To skive off work this week ?

Maybe they are an exploiting boss @RampantIvy!

Have you never worked for a decent employer? Your cynicism is so depressing.

Well seeing as the company don’t know that she’s not sick, then yes, they would penalising her for what they see as actual sickness.

If the company did know she was skiving then they should tackle that as the actual issue.

If you can't run a business without exploiting employees you shouldn't run a business.

You're salaried for a contracted number of hours. Your employer not paying you overtime when you do extra hours is wage theft.

This is a simple concept. The silly idea of blaming workers for being salaried is weird.

You say no one has to cover you so it's not affecting anyone else. Im assuming you'll make sure your work get delivered by whenever it needs to be delivered and your hours will average out eventually. My boss has the philosophy that he pays me for results not for specific hours, so Id feel fine about this.

@Miajk how do you think businesses' run? Not all are hugely profit making. Have you ever run a business?

Strictly speaking,

Even in a salaried role, if you work a lot of overtime I would ask for TOIL (Time off en Lieu) as a recompense.

The company should have a policy about this.

None of my employers have made me feel like a wage slave.
Maybe you have just been unlucky?

I wouldn't if you get ill it affects your sickness level

Surely if you don't want to be on a salary then you don't take a job where you are on one. Some employers exploit people, in my experience most don't. Employees who think they are "entitled" to all sorts however, many of them around. Whether you are on a salary or not, if you want time off then you take it as annual leave - or at least that's how it works here.

That's fine but most employers aren't like that.

And tbh, even the better ones don't change the fact that your labour is exploited to make a few shareholders wealthier.

And we take it lying down, especially people like you who seem to think it's a normal system where we all have to be wage slaves so a few people can be very rich, but god forbid we take an extra week off. Be for real.

There are a lot of cynical posters unhappy with their jobs on this thread.

Just to add a bit of balance, my employer does not exploit me. I feel valued and treated with respect, and wouldn't dream of taking the piss and pretending to be off sick.

But why? Because employers regularly exploit you.

So why shouldn't it be part and parcel of the deal to take a week off just cause you fancy? Neither is contractually right. But I don't see why it should only go one way.

If you need annual leave to cover the holidays, doesn’t that mean you’ll be off for a long period in the summer holiday? So you actually will enjoy the weather during the holidays?

I was wondering that!

@IKnowItsNotMine Pull a few days next week, weather is apparently going to be better according to Clime app I use, & plan something constructive & relaxing so the time isn’t just aimlessly lazing around at home .
I’d also see if there is anything you can do work wise at home going forwards, you don’t say if that is possible, then maybe you can do more remote working from home to help create a better work & home balance.

All these posters talking about unpaid overtime - are you on a salary, as if you are surely that is just part of life? The people I know who are on a salary, not an hourly wage, know that this is part and parcel of the deal.

Go for it OP...

Been in the same job 26 years. They have had at least a quarter of my life and I do fuck loads of unpaid overtime. I do this every three or four years . I feel not one iota of guilt

I would not skive off because I fancied it,no.
But if you have no ethic of morals go for it.
Perhaps your boss will fancy not paying you one week so they can use your wages for a treat for themselves,after all,life is short.I bet you would not be very happy about that but it's ok the other way round!!

I have a decent employer. We are treated with respect, and there is give and take on both sides because none of us take the piss.

The work ethic of some of the posters on this thread is terrible, and anyone who did this where I work wouldn't last long.

A funny anecdote. Many years ago I had a dreadful summer cold. I was a sales rep, and going round several customers with such a bad cold was just not on, so I took the day off work. It was a lovely summer's day, and I fell asleep in the garden.

I felt much better the next day, but I looked like I had been sunbathing, so I trowelled on loads of the lightest foundation I had to make myself look really pale. I called in at the office before going out to see customers, and everyone at work said I still looked ill as I was so pale. I felt such a fraud, but I had genuinely felt really poorly the day before.

OP stated no-one has to cover her work so who and what exactly is it impacting? It doesn’t sound as if she’s an essential worker if a replacement isn’t needed.

The company I work for posted revenue of over $20 billion last year and no-one has to to do my work if I take a day off. The company doesn’t provide any products that are life saving or particularly important. There is no impact to anyone or anything if I’m not there and given the CEO earns £25 million I’m really not going to worry too much about ‘defrauding’ the company of a few days pay.

Do it . Life is short

They will be taking pay for work they have not done. It is fraud, and also presumably lying. Difficult also to think it would have zero impact on anyone or anything else, even though cover is not needed. But it seems plenty of people are ok with that and just go with ‘you do you’. 🙄