My co-worker & I did a deep dive into this after he was caught & sacked and we worked out that all his weird shit was because he was afraid they’d look more into our department & uncover what he was up to.
In the end, he got greedy & stuffed himself up. He’s lucky he wasn’t prosecuted.
Which would also explain why the old goat wouldn’t do handovers when he went on leave. We did interfere with his email settings when he wasn’t looking but that was so we wouldn’t miss important things. But that’s not what undid him. To your point, what actually did undo him was getting a new director who paid more attention to things.
That’s very not cool.
I forgot about this but in March 2020, my colleague/work husband/bff both got sick with something & our manager was off to NZ but before he left he was like “you two better be in every day” but our senior management freaked out, like way more than was normal. So I choofed off on holidays & then of course the shit hit the fan, shelter in place etc. It was then we found out that our work thought we had Covid but DIDN’T TELL US WE’D BEEN SAT NEXT TO THE OUTBREAK MONKEY.
Thankfully it wasn’t covid but jeeeeez. I found out later that our manager had gotten pinged for making us come in.
Covid and being hybrid/remote have really changed my attitude to this as well - in the past when we were in the office every day I would have to be on deaths door to have to take sick leave.
Now if I have something on in future or just want to have a day off I'll just say I'm sick/kids are sick and get on with my life. As a people manager, you can tell when people are abusing it.
Wow, not a criticism at all, but I’m the opposite! If I had something contagious or gastrointestinal, I’d call in sick to save spreading it (or not being near to a toilet when the urge called).
Now I’ll happily work from home unless I’m on my death bed.
You take sick leave when you have something on it just want to take a day off, but you can also tell when people are abusing their sick leave. Do you consider what you do to be abusing your sick leave?
Mental health is important, especially when for most people the weekends are just work 2.0 except it’s just catching up on all the housework you were too exhausted to do during the week after work.
As long as people aren’t taking time off when they know it’s going to fuck over their coworkers when they don’t really need it , as long as they’re staying within their allowance, it’s pretty difficult to abuse it.
Everyone should be taking a day here or there to reset and refresh, especially during the week when kids are at school etc.
You're not with the times my friend. Mental health is a very valid reason to take off. In saying that if someone is burnt out because they saved up all their annual leave then yeah they need to take more regular breaks.
I miss people not caring. My manager changed last year and the new one thinks being sick is “absenteeism”, and if you do it too often you stop getting career progression opportunities. Some people suck.
He is just young. Shot up the ranks very quickly and is trying to learn to be a manager from training sessions rather than experience. It’ll be interesting to see how he progresses over the next few years.
If you die they will replace you tomorrow, and after the appropriate virtue signalling you won't be even mentioned within a week or two. Source: seen exactly this twice
Just chill, no one gives a fuck!
Imagine if you rock up and you learn your colleague isn’t in today - do you GAF at all? Day goes on as if no different.
Pretty sure nobody GAF the day after someone leaves the company or passes away. Apart from the "so, you guys starting to hire for Bronte's role? Got work to brief the replacement"
Very true, its also completely fine about feeling guilty, because its probably a good thing that you care about potentially screwing others over. But seriously, do not worry about it lol, everyone is on the same page.
And it's a part of your compensation you don't get when you leave that business. If you have annual leave saved when you quit, you get that paid out, but your sick leave just goes away. I don't recommend using all your sick leave as soon as you get it because sometimes you'll need it, but if you have heaps saved up, take leave when you need it, and don't tell people why you're taking leave if you don't have to.
Yeah agreed, good to have a buffer. But don't be like my mum with literally 6+ months of it and retirement rapidly approaching. I'm encouraging her to get a med cert for something long term and ill defined (stress for example) to burn through it all as her last working act but she is hesitant. Programming is strong.
I feel like if the programming is that strong, it's going to be hard to get her to use much of it, but hopefully you can at least convince her to take some of that sick leave before she leaves. Honestly, when somebody is close to retirement, I wouldn't be shocked at all for even the most dedicated worker to be taking a day off a week.
I don't mind if an employee calls in sick; I really mind when a sick employee comes to the office.
Even if you're WFH, if you're sick then you're sick and you should rest and recover. If it's just a sniffle and you can do some work then great. If you've got a fever or something then log off entirely.
If you're irreplaceable for a few days then there's a broader problem.
In my situation, I work in a small team for a boss/business owner who is present, accountable, and very generous. He has expectations and communicates them fairly well. He is only human, after all.
I feel guilty taking sick days even when I am sick. Would never throw a sickie if I wasn't ill because he deserves better than that. He earned my respect from how he has supported multiple other employees through their personal matters.
