Calling in sick. Does this happen to you?

[Deleted]

I feel like making the choice to call in sick is such a huge deal. Some days it's obvious. Other days, you feel okay but you know staying home would be better.
Then you call
Within minutes, you feel better. It's likely knowing you don't have to be on all day but then the guilt.

I called in sick today because I cannot stop coughing and I know nobody wants to deal with that. But I also know covering my shift is a pain.

Is this just me?

[Deleted]

Calling in sick isn't an issue for me at all. But I manage my own schedule and cases so it doesn't impact anyone else. It's not like someone needs to cover my shift. If that were the case I think it would be different.

I hope you feel better soon!

[sunshine608]

I get so anxious about calling in sick for some reason. For the most part, coverage isn't even needed and I can handle stuff myself but it's causes so much anxiety.

[preppy]

Since I would gave to use PTO I usually just work from home when I am sick.

[starburst604]

Calling in sick causes me such guilt and stress about what my workload will look like the next day. So I only call in if I really feel like death. This winter will be a little different now that I have a baby in daycare. I feel no guilt about calling in to take care of her despite the fact that we're horribly understaffed. Perhaps that will finally get them to listen to me about hiring another person.

[mrshandy]

My job is low stress and I get lots of sick days. I generally don't feel guilty about calling in sick (sometimes I feel giddy since it means I get to lay on the couch and watch movies all day).

[Deleted]

Sept 24, 2015 7:18:38 GMT -5 starburst604 said:

Calling in sick causes me such guilt and stress about what my workload will look like the next day. So I only call in if I really feel like death. This winter will be a little different now that I have a baby in daycare. I feel no guilt about calling in to take care of her despite the fact that we're horribly understaffed. Perhaps that will finally get them to listen to me about hiring another person.

And this is one of the reasons I don't want to call in sick for me. In case I need to call in sick for her. I don't want to 'waste' my days on myself. Stupid.

I can't work from home. And nobody wants a pharmacist coughing in their face. I assume?

[pinotgrig]

Unless I'm really, really sick the expectation is that I'll work from home. I may not work as much so I can nap or go the doc, but I need to at least be available.

[osulori]

It depends on the day. Two days a week, I have at least one evaluation scheduled and getting those covered or rescheduled can be a pain in the butt. Starting in November I'll be in feeding clinic 2+ mornings a month and getting coverage for that isn't super difficult but can be a pain for whoever I ask to cover.* But if it's a regular treatment day with no evaluations, I don't feel bad at all.

*if I'm sick, I will call off regardless of what I have scheduled that day. I just feel a little more guilty if it's a clinic or eval day.

[starburst604]

Sept 24, 2015 7:20:57 GMT -5 @hannymaren said:

Sept 24, 2015 7:18:38 GMT -5 starburst604 said:

Calling in sick causes me such guilt and stress about what my workload will look like the next day. So I only call in if I really feel like death. This winter will be a little different now that I have a baby in daycare. I feel no guilt about calling in to take care of her despite the fact that we're horribly understaffed. Perhaps that will finally get them to listen to me about hiring another person.

And this is one of the reasons I don't want to call in sick for me. In case I need to call in sick for her. I don't want to 'waste' my days on myself. Stupid.

I can't work from home. And nobody wants a pharmacist coughing in their face. I assume?

I work in a doctor's office so our patients probably don't need to see staff that sounds like they have TB, but even if I sound terrible I still tend to come in unless I feel awful. I also feel like I need to save that time to take care of DD. I think a lot working moms operate this way.

[Jalapeñomel]

I always feel guilty.

[boxerdog]

yep, I always start feeling better and then immediately guilty.

I am trying not to call out unless it is dire, to save my leave for whenever I get pg again.

[bowies]

Sept 24, 2015 7:23:25 GMT -5 pinotgrig said:

Unless I'm really, really sick the expectation is that I'll work from home. I may not work as much so I can nap or go the doc, but I need to at least be available.

Same. It kinda sucks, but at the same time I'm glad I can still save PTO.

