Ok, I phoned in sick on saturday 23rd december, (i was due for a 9 hour shift daytime), and this is what the boss of the store I work at said to me:


"(note the sarcasm here) Thanx for this Samuel, now iam gonna have to tell your work collegues how you have let them down. Have a merry christmas" (phone down)

I had the flu. What a prick

I know iam just a lowest of the low shelf stacker in a big chain store, but damn, mangers are trained to be as rude as this? And my absence record is damn good aswell, so thats no excuse. They are always mega nasty to you on the phone if you call in sick.

How does your employer take it when u phone up ill?

That sucks.

I'm in school and don't have an employer currently, but I do have a new pet peeve: teachers with harsh attendance policies who request doctors' notes.

I am not going to haul my sick ass out of the house and put myself through a doctor's appointment just to be told what I already know, which is that I have a viral infection and I should be home in bed waiting it out rather than going to the doctor.

On top of that, I don't have health insurance, so that note becomes very pricey.

But there are teachers who will drop your grade substantially for "unexcused" absences.

Fuck, I'm an adult. If I can catch up on the material without being in class, who the hell are they to knock me for it?

HereToRockYourWorld said:

Yeah. I will be required to prove a docs certificate when i come back for my inappropriately named "welcome back meeting" later this week. As iam not in the uunion, they will go nutz and be very nasty about me being off on their busiest weekend of the year.

So iam pretty stuffed, but like you said, I did not need to see a doc about the flu. Iam on thin ice as it is in my job LOL

I could of got a doctors note/certificate for free as I live in England LOL. Well I think they are free?

My response went into no man's land! Bad Gateway...
I call in once every 12-18 months. Some co-workers call in routinely, particularily around weekends and holidays. It depends on your track record.
No one wants you there if you're going to infect everyone else with coughing and hacking. If you call in alot, even if you're sick it won't be believable.
Depends on the situation.

xplnyrslf said:

I understand my boss being annoyed if my track record was bad, but it isn't. I havn't been off since for about 3 years.

As if i was going to come in, when i had the flu.

thesexofit said:

It's just dumb. People get sick. You know? Sheesh.

thesexofit said:

Your boss was wrong. Not everyone in management is qualified. It's called the "Peter Principal". People get promoted to their level of incompetance.

xplnyrslf said:

Unfortunately my managers must be trained to be that rude to you when your sick. I don't understand the logic in having a go at someone because they are sick? Did my boss really think I would go "Ok, i'll come in then".

Before when I phoned in sick, he said "why havn't you seen a doctor if ur ill?". All I had then was a tummy bug. When I came to my "welcome back" meeting, they wanted "proof" of my illness like a certificate. Like that was going to happen. I know iam going round in circles now, but I guess and iam glad you guys do not get bullied when you phone in sick.

Maybe it's time for you to look for another job

Does not seem he cares about your health.

luv4u said:

Iam the lowest of the low. A shelf stacker. Of course he doesn't care about my health LOL.

are your employers as rude about you being sick as mine? Thats what I would like to know from orgers?

My current employers are not rude to me; but they have been rude to one of the other women in my department...she was physically exhausted from working so many extra hours and our associate director told her she should stop going out so much.


At a previous job the policy was that if you called in sick more than two days in a row you had to bring a note/proof that you went to the doctor. And every year they would review your sick days and if you happened to always be sick on Fridays or Mondays, or the day after a long weekend, you might get a special talking to. I though that was a fair policy--if you really were sick for two plus days, it would probably be a good idea to go to the doctor. And we all had the option for health insurance, so cost shouldn't have been too much of an issue.

HereToRockYourWorld said:

Doesn't your school require you to have health insurance? When I was in grad school I had to prove I had health insurance or purchase it through the university...

That's mash up of your boss to leave that as a message on your phone. He may be under heavy Christmas pressure but still that's no excuse, esp. considering your exemplary sick record, no time off in three years.

And stop demeaning yourself when describing what you do! (if you truely think it's that low, try and afford some respect for the ones that do it for a living - sorry, that's a bit of a telling off ). You're a loyal employee of Tesco. You've put in hours and years and don't deserve to be spoken like that.