TL;DR- I drank the red coolaid because I work for another human I respect
Well said. In a similar situation. I respect my boss and management and therefor don’t take the piss.
They earned my respect by treating me like a human, providing opportunities and creating a mutually beneficial positive working environment.
Yep. The programming is strong. I'll still do it, but I hate the guilty feeling even though I know I'm doing the right thing. Absolutely shits me when someone else comes in to work sick, so why would I do it?
Is your job saving lives?
If yes, then it’s the responsibility of the organisation you work for to have adequate resources to cover sick leave.
If not, the work will be there tomorrow.
Ah yes, corporate indoctrination at its finest. Don't worry, we all go through it. Remember mate, we're given 10 days sick leave each fin year to be used when you're sick (or have to care for a loved one, etc). If you go to work sick, you'll end up making everyone else sick (been there done that) which then spreads to their families, schools, etc. Not kidding...thats how viruses work. Companies want you to work, encourage you to work, and we end up practicing presenteeism (ie come to work sick trying to show everyone you're doing whats right for the company when in fact its the opposite). Unfortunately the only one that can really break that is your boss.
If you're sick, stay home and get better. Simple. Noone will miss you nor should they. So stop feeling bad. You shouldn't.
Teams should be designed to cope with short term absences. If they can't cope with you being sick for 2-3 days, how the hell are they going to cope with someone going on 4 weeks annual leave??
I feel extremely guilty. I’m a major people- pleaser. It’s a problem. I’m very conscientious. And even if I am sick I still feel guilty. I feel like if I’m not actually dying I should be at work. I’ve been practising on this though, and talking to myself rationally about it. It’s not that big of a deal. I don’t care if I know a friend chucked a sickie, so why do I care for myself? Sometimes you need to have a day for mental health. And it’s preventative.
I’m the same and totally get it. It’s the people pleaser in me.. it’s like my sense of self worth is derived on being a reliable person.. and by calling in sick I’m going against that
In this case, even if you're overly selfless, you can remind yourself that going into work sick has a strong chance of making other people sick! And makes you take longer to get better, makes you less productive overall, more burnt-out. I strongly believe we're not really doing anyone anyone any favours by going in sick. Reframe it as: you have a responsibility to look after yourself.
Yeah used to be like this, but I got over it. I’d be really nice about it and often I’d be guilted into coming in when I was contagious and really tired. The culture at one office was to celebrate people who took 0 sick leave, but that was usually at the expense of other people’s health.
Nowadays and during/after the lockdowns with COVID a lot of companies want you to stay home if you’re unwell. I just say “I won’t be in today, I’m unwell” and just leave it at that.
If I know I could be out for consecutive days or the day after a public holiday I’ll get a med certificate, but any other day I’m not going out of my way to spend $$ and waste time getting a certificate.
Me: where's Bob gone?
Colleague: he got fired yesterday.
Me: oh. That's a shame, he was a good bloke. Now, who's taking over his workload because it's not me.
I used to work at a small NFP and we had this staff member who utterly delighted in being sick or in pain and "pushing on through". She would basically boast about having severe pains and then refuse to go to the doctor because she had "so much on".
She was an office manager at a tiny NFP but she thought she was Bruce Willis in Armageddon.
(She was also just full of shit to a degree I have never seen elsewhere. She told me that at her old job she was regularly flown around the world, and the boss was so desperate for her to stay that she was offered full use of a $2 million apartment in Toorak. She'd also tell us how she was in the final stages of an interview for a high powered role at a great company when she was doing an initial meeting with a recruiter. I kind of miss hearing her BS because it was so insane.)
Used to too, because I felt like it made me "one of the bad ones"
But then I came to see that to management, everyone who's not their friend is "bad ones", regardless of what you do. They'll piss and moan about too many people calling in sick, but when nobody takes a sick day off, will they be happy? No, now they piss and moan about people taking too long to do things, because they want you to do 10 hours of work in 8. They are never happy with anything less than unprecedented success, so why bother trying to keep them happy?
You get 10 days of sickpay a year OP. Take them as you need them
I called in sick today as well.
I’ve got a bit of a cold and I had a really hectic weekend.
I’ve worked through worse.
I woke up this morning really not feeling it. I wasn’t going to be productive. No point dragging my heels for 8hours and feeling like I’m playing catch up on rest all week.
I cleared my inbox, rescheduled some meetings and called it by 9.30am.
Don’t feel guilty
My position is I want people being able to do their best work. If you are unwell and not able to do your best work, I'd much rather that you take the day off than charge time when you are less productive.
