CALLED OUT SICK, AGAIN?

Numerous statistics have shown that the worst days to call out sick from work are Mondays and Fridays because that’s when the employer needs you the most. Yet despite HR educating employees about the policy and issuing handbooks suffice it to say many employees still called out sick on these two days the most. Without digging into the root of this problem I witnessed a very unique case several weeks ago working with an employer. The employee showed no signs of sickness at the end of business on Friday but after the two-day weekend, the employee (name John) called out sick on Monday. For the record I’m not saying you can’t get sick over the weekend, I’m only drawing a unique case to your attention that illustrates how critical the employer needs the employee the most on these two days. John didn’t provide any update on his work Friday evening, so that made it extremely difficult for anyone to pick up on his work on Monday where he left off. Therefore the client suffered tremendously as a result. I witnessed the level of anguish the other staff members endured as they belabored over John’s actions. John’s behavior was very unfair to the clients, the employer, and other staff members on his team. In addition to his wrongdoings, Tuesday morning he walked into the office late. The first thing he did was to tuck his head in as he opened the door and looked around to see who was in but most importantly if the supervisor was present. As he noticed the supervisor, he tried to force out a cough to signal that yes indeed he was sick. The cough was so shallow that I couldn’t help but ‘laugh out loud!’ And he continued with this kind of buffoonery throughout the day until he was tired of his doings. As three hours progressed he was back to normal. You can just imagine what supervisors experience on a daily basis. You can’t help to imagine the level of farcical activities they had to endured and listen to on Monday and Friday mornings as they pick the office phone for a call or voice mail. I’m not disputing that we all get sick at some point it in our lives. You can get into an accident or you could easily eat the wrong food from the wrong restaurant in the work district that caused you to spend the rest of the day inside the restroom. What I’m saying is, don’t abuse the system. If you have to call out, make sure that all your bases on the job are covered. If you are unable to do so, at least reach out to the person you report to. The whole point is to make sure that someone is knowledgeable of your situation and where you are on the work orders so that members on your team can pick up where you left off without a hitch. Remember that when it’s time for you to get an evaluation, the supervisors will not pull from what you said and do but they will reach from what you have done and how you have done it.As I leave you, here’s what I’ve done in the past when I have to be absent from the office: I update the supervisor for the department and bring with me a doctor’s note, “a real one.” Lastly, bear in mind that some so-called bosses or persons with executive titles are just as bad too. I remember a high-ranking executive told me that ‘he doesn’t advise employees to call out sick unless they are…’ But a few months later, I was in his presence when he told one of his supervisors, who only accrued two and a half sick days, to take them even though he wasn’t sick during a major holiday season. I thought to myself how ridiculous was that. The regular employee without a supervisory title wouldn’t receive this form of treatment unless he/she was practicing some grossly obsequious behaviors. Morally speaking it is wrong to called out sick when you are not. I know sometime you might not feel incline to go in the office which is normal but I would admire a company that allows its employees to take whatever time they need, within certain guidelines, and either eliminate or change the name from sick days to something else. The average employees often seem odd and get caught when they carry out different types of ruse (such as calling out sick when they are not) but their bosses often get away with it because no one is watching them. Please let me know your thoughts on calling out sick and your suggestions for solving this problem.