of patients and be on my feet all day (or if I'm contagious)

[naeljun]

I work for a health care company and we are expected to stay home when we are sick. It is up to us if we want to work from home while we are sick or stay in bed all day. We are given 5 sick days per year. There was actually a time when my VP closed our entire office for 2 days because there were more than 3 of us who were sick at the same time and he was worried about the swine flu. He made every one stay home. Now, if there was a person who called out sick all the time, I'm sure there would be an issue.

[jade28]

It pisses me off people are guilt tripped if they take sick days they are entitled too. I used to worry about using sick days and get anxiety calling in but now I don't really care. I work my ass off and if I want a day off, I'm taking it. It's better then working and getting more sick or causing other people to get sick. I call in if I have a fever or haven't slept (I'm useless on no sleep) or just feel really lousy/sick to the stomach. I also sometimes call in for a mental health day. I don't take sick days often at all. Just a few times a year.

As someone with a compromised immune system, I really really dislike when people come in sick. I don't understand why anyone feels like their work is more important than their health or other people's health. I frown upon people who show up obviously sick and in need of rest. Just take the damn day off and save others from getting whatever you have.

[Deleted]

My company is very lenient with sick day call offs as long as you have sick time to use. Basically, if you are sick, you shouldn't be contaminating everyone else in the office.

[hazel]

I'm really bad about calling in sick. I usually go to work, then realize I'm really not doing well, and go home a few hours later. I think I've called in sick once. I've gone home 3 or 4 times in the last few years.

I am very luck because my boss is very supportive of us calling in sick or going home. He wants us to stay away and rest so we don't get anyone else sick. I think he also notices we aren't as productive or focused when we're not feeling well.

[glitzyglow]

I worked for a national finance company for three years. They offered sick days, but your goals reflected as if you were there. For example, if I called in for 8 hours, my stats would show 8 hours with 0 loans, 0 dollars collected, and 0 calls taken, and that number would be added to your monthly average. That could make or break you for the month, which could cost you your job. I only took two hours of sick time in 3 years due to a migraine.

When I worked for the government, I used my sick time as needed without guilt or issues. My area didn't care in the least why I was out and even encouraged us to schedule our sick days in advance.

[achase123]

I don't call in sick very often but it's generally because P is sick. If I have a cold or something where ok still able to function ill go in anyways.

[achase123]

I don't call in sick very often but it's generally because P is sick. If I have a cold or something where ok still able to function ill go in anyways.

[achase123]

I don't call in sick very often but it's generally because P is sick. If I have a cold or something where i am still able to function ill go in anyways.

[GilliC]

I hate the mentality of frowning on sick days. I used to only stay home when I couldn't even get out of bed, and I remember plenty of times shivering in the AC even with a sweater on, because I had a fever.

In Norway, a lot of people get pissed if you come to work sick. They don't want you passing germs around and seem to find it a bit offensive that you think you're important enough to put their health at risk. So I started staying home when I was clearly sick, but not so sick that I would have missed school or work before. Often I can get out of bed, and even go to the grocery to buy soup or juice, so it's more a relax-and-recover day than a sick day. Most of the time, I'm feeling so much better after that one day that I'm back at work the next and fully efficient. Compared to my habit in the US of working at reduced capacity for a week feeling lousy and not having a chance to get better, it makes economic sense to stay home!

On the flipside, a few years ago I was traveling back and forth to the US a lot to help with a project that was way behind schedule. Everyone came to the office sick, and at one point someone passed something around that knocked out everyone on the team. So instead of a few extra sick days for one person, they ended up with almost everyone missing work!

IMO, sick days are there for some very good reasons. Getting better quickly will make you more productive, and not getting your colleagues sick will save time for the whole team.

[jojoandleo]

If you are contagious-stay the fuck home. Law school is like daycare in that it is a germ factory because people just don't stay home. URGH!

If you are not contagious-if you feel like absolute crap, stay home. If I know I would be useless at work, I will just use a sick day rather than going in and wasting company time. My employer should be THANKFUL I don't show up and do jack shit all day.

[udscoobychick]

We don't have sick days, per say, just PTO, but there is no stigma to calling in sick. I called in sick for a whole week when I had an epic case of tonsillitis back in November. I was really paranoid that someone was going to think that I was faking it or exaggerating or something (thank you, hangups from my crazy ex-advisor!), but everyone was really understanding. We can work from home if we don't want to use the PTO. I usually do a combo.

[Deleted]

Sorry mp, hope you feel better. That's kind of crazy you have pressure to go to work when you are sick. My policy is that if I have something I don't want anyone to catch or a headache so bad I can't function at work, I stay home. I call that morning of work, I will usually try to get ready and see how I feel. Sometimes it's so bad I can't make it to that step and I will just call in. My supervisors haven't ever expressed anything negative towards me.

[gozf]

My supervisor is really nice about people calling out, and I get unlimited sick days, but I rarely use them. Unless I have a fever or am actively vomiting, I tend to come in. I get the guilts, and it's my own hang-up, not something imposed on me.

[riverpestie]

We have a certain number of sick days. It is never snarked upon by taking sick days, that is, unless they're obviously being abused.
With that said, it really bugs me when people come to work sick. I don't want to be exposed to that crap. I would never make a comment about someone being out. I don't have the time or energy to care about what other people are doing.

[spindle92]

I am at the library right now and the lady a few cubicles down from is so darn sick she brought her own box of kleenex. If I get her sick germs I am going to be pissed.

[prettyinpearls]

My company is very good about allowing employees to use sick days as needed. We get 10 each year; I use more for staying home with DS when he's sick than I do for days I'm the one who is sick.

We have a flexible work environment and working from home is encouraged if you're not feeling well. We'd rather soemone WFH if they're sick instead of coming into the office and infecting everyone else here.

[achase123]

Apr 10, 2013 15:24:20 GMT -5 prettyinpearls said:

My company is very good about allowing employees to use sick days as needed. We get 10 each year; I use more for staying home with DS when he's sick than I do for days I'm the one who is sick.

We have a flexible work environment and working from home is encouraged if you're not feeling well. We'd rather soemone WFH if they're sick instead of coming into the office and infecting everyone else here.

And really, what is a sick day when you have a child?  I dread being sick because it just means it's THAT much harder to take care of him than it normally is because I'm exhausted and not feeling well.

[redredwine]

I HATE wasting PTO days on being sick. I will call in sick if I'm contagious or just miserable. Most of the time, like last week, I'll suck it up but leave early and then work from home if needed.

[kaneen]

I work from home so the only time I'd ever call in sick is if I absolutely couldn't get out of bed. I've never been that sick so I've not ever called in sick since I started working from home. That doesn't mean there haven't been days that I've laid on the couch and just monitored email...not really producing anything.

[bowies]

I also work in a flexible environment, so I just WFH. Sometimes I WFH just for the hell of it. I have no problem saying "this is where I am today" but I hate calling in actually sick/not working. When I was in the hospital I tried to say I'd work remotely, but my boss was all "the fuck you will." There's no stigma to being sick or attending to family matters. Likely because most of us are Type A and don't run into slacker mentalities often.

[Deleted]

I haven't called in sick in 4 years. The last time I called in I literally couldn't stand up without throwing up and I spent the day on the bathroom floor.

Unless it is a situation like that or I know I am highly contagious I won't call in. I don't know how my boss would feel since it happens so rarely. I know the ones who call in all the time get looked down upon.