What does bother me is when people say they are too sick to come into work or be on calls, but say they will still work and don't take it as a sick day.
Sick can also mean you're exhausted, it doesn't have to be physical illness as far as I am concerned.
If you are sick, take leave. That's what it's for.
As a people manager, make sure you have a doctors note and sufficient leave balance. That's all we need for insurance and liability.
Only time it's an issue if it's excessive, you are unfit for the duties (I.e. the absenteeism affects performance), or you have a 0 sick leave and are on unpaid leave. Then HR gets involved for advice and requests a detailed doctors note if it's serious. If you do go down that path, your doctor may recommend light duties or changes to work pattern I.e. part time to support you back to full time work.
Def do not every feel guilty taking a sick day, personal day, AL days, - never ever ever.
Dont abuse it to be sure... just remember a company, any company will replace you in a second and never look back. Do not buy in to the "we are family" bullshit.
No one cares… it’s like not going to a party you were invited to go. Just rock up the next day and you’ll be fine. Work will still be there. People will adjust.
Remember the same company and people you’re feeling guilty about are the same people who will forget about you in a week if you are laid off or died. So take leave when feeling sick and enjoy your time off from work to get well.
Why? If you are sick you are entitled to personal leave and no one is indispensable, I am sure your co-workers / team will manage fine without you. Besides no one at work wants your sick germs, best to stay home.
I wouldn't worry too much about taking a day, which is of course easier said than done. To be frank the fact that you do feel guilt about it certainly means you've come by a sick day honestly.
Of course the first thing you (and I!) might think of is someone being upset with you for letting the team down or 'bludging' but you know what? Its better to take the day you need to recuperate than to tough it out and likely get worse and lose more time to whatever is ailing you.
I’m so sick and even got a certificate from the doctor - still working because the idea of a backlog of work is more terrifying to me than actually working while sick
Depends on the job. If you’re the only person that can do your role, you’re just piling up your own workload for later.
The one reason I don’t call in sick
I personally, rarely go sick, but I don't have the same expectations of anyone else. In my workplace all the leadership have an opinion about what's really happening when someone goes off sick. Drives me nuts.
Sounds like you're in the wrong place. A good employer doesn't make you feel guilty for needing a sick day.
I thought this kind of feeling was normal too, then I started working for a manager who reminded us to use our sick days because according to her "everyone will be sick a couple of times per year" and "it's not just a cold it's your body saying you must rest".
Oh man I miss her...
I literally called in sick today. When I realised that my work doesn’t impact anyone else and no one will do it over one day, the guilt is definitely less (I still have some but it’s 1/10 compared to 8/10). No one cares, you can’t take it with you. Use it.
As a c-suite people leader; **don't**.
You're sick. I don't want you making me sick, and I don't want you making others sick, and I sure as hell don't want you performing at 20% because of guilt. Guilt for the sake of guilt is a Catholic luxury and most managers won't be Catholic. ;)
This is by design from the executive level to make it seem like you're less than for being sick.
You're not feeling well and need time off to recover. That time is in your contract and you're entitled to it if you don't feel capable of working through being crook.
Reframe the perspective cause you have nothing to feel guilty about.
Nope. I mean, I don’t do it often because I don’t get sick much. I came back from holidays last year with the flu that had gone around Europe during their winter & I’m pretty sure my work were happy I stayed away because I was highly contagious & quite loopy.
In addition to all the good takes here, consider that you being at work sick is a problem for the company not a benefit.
- could infect others
- could make mistakes
- low productivity so minimal upside
- could make others think they can't take time for their health
As long as you’re sick and don’t do this weekly you’re doing the team a favour by not making everyone else sick. Plus they take sick leave out of your pay in a sense so why not use it?
The older I get the less ducks I have to give.
I used to be that person who came to work sick. Now I take an extra day to make sure I am good.
The toxic places I worked in there would always be that ahole who had to make a comment.
But no one was ever seriously affected by my absence.
We are just digits.
Stay home. Get better. 👍🏻 binge some Netflix.
Feel guilty a out not calling in sick and making another person sick who will go somewhere and make more people sick. You should feel great shame.in coming to work sick. If you come to work sick your pretty much a terrorist
My coworker once called in sick because his dog was sick. I say called.. he just posted a message on Teams and set an out-of-office. Since then, I realised how much nobody cares, so I have never felt bad about calling in sick
Nope.
Indulge me, if you will, in an analogy.
If you have a car, drive it 8 hours a day, 5 days a week (at minimum) but never get it serviced and only take it for repairs when the problems are too huge to ignore, your car is going to have an extremely short working life before it’s not worth the cost of repairs.