Have a word with that twat when you go back. Don't be afraid. There are fucking standards that a huge and mighty superstore like Tesco's must ahere to and keep. Once you tell him how you feel, under the circumstances, he should actually apologise to you! If need be, take it up the line

And if worst comes to worst give me a shout, I'll come around and stick a BOGOF self up his ass!

ANd where the fuck have you been! There's mans looking left and right for you on Dewrede's thread

Lots of times managers are allowed to be nasty because the higher levels don't care about the employees well being, they just want to get results from them. Plus there's usually more people waiting to take the job if you get unhappy and quit.

This is really strange because it's been proven that happy employees are more productive and stay in the job longer. Which means less time training new people.

Anyway Senik is right, all workers deserve respect no matter how humble the job.
So respect yourself.

DevotedPuppy said:

That's what I was thinking... when I was in school it was the same deal, I had to show proof of insurance or pay to be insured by the school.

xplnyrslf said:

Agreed! You just hit the nail right on the head.

psychodelicide said:

co-sign that as well, the last time I was sick and went to work I was sent home for that exact reason for fear of infecting everyone else but I almost never call in sick and on the rare occasions that I do I’m only out for a day.

Whenever I call in sick, I always dial my boss's number so that it goes straight into voice mail and I don't have to speak to him. Therefore, I never have to deal with a nasty response, although I have never gotten one the next day or thereafter.
Also, my co-workers tend to ask me, "Are you feeling better?" Sometimes I wonder if they are being sarcastic or trying to "catch me in a lie."

As much as it sucks to do this, sometimes you just have to go into work sick as a dog, and then talk to the manager and explain to them that you aren't feeling well at all and really need to go home.

At least then they can SEE that you're sick, and might be thankful that you at least tried to come in.

Still though, he should have given you the benefit of the doubt if you hadn't called off in 3 years.

CarrieMpls said:

Nope.

A response in two parts....

Before I came back in the military, I hardly ever called in sick...but faced much the same reaction from my bosses because, in their estimation, it was such an imposition upon other workers....inconsiderate, even....I always told them to get bent...that in a minimum wage industry, I seriously doubted that my absence would bring about the downfall of the establishment....and though I passed through several jobs with a well earned reputation as a smart ass, my calling out never led to my dismissal.....

to address another point that was brought up, utilizing a military point of view....managers and supervisors only care about the bottom line....and if something threatens that bottom line (and by extension THEIR job/success) they become insufferably rude and nasty.....as a supervisor, when my troops end up sick or on bedrest for a couple of days, it pisses me off because of the changes that we have to go through...but we aren't allowed to just call out...troops MUST go to the doctor (or sick call, as its known) BEFORE they can have bedrest....so it minimizes the sting....

bottom line, if you really want to be a smartass, bring in the box that your cold medicine was in and call that your doctors note.....

Steadwood said:

see now, that's something I would do

NAnomaly said:

HA! THAT'S SOMETHING I DID!
MY BOSS MADE ME COME IN AND I WAS SICK AS A DOG WHO ATE SOME CHOCOLATE. I WENT IN AND COUGH ALL OVER HIS PHONE, COFFEE MUG, AND HIS DESK. THEN THE FOLLOWING WEEK HE WAS OUT SICK! KARMA IS A MUTHA!

debbiedean2 said:

yes it is

CarrieMpls said:

I believe that's actually required by law for students at colleges in Massachusetts.

HereToRockYourWorld said:

https://www.studentselect.com

It's a pretty good plan, with reasonable coverage and premiums, and you're not restricted to a "network" of health care providers. I had it when I was in Indiana, a state where individual health insurance is generally unaffordable or unavailable.

The one downside is no coverage for medication (unless you're hospitalized), but I found that docs were happy to write me a script for a generic -- or even better, give me something from their free samples.

I'm mentally ill.
So I call in sick every day.

You're fired!!!! hahahaha

Yup, just bring a doctor's note to shove in their face, that's what I always did.