So I work a pretty cozy TeleCo job. I've been there for 2 years and they have only tried to pull this "policy" stuff a few times. Below is two examples.
So it's common courtesy that an employee gives their manager notice if they are sick.
The only reason I say "made-up" policy is because the managers tried to enforce us to only get medical certificates in person since an online doctor couldn't properly assess your condition so its not valid apparently.
They received a bunch of push back and that "rule" silently just stopped being enforced.
With notice my managers say that a text is not enough and that I HAVE to call even if they see the text. To clarify I have one store manager and two assistant managers.
So my body clock forces me to wake up just before 6am, still have gastro pains and I call straight away, then again, and again. No answer, send a text saying I'll call again in an hour.
I did this every time. They never pick up at 6am.
So I stopped calling altogether and would just send a text around 6am. Along the lines of "I'm not feeling well, please let me know you've seen this. I'll call before 8 if not"
Two of the managers found that fine since they had experienced my 3x calls at 6am.
The third manager recently sent me a message around 9am (texted that I was sick and he responded saying "get well soon"). "Moving forward, I expect a phone call for every time you call in sick as that is the correct process and has been expressed to the entire team aswell, it is an expectation not an option."
So the next day I'm still sick. I wake up at 5am(I particularly do not like this manager), call x5. Then send the text "I'll call again in an hour, I'm still not feeling well".
Call again in an hour. No answer, go to call again. He sends a text "Okay, hope you feel better"
Power trip shut down 🥱
Edit: I only say power trip because of my relationship with this manager, he's worked with me for 2 years and has been fine with the texting until that one time.
Which just happened to be my next shift after we had a disagreement.
Edit: With the medical certificates, in person doctors appointments are very hard to get the same day. I live in a suburban/industrial city and a pretty big retiree/pensioners population so the doctors offices are booked out by the time you call up to make an appointment that same day.
Then there should be a policy that the manager is required to answer the phone, but if the policy is to call, then calling and leaving a message meets the policy.
I wouldn't call multiple times when sick.
Our policy is that we cannot call before 9am - we are to send a heads up in text instead (any type - email, teams, sms, whatever).
The lab shifts start at 6am. I feel like someone got woken up before…
Bingo!
I'm a blue collar worker whose start time through the years has been between 5am and 7am while my bosses start at 8am or 9am. Pre cell phones/email we had to call their office phone and leave a message. After cell phones/email it doesn't take more then once getting called at 5am to ask if they could please just get a text or email.
His text is not sufficient; you must call until you get a "real" response. ,
But seriously, like someone said, a text should be fine. But I can schedule a text to be sent at any time ...so the next best thing is a call.
If they don't answer, a voicemail would corroborate the call logs with the same timestamp.
We have the same policy. Not sure what that’s about. My workplace is great though, so it’s not a power trip thing.
My work place too, but no one I know follows it.
The logic is that by phoning and speaking to someone then you know your message has got through. Vs texting (or teamsing) where you're less certain when someone will see the message, if at all.
And to be fair, this did trip me up as a manager. One of my guys sent a message via Signal saying they weren't feeling great and we're going to take the day to recouperate. Problem: I'd switched phones, and because I personally don't use signal (I only really have it for this one guy as they don't use WhatsApp) I'd forgotten to reinstall the app. What with it being a work from home day, and the way our team operates means I don't directly work with everyone I line manage, it wasn't until about lunch time that someone flags to me "Hey, no one's heard from xxx all day", at which point I give them a call, establish they're mostly fine, just a bit off colour, and we both spend 5 minutes apologising to each other because we're British.
In my field is normal to do that online, you have proof you have entered it, it's in the system, etc. My employer is the only one on the region that requires a call to the reception AND a call to the team leader between 7 and 8 am. Sick on a weekend? Them you h have to contact the team leader the next day between 7 and 8. I have told them countless times that when I'm sick, it's not my priority to call at a certain time. Once I got suck when my team leader was off and I had to contact one from another team, I didn't have her phone so I send an email before 7, she called me furious at 8:15 telling me I had messed their whole schedule and planning by not reporting things correctly on time? But like, she knew from the email, make it make sense.Â
Phoning both is insane, especially if there's a system which presumably the team lead can check.