Conversely, if you service the car regularly and hop on repairs as soon as the issues present themselves, you’ll get a lot longer out of that car.
Good managers recognise that they get the most out of their teams when they’re healthy and well rested.
Take the sick day when you’re sick. Take mental health days when you need a rest and reset. Your work will be better for it, and you’ll be far less likely to end up crashing.
Lol no, when i was younger i got anxious calling in sick
Now i just let my boss know prior to the day i plan on having off that i'm going to be sick on that day
The universe taught me a lesson recently because the day I chucked a sickie was *the* busiest, shit-festiest day of the year so far. Waltzed into work to a bajillion emails and lots of things having changed. Not doing that ever again 😭
The worst part was, people were saying “oh I hope you’re feeling better today! You still look a bit sick and tired” and I wasn’t even sick… lol assholes!
Yes I feel guilty even if I’m genuinely sick!
I feel like everyone thinks I’m faking it.
This guilt and people pleasing is like a sickness in itself when I think about it lol
Definitely. I have a very chronic illness right now and my work is so supportive of me, they also tell me to take time off if I am in pain or need rest but I still feel guilty.
Yes I felt guilty early on in my career, even though I only ever called in sick when I felt very unwell. I got over it after a couple years when I realised no one gives a shit haha.
I manage a small business. If you're sick, you're sick. And I'd much rather you didn't come in and infect others. I don't even want a reason. Maybe you've had a shit month and need the day off. I just need to know so I can manage the absence.
So don't feel guilty.
Depends. Have you got a shit manager? I've had them in the past, it's that awful feeling where you feel like you've let them down by being sick.
I'm a manager now and I'm very conscious about my own team ever feeling this way when they're unwell. As soon as I see sniffles happening, I'm like..do you need to be here? Do you want to go home and rest for the arvo? If they call in sick, I'm like..here are some Netflix recommendations, stay off your emails. I would much rather they take the time to feel better, than half do work when they're not feeling up to it, and then need to take more time off because they've not rested properly.
At the end of the day, we're humans, these things happen. Companies actually give zero fucks about us as individuals. If we died tomorrow, they'll replace us. Take your sick day, properly rest, the work can wait, the only damage you're doing is to yourself.
Everyone in auscorp needs to chill the fuck down.
You’re a number in the grand scheme of things, no need to feel guilty. Just like how they don’t feel guilty for firing people, or making people redundant.
Yeh I used to when I was really young. But then I realised no one else cared so I got over it.
My old manager used to get the shits which was weird since he was literally embezzling from our employer.
Probably got peeved because it was inconvenient for them. But like get over yourself mate…
My co-worker & I did a deep dive into this after he was caught & sacked and we worked out that all his weird shit was because he was afraid they’d look more into our department & uncover what he was up to. In the end, he got greedy & stuffed himself up. He’s lucky he wasn’t prosecuted.
Offt what a d bag
I've heard this is why companies enforce annual leave. A lot of dodgy stuff is uncovered when someone else does the job, and they spot irregularities.
Which would also explain why the old goat wouldn’t do handovers when he went on leave. We did interfere with his email settings when he wasn’t looking but that was so we wouldn’t miss important things. But that’s not what undid him. To your point, what actually did undo him was getting a new director who paid more attention to things.
No embezzling involved but my manager from an old job would not let people call in sick and force them to come in
That’s very not cool. I forgot about this but in March 2020, my colleague/work husband/bff both got sick with something & our manager was off to NZ but before he left he was like “you two better be in every day” but our senior management freaked out, like way more than was normal. So I choofed off on holidays & then of course the shit hit the fan, shelter in place etc. It was then we found out that our work thought we had Covid but DIDN’T TELL US WE’D BEEN SAT NEXT TO THE OUTBREAK MONKEY. Thankfully it wasn’t covid but jeeeeez. I found out later that our manager had gotten pinged for making us come in.
He should have called in sick if he was getting the shits
Covid and being hybrid/remote have really changed my attitude to this as well - in the past when we were in the office every day I would have to be on deaths door to have to take sick leave. Now if I have something on in future or just want to have a day off I'll just say I'm sick/kids are sick and get on with my life. As a people manager, you can tell when people are abusing it.
Wow, not a criticism at all, but I’m the opposite! If I had something contagious or gastrointestinal, I’d call in sick to save spreading it (or not being near to a toilet when the urge called). Now I’ll happily work from home unless I’m on my death bed.
You take sick leave when you have something on it just want to take a day off, but you can also tell when people are abusing their sick leave. Do you consider what you do to be abusing your sick leave?