[noodleskooze]

I have had to take a sick day once since I started my new job (for DS, not for me). It's hard because I am one of three people who do what I do, but I'm the main one. The other two have their own responibilities, so if I'm gone, they have to do their work and mine.

[noodleoo]

I always feel guilty about calling in sick, even when I used to have actual sick days (not PTO). I don't know why. I always have this feeling that people will think I'm faking or not really sick. When I go back, I feel like people are judging whether i was actually sick or not. I'm not sure if if is just me or what. It is so annoying because it has caused me to go to work when I really should have stayed home and then I just feel like crap. I hate the corporate culture that makes you feel like it's a competition over who works harder and takes fewer sick days/vacations.

[kershnic]

Always guilty. But after I got through that I loved sick days before kids. Now I'm already terrified were going to have major career ramifications for kid sick days. Either of us would have to pretty much be hospitalized to waste a sick day on grownup illness.

[bbonanza]

Sept 24, 2015 7:20:57 GMT -5 @hannymaren said:

Sept 24, 2015 7:18:38 GMT -5 starburst604 said:

Calling in sick causes me such guilt and stress about what my workload will look like the next day. So I only call in if I really feel like death. This winter will be a little different now that I have a baby in daycare. I feel no guilt about calling in to take care of her despite the fact that we're horribly understaffed. Perhaps that will finally get them to listen to me about hiring another person.

And this is one of the reasons I don't want to call in sick for me. In case I need to call in sick for her. I don't want to 'waste' my days on myself. Stupid.

I can't work from home. And nobody wants a pharmacist coughing in their face. I assume?

I do this because I have three kids, and although I am able to work from home if I need to (my manager is really flexible), I would rather bank those sick days just in case I need them for the girls.  And fortunately I rarely need to use them for myself. 

[hermione]

Unless I have a program that day, I have no guilt. If I have a program, I'd have to be practically non-functioning to call in.

[water*drop]

I feel guilty because canceling class is a big deal to my admin, so I have to be on my deathbed to do it. It sucks.

[momin2013]

When I was working I had no qualms about calling in sick. I guess part of it is that my work would pretty much just wait for me until I got back, it wasn't really burdening anyone else at all.

We had a certain number of sick days a year and it was use 'em or lose 'em, and there was actually an implicit understanding that you could use them as your discretion, including as "mental health days", when you felt you just needed a break.

[leonard131]

I typically just work from home. My job is flexible like that.

[katiecat]

I feel zero guilt .. That's what it's there for. I do have to be pretty sick though, my vacation and sick time come out of the same pot, so I only call in when necessary, I don't want to use my time off being sick and not be able to take vacation days.

[Deleted]

I didn't feel guilty at all at my last job, but we have a really fuzzy sick policy here and I never know how much time I'm allowed to take. It really stresses me out. Everything about the leave policy here stresses me out. It's actually to the point where I'm thinking about looking for a new job.

[halfpint]

I'm so grateful to be a WFH employee - I can easily work when I'm a little sick without feeling like I'm getting the stink eye for coming in with a cough. You can't win - you feel guilt and like you're being judged for staying home, but then you feel like people hate you for coming in and spreading germs.

I get that some jobs aren't conducive to working from home, but I wish more employers were open to it in cases where they are. I would have to be basically dying to take a day off right now, because I can wear yoga pants and sip on tea all day, but still keep up on emails, calls, etc.

[sent]

I'm self employed so I don't feel guilty, I feel total panic. Calling out sick means having to cram an entire day's schedule somewhere else.  Every appointment has to be rescheduled and appointments are hard enough to get as it is.  I had one rough day last winter where I couldn't take DD to daycare so I started emailing my assistant about all the phone calls she needed to make and stuff she needed to do to reschedule everyone when she got to the office, only to have her call me 10 minutes into the email sounding miserable and needing to call out sick herself. I had to remote in and call/email/text everyone myself to cancel their appointments. Colleagues told me I should've just dragged my kid to the office and stuck them in a private room with hot chocolate and a pillow and made it work, but they didn't realize I was talking about a 1 year old.