But, having experienced it from the other side, the benefit of having a system, or policy, on how to notify your team lead in a timely manner and not just fire and forget (emails get missed, as do instant messages or any other electronic system which doesn't involve a human saying "yes, I've got your message") is also one of a safeguarding perspective. In my case a guy literally hadn't logged on all day, and it was only caught after lunch because of the lack of any strict policy. That's 100% on me as well as him, but a "you must tphone your manager and speak to them" policy would have avoided time and stress later in the day.
Good luck getting them to answer.
My school had a dedicated number for absence. You could call and leave a voice message at any time but had to be before 7am. You then emailed suggestions for cover work to a dedicated email address before 8am in which you copied any relevant people. Being able to call at any time meant you didn’t have to be awake at 7am to make the call but could get in some sleep which would get you back to work faster.
too funny, thanks
My place implemented similar policy when we found out that an employee who texted in sick was, in fact, overseas on a leisure trip.
How exactly was calling going to address that? By making the phone call more expensive?
At least some potential to assess the caller condition. And the additional deterrent of a time difference - most accessible holiday locations would be few hours behind so it's a middle of the night when they're supposed to call in sick.
How can you assess gastro problems, broken arm, invisible illnesses or disabilities over the phone?
Does your company employ a medical professional to conduct this assessment over the phone?
I will edit it after this comment
The only reason I say power trip is because this manager and I have had a disagreement with recently. And he's been fine with texting before so it's definitely a power trip in my case.Â
Hello,
It’s good practice for someone that is calling in to make it verbal so the manager can gauge if you’re ok. Like the person that replied to you 8-10 minutes before me, one time someone text, they had actually been beaten up really bad and the partner had text they couldn’t come in. It’s now seen as the best option, for nearly all businesses
Just call continously the instant you wake up until they answer. 3am and sick? Call again and again and again and again until they answer.
"Hey boss, I'm sick and calling you until you answer, AS PER YOUR STATED POLICY, I am making sure I am fully compliant with YOUR POLICY, thank you for understanding my persistence in calling you in STRICT COMPLICANCE WITH YOUR POLICY."
You really shouldn’t go to the doctors if you have the flu. Good way of spreading it. Some rules are plain stupid. And exactly rarely can you get in to see the doctor same day. Most illnesses require a day of bed rest not waiting in an emergency room for hours for a non emergency illness.
If they want you to call, they should let you know at what time they can answer as earliest.
Or, if no time is indicated, they need to answer your call at the time you call.
I would keep calling until they answered. Receipt of text from them is insufficient
I worked at a place that wanted a doctor's note if we were out sick. An ex-roommate had gotten married to a woman that worked for a doctor. She would write the note for me and I presented it to my manager. He couldn't do anything because of the note.
Roommate and his wife got divorced. Turns out wife was fucking doctor's son and got pregnant when they were separated. She and doctor's son got married after the divorce was final. A few years later they got divorced because she was a bitch to him. I knew her from before she and my roommate got married and knew what she was.
Why call multiple times? Call logs will prove you called once. Voice Mail will also prove you called.
To punish my boy. To punish.
Why not? :D
If manager demands a call, he is called until he picks up. Otherwise a text would be sufficient as well.
Call repeatedly like the office is on fire until he picks up and acknowledges the call
Sounds like the perfect time to use an auto redial app and set the interval to like 20 seconds or something
Because fuck their bullshit rules, and also some people use do not disturb mode while sleeping, so multiple calls from the same number (or being added to an exclude list) should ring the phone. It's also a pseudo alarm clock of the multiple rings from the phone.
Because it’s annoying to see multiple calls. And to have your phone vibrate..
If you are required to call out sick, they need a sick line so people can leave a message. I have never heard of having to call your business and talk to an actual person.