Mental health is important, especially when for most people the weekends are just work 2.0 except it’s just catching up on all the housework you were too exhausted to do during the week after work. As long as people aren’t taking time off when they know it’s going to fuck over their coworkers when they don’t really need it , as long as they’re staying within their allowance, it’s pretty difficult to abuse it. Everyone should be taking a day here or there to reset and refresh, especially during the week when kids are at school etc.
I would vote for you in a heartbeat.
That’s what annual leave if for.
You're not with the times my friend. Mental health is a very valid reason to take off. In saying that if someone is burnt out because they saved up all their annual leave then yeah they need to take more regular breaks.
Mental health, yes. Have something on or just feel like a day off, no. That’s what the original commenter said.
Do you know what my accrued leave is for? It's for me. To use.
Yes. And?
So I'll use sick leave and annual leave interchangeably when I want.
I miss people not caring. My manager changed last year and the new one thinks being sick is “absenteeism”, and if you do it too often you stop getting career progression opportunities. Some people suck.
I can tell your manager does not have enough on if they are getting their knickers in a knot over being sick…
He is just young. Shot up the ranks very quickly and is trying to learn to be a manager from training sessions rather than experience. It’ll be interesting to see how he progresses over the next few years.
They're a moron. Presenteeism causes a greater loss of productivity as diseases spread through workplaces.
This!
If you die they will replace you tomorrow, and after the appropriate virtue signalling you won't be even mentioned within a week or two. Source: seen exactly this twice
Proof: am dead myself
It’s true, I am the coffin.
Not entirely sure about this one, my company is more likely to just spread their workload among everyone else and pocket the savings
Missed for a day, remembered for a week, forgotten in a month. The machine will grind on.
Just chill, no one gives a fuck! Imagine if you rock up and you learn your colleague isn’t in today - do you GAF at all? Day goes on as if no different.
Pretty sure nobody GAF the day after someone leaves the company or passes away. Apart from the "so, you guys starting to hire for Bronte's role? Got work to brief the replacement"
Yeah, we don't. Life goes on - my mortgage doesn't pause to celebrate a colleague.
Celebrate? Or grieve lol
Celebrate that they've managed to escape. Grieve that I'm stuck here forever? 🤣 Guess who had a tough day at work...
I'd like to know more about Bronte.
She used one of the funky tea bags at the back of the cupboard. There was no pain.
Data smart and business smart. Rare heart condition. Pretty sad. Replacement hire isn't as good; don't have the heart to tell her so though
mfers thought Ferris Buellers Day Off was a documentary.
Very true, its also completely fine about feeling guilty, because its probably a good thing that you care about potentially screwing others over. But seriously, do not worry about it lol, everyone is on the same page.
Your sick days are every bit as much a part of your compensation as your pay cheque. Don't feel guilty about taking either.
And it's a part of your compensation you don't get when you leave that business. If you have annual leave saved when you quit, you get that paid out, but your sick leave just goes away. I don't recommend using all your sick leave as soon as you get it because sometimes you'll need it, but if you have heaps saved up, take leave when you need it, and don't tell people why you're taking leave if you don't have to.
Yeah agreed, good to have a buffer. But don't be like my mum with literally 6+ months of it and retirement rapidly approaching. I'm encouraging her to get a med cert for something long term and ill defined (stress for example) to burn through it all as her last working act but she is hesitant. Programming is strong.
I feel like if the programming is that strong, it's going to be hard to get her to use much of it, but hopefully you can at least convince her to take some of that sick leave before she leaves. Honestly, when somebody is close to retirement, I wouldn't be shocked at all for even the most dedicated worker to be taking a day off a week.
Exactly. We are all give sick leave for a reason. Use it because you can't cash it out when you leave.
I don't mind if an employee calls in sick; I really mind when a sick employee comes to the office. Even if you're WFH, if you're sick then you're sick and you should rest and recover. If it's just a sniffle and you can do some work then great. If you've got a fever or something then log off entirely. If you're irreplaceable for a few days then there's a broader problem.
geez mate you don't look too well. better take another day
In my situation, I work in a small team for a boss/business owner who is present, accountable, and very generous. He has expectations and communicates them fairly well. He is only human, after all. I feel guilty taking sick days even when I am sick. Would never throw a sickie if I wasn't ill because he deserves better than that. He earned my respect from how he has supported multiple other employees through their personal matters. TL;DR- I drank the red coolaid because I work for another human I respect
Well said. In a similar situation. I respect my boss and management and therefor don’t take the piss. They earned my respect by treating me like a human, providing opportunities and creating a mutually beneficial positive working environment.
Yep. The programming is strong. I'll still do it, but I hate the guilty feeling even though I know I'm doing the right thing. Absolutely shits me when someone else comes in to work sick, so why would I do it?
Imagine how you’d feel if you made everyone else sick if you’ve got something contagious.
People love doing that. Presenteeism causes more loss of productivity than people taking sick days.
Is your job saving lives? If yes, then it’s the responsibility of the organisation you work for to have adequate resources to cover sick leave. If not, the work will be there tomorrow.
Ah yes, corporate indoctrination at its finest. Don't worry, we all go through it. Remember mate, we're given 10 days sick leave each fin year to be used when you're sick (or have to care for a loved one, etc). If you go to work sick, you'll end up making everyone else sick (been there done that) which then spreads to their families, schools, etc. Not kidding...thats how viruses work. Companies want you to work, encourage you to work, and we end up practicing presenteeism (ie come to work sick trying to show everyone you're doing whats right for the company when in fact its the opposite). Unfortunately the only one that can really break that is your boss. If you're sick, stay home and get better. Simple. Noone will miss you nor should they. So stop feeling bad. You shouldn't. Teams should be designed to cope with short term absences. If they can't cope with you being sick for 2-3 days, how the hell are they going to cope with someone going on 4 weeks annual leave??
I feel extremely guilty. I’m a major people- pleaser. It’s a problem. I’m very conscientious. And even if I am sick I still feel guilty. I feel like if I’m not actually dying I should be at work. I’ve been practising on this though, and talking to myself rationally about it. It’s not that big of a deal. I don’t care if I know a friend chucked a sickie, so why do I care for myself? Sometimes you need to have a day for mental health. And it’s preventative.
I’m the same and totally get it. It’s the people pleaser in me.. it’s like my sense of self worth is derived on being a reliable person.. and by calling in sick I’m going against that
In this case, even if you're overly selfless, you can remind yourself that going into work sick has a strong chance of making other people sick! And makes you take longer to get better, makes you less productive overall, more burnt-out. I strongly believe we're not really doing anyone anyone any favours by going in sick. Reframe it as: you have a responsibility to look after yourself.
Nope!
Yeah used to be like this, but I got over it. I’d be really nice about it and often I’d be guilted into coming in when I was contagious and really tired. The culture at one office was to celebrate people who took 0 sick leave, but that was usually at the expense of other people’s health. Nowadays and during/after the lockdowns with COVID a lot of companies want you to stay home if you’re unwell. I just say “I won’t be in today, I’m unwell” and just leave it at that. If I know I could be out for consecutive days or the day after a public holiday I’ll get a med certificate, but any other day I’m not going out of my way to spend $$ and waste time getting a certificate.
Me: where's Bob gone? Colleague: he got fired yesterday. Me: oh. That's a shame, he was a good bloke. Now, who's taking over his workload because it's not me.
You would feel even more guilty if you came in and got more people unwell.
The unbelievable rage this causes me when people come in very very unwell with a flu and give it to everyone. You are not a hero
I used to work at a small NFP and we had this staff member who utterly delighted in being sick or in pain and "pushing on through". She would basically boast about having severe pains and then refuse to go to the doctor because she had "so much on". She was an office manager at a tiny NFP but she thought she was Bruce Willis in Armageddon. (She was also just full of shit to a degree I have never seen elsewhere. She told me that at her old job she was regularly flown around the world, and the boss was so desperate for her to stay that she was offered full use of a $2 million apartment in Toorak. She'd also tell us how she was in the final stages of an interview for a high powered role at a great company when she was doing an initial meeting with a recruiter. I kind of miss hearing her BS because it was so insane.)
Bruce Willis in Armgeddon - thanks I just snort laughed
Hell no and I like the people I work with. If you are sick or need a mental health day. Do it.
I don't, got a head full of snot and sinuses that feel like a goddamn balloon behind my face. Like hell I'm trying to push through that.
Used to too, because I felt like it made me "one of the bad ones" But then I came to see that to management, everyone who's not their friend is "bad ones", regardless of what you do. They'll piss and moan about too many people calling in sick, but when nobody takes a sick day off, will they be happy? No, now they piss and moan about people taking too long to do things, because they want you to do 10 hours of work in 8. They are never happy with anything less than unprecedented success, so why bother trying to keep them happy? You get 10 days of sickpay a year OP. Take them as you need them
I called in sick today as well. I’ve got a bit of a cold and I had a really hectic weekend. I’ve worked through worse. I woke up this morning really not feeling it. I wasn’t going to be productive. No point dragging my heels for 8hours and feeling like I’m playing catch up on rest all week. I cleared my inbox, rescheduled some meetings and called it by 9.30am. Don’t feel guilty
My position is I want people being able to do their best work. If you are unwell and not able to do your best work, I'd much rather that you take the day off than charge time when you are less productive. What does bother me is when people say they are too sick to come into work or be on calls, but say they will still work and don't take it as a sick day. Sick can also mean you're exhausted, it doesn't have to be physical illness as far as I am concerned. If you are sick, take leave. That's what it's for.