You’ve never heard of a job that requires you to call out sick? Most places I’ve worked had a policy that you had to talk to the manager to let them know you’re not coming it.
When I worked at the hospital we had to call and talk to a scheduler so they could take us off the schedule. There is no other way to call out.
You’ve really never heard of this?
Obviously I have if I said there is usually a dedicated sick line.
Really? Never even heard of it? Maybe its just a US thing, then? Or have you never held a minimum wage job perhaps and managed to get right into a better job or a big office environment? I bet bit office environments would have a sick line.
Ive had lots of entry level jobs, and Walmart is the only one ive ever had that doesn't require you to call in and speak to a manager if you are calling off sick.
The expectation at every other job has been that if you don't get ahold of a manager, you are no call no showing and getting in big trouble and maybe fired over it. If you call their extension and nobody picks up, you call another. And another. And another. Until eventually some department or random extension gets you someone who can find you a manager to tell that you won't be coming in that day. I know from experience that showing a call log after failing to get ahold of anyone is not an acceptable excuse. You are to wait a short bit and then call everything again, rinse and repeat.
You also ofc can't call before open though, either, since nobody is there. So if you have an opening shift you would have needed to call off the day/night before and predict you would be sick, or youll get in trouble for breaking the policy about calling off several hours before your shift starts. Been there done that too, its dumb. Wake up dying when you were fine the night before, too bad so sad shouldn't have been an opener.
Thats how its worked at every job except Walmart. There you just log it in the work phone app, nice and easy.
Even minimum wage jobs have some kind of answering machine
None of the ones ive worked at 🤷‍♀️
Giant, Best Buy, Costco, Wendy's - none of these have answering machines ive ever managed to get hold of. Pretty sure most retail and fast food doesn't. It rings and rings and rings until either someone picks up, or the caller gives up and dials a different extension. Even the GMs office extension doesn't have an answering machine.
Just call THE boss one time and leave a voice mail. It is a call and it is time stamped. They got it and what they choose to do with it is on them. You have no obligation to broadcast anything.
My work has a policy where you must call if you are unable to make it. You are not allowed to leave a message. There is nothing in the policy about talking to anyone. They also do not answer the phone before maybe 11am. So I call, hit voicemail, and then go back to bed.
Manager said to CC him on every single customer email. I set up an auto-CC rule. He got 300 emails by lunchtime. He was quick to call it off.
Send a screenshot shot of your calls saying “Hey fyi I DID call and you did not pick up.”
This is because they think it's harder to lie to an actual person when speaking to them. Some people didn't have traumatic childhoods and it shows. b
This is sad but also made me laugh a bit because it's soo true
I would call at 5, if they don’t answer or have voice mail, text saying I am not feeling well and am going back to sleep .
An act of MC regarding MCs
We have a requirement in our handbook for a doctor’s note after 3 days, but from a licensed and board certified doctor. 🤦‍♂️ LNPs and PAs don’t qualify under the policy. Must be 45 supporters because Dept of Education released rule that LNPs and PAs are not considered “professional” degrees.
Our managers require that we call our immediate superiors (I have two) two hours before our shift if we can’t make it for any reason. If they don’t answer, we are to leave a voicemail AND text. If it’s a medical reason we are required to bring a doctor’s excuse the next time we come in. HOWEVER, the managers at my location only ask to see it if we have to be on restricted duty or be released from restrictions. They’re the best managers we’ve ever had.
I remember, someone telling me about when they worked in a big store and were friends with one of the girls in HR. Her friend from HR told her about the morning she arrived and one of the other HR ladies was on the phone to the manager of one of the departments to let them know that one of their employees had called in sick. When her friend heard the name of the person who had called in sick, she started to laugh and her work colleague asked her why she was laughing, she said "I just passed her, she was in the telephone box" They speculated that on the spur of the moment must she must have decided not to come to work, but unfortunately, she had not accounted for someone seeing her. The manager gave her a verbal warning when she returned to work the next day.
Seems to me you called, they didnt answer.
You satisfied the requirement. I would call them out about not answering. THAT is the issue thats not being addressed.