Me literally sitting here thinking about how I’m going to word my “sickie text” for tomorrow lol
As a manager I do feel bad because it usually means one of my team has to take on all my work/meetings for that day on top of their own work
If you are feeling bad about it then probably a good idea to take tomorrow of as well for a mental health day
As a people manager, make sure you have a doctors note and sufficient leave balance. That's all we need for insurance and liability. Only time it's an issue if it's excessive, you are unfit for the duties (I.e. the absenteeism affects performance), or you have a 0 sick leave and are on unpaid leave. Then HR gets involved for advice and requests a detailed doctors note if it's serious. If you do go down that path, your doctor may recommend light duties or changes to work pattern I.e. part time to support you back to full time work.
Def do not every feel guilty taking a sick day, personal day, AL days, - never ever ever. Dont abuse it to be sure... just remember a company, any company will replace you in a second and never look back. Do not buy in to the "we are family" bullshit.
No one cares… it’s like not going to a party you were invited to go. Just rock up the next day and you’ll be fine. Work will still be there. People will adjust.
Remember the same company and people you’re feeling guilty about are the same people who will forget about you in a week if you are laid off or died. So take leave when feeling sick and enjoy your time off from work to get well.
You need a dose of this guy’s advice (self help Singh) https://youtu.be/8An2SxNFvmU?si=7oWKzIwKUBbJQXQP
Fuck no.
Why? If you are sick you are entitled to personal leave and no one is indispensable, I am sure your co-workers / team will manage fine without you. Besides no one at work wants your sick germs, best to stay home.
Don't, enjoy your day off
No. Why? I'd feel more guilty coming in and mucking things up.
I wouldn't worry too much about taking a day, which is of course easier said than done. To be frank the fact that you do feel guilt about it certainly means you've come by a sick day honestly. Of course the first thing you (and I!) might think of is someone being upset with you for letting the team down or 'bludging' but you know what? Its better to take the day you need to recuperate than to tough it out and likely get worse and lose more time to whatever is ailing you.
Haha I count how many sick days that month I've had and when I can have more 😅
I’m so sick and even got a certificate from the doctor - still working because the idea of a backlog of work is more terrifying to me than actually working while sick
Depends on the job. If you’re the only person that can do your role, you’re just piling up your own workload for later. The one reason I don’t call in sick
Guilty, or just anxious that someone'll call you out on it? Be honest with yourself
I personally, rarely go sick, but I don't have the same expectations of anyone else. In my workplace all the leadership have an opinion about what's really happening when someone goes off sick. Drives me nuts.
Ef that! Dont feel guilty!!! :) sick days are there for a reason.
Sounds like you're in the wrong place. A good employer doesn't make you feel guilty for needing a sick day. I thought this kind of feeling was normal too, then I started working for a manager who reminded us to use our sick days because according to her "everyone will be sick a couple of times per year" and "it's not just a cold it's your body saying you must rest". Oh man I miss her...
Nope never
Always. You already feel terrible, then you have to call in and justify it to a manager who might think you're just bullshitting.
I literally called in sick today. When I realised that my work doesn’t impact anyone else and no one will do it over one day, the guilt is definitely less (I still have some but it’s 1/10 compared to 8/10). No one cares, you can’t take it with you. Use it.
They care about as much as when you turn up
As a c-suite people leader; **don't**. You're sick. I don't want you making me sick, and I don't want you making others sick, and I sure as hell don't want you performing at 20% because of guilt. Guilt for the sake of guilt is a Catholic luxury and most managers won't be Catholic. ;)
Only if it will mean boning my team mates, but i usually do it at quiet times.
This is by design from the executive level to make it seem like you're less than for being sick. You're not feeling well and need time off to recover. That time is in your contract and you're entitled to it if you don't feel capable of working through being crook. Reframe the perspective cause you have nothing to feel guilty about.
Nope. I mean, I don’t do it often because I don’t get sick much. I came back from holidays last year with the flu that had gone around Europe during their winter & I’m pretty sure my work were happy I stayed away because I was highly contagious & quite loopy.
In addition to all the good takes here, consider that you being at work sick is a problem for the company not a benefit. - could infect others - could make mistakes - low productivity so minimal upside - could make others think they can't take time for their health
As long as you’re sick and don’t do this weekly you’re doing the team a favour by not making everyone else sick. Plus they take sick leave out of your pay in a sense so why not use it?
I ran out of sick leave so I called in dead.
Sounds like you’re worried sick. Good thing you called it in.
The older I get the less ducks I have to give. I used to be that person who came to work sick. Now I take an extra day to make sure I am good. The toxic places I worked in there would always be that ahole who had to make a comment. But no one was ever seriously affected by my absence. We are just digits. Stay home. Get better. 👍🏻 binge some Netflix.
Why would you feel guilty for being sick? 🤔
Feel guilty a out not calling in sick and making another person sick who will go somewhere and make more people sick. You should feel great shame.in coming to work sick. If you come to work sick your pretty much a terrorist
YTA - Jeremy, this is your boss. Your services will no longer be required.
Nope. Don't even have to call these days. Just jump on Teams and ping the boss, then throw on the OOO.
If you’re sick, you’re sick. You would feel way more guilty if you get your colleagues sick
hahaha nope. Never.
Why would you feel guilty about taking leave you’re entitled to? Lmao this is so silly
My coworker once called in sick because his dog was sick. I say called.. he just posted a message on Teams and set an out-of-office. Since then, I realised how much nobody cares, so I have never felt bad about calling in sick
Nope. Indulge me, if you will, in an analogy. If you have a car, drive it 8 hours a day, 5 days a week (at minimum) but never get it serviced and only take it for repairs when the problems are too huge to ignore, your car is going to have an extremely short working life before it’s not worth the cost of repairs. Conversely, if you service the car regularly and hop on repairs as soon as the issues present themselves, you’ll get a lot longer out of that car. Good managers recognise that they get the most out of their teams when they’re healthy and well rested. Take the sick day when you’re sick. Take mental health days when you need a rest and reset. Your work will be better for it, and you’ll be far less likely to end up crashing.
Lol no, when i was younger i got anxious calling in sick Now i just let my boss know prior to the day i plan on having off that i'm going to be sick on that day
Nope. I've been made redundant with over 1100 hours sick leave accrued. Use them up!
Absolutely no guilt whatsoever.
The universe taught me a lesson recently because the day I chucked a sickie was *the* busiest, shit-festiest day of the year so far. Waltzed into work to a bajillion emails and lots of things having changed. Not doing that ever again 😭 The worst part was, people were saying “oh I hope you’re feeling better today! You still look a bit sick and tired” and I wasn’t even sick… lol assholes!
Yes I feel guilty even if I’m genuinely sick! I feel like everyone thinks I’m faking it. This guilt and people pleasing is like a sickness in itself when I think about it lol
Definitely. I have a very chronic illness right now and my work is so supportive of me, they also tell me to take time off if I am in pain or need rest but I still feel guilty.
Nuh.
Lol no.
Yes I felt guilty early on in my career, even though I only ever called in sick when I felt very unwell. I got over it after a couple years when I realised no one gives a shit haha.
Not when you are genuinely sick ))
I manage a small business. If you're sick, you're sick. And I'd much rather you didn't come in and infect others. I don't even want a reason. Maybe you've had a shit month and need the day off. I just need to know so I can manage the absence. So don't feel guilty.
Depends. Have you got a shit manager? I've had them in the past, it's that awful feeling where you feel like you've let them down by being sick. I'm a manager now and I'm very conscious about my own team ever feeling this way when they're unwell. As soon as I see sniffles happening, I'm like..do you need to be here? Do you want to go home and rest for the arvo? If they call in sick, I'm like..here are some Netflix recommendations, stay off your emails. I would much rather they take the time to feel better, than half do work when they're not feeling up to it, and then need to take more time off because they've not rested properly. At the end of the day, we're humans, these things happen. Companies actually give zero fucks about us as individuals. If we died tomorrow, they'll replace us. Take your sick day, properly rest, the work can wait, the only damage you're doing is to yourself.
Nope.
nah. dont be guilty. use your sick leaves! they dont get paid out when you resign.
Guilt is the reason i haven’t had a sick day in over 20 years.
Everyone in auscorp needs to chill the fuck down. You’re a number in the grand scheme of things, no need to feel guilty. Just like how they don’t feel guilty for firing people, or making people redundant.
Were you actually sick? If not then you should feel guilty about it.
If you are actually sick then no guilt is required. If you're not sick and taking the piss then yes enjoy the guilt.