Phoning in sick on Christmas Day?

This thread is brilliant. It’s like the OP doesn’t understand that people like to go away over Christmas and it is the job of hotels and hotel staff to cater to them.

i had a job where the awful other staff told me i would be working Christmas, i sort of worked that out, it was meals on wheels so every day of the year!
i thought, to myself, no, i will have left by then!
which i did,
not because of christmas but because they were AWFUL

You sound very entitled.

Just celebrate on a different day like the rest of us who work Christmas do 🤷🏻‍♀️

You can do all the same things and can even use iplayer to watch all the tv programs as if it was actually Christmas Day!

Then next year it’ll be someone else’s turn to work and you can have Christmas Day off.

Why bother asking if you’re just going to get defensive and clearly do it anyway?

You just wanted everyone to come on here and tell you how awful that is and YANBU?

OK your employers are shit and they have allocated the shifts unfairly but your personal circumstances and sense of fairness are not relevant here. You are employed to do a job which includes shifts that your employer decides for you. You have, very reasonably, tried to find a compromise but it hasn't worked.

If you phone in sick now they will know it's because you didn't want to work the shifts you were given and it could end with you getting the sack which will not improve your job prospects and will immediately leave you without an income. It would not be a good idea.

You need to concentrate your energy on finding another job so you can hand in your notice and leave before Christmas.

Phone in sick Op....I wouldnt worry about a colleague having to cover you as who in their right mind is going to answer the phone on Xmas day when they see its their boss ringing.

not at all!

@themanors Are you religious?

If you are, and Christmas Day in whatever shape is part of that religion, then yes, find a different job.

If you are not, then move the day of the celebration, because it doesn't matter whether you celebrate family time on the 25th, 23rd or 27th.

You need to hand your notice in.
It would be morally wrong to say you’re sick and not go in. And someone else covers. There’s loads of hotels open at Christmas it’s normal and part and parcel of working in that industry is isn’t a shock it’s open.
Nothing wrong with not wanting to work on Christmas Day , I also wouldn’t, but I wouldn’t take a job that required it. Just find somewhere else and move on. But don’t ring in sick and drop out last minute that’s shit behaviour.

If I have interpreted this correctly, you have been there less than two years, so can be sacked under a whim, assuming one of the limited exceptions does not apply. New employment protections will not be law by then.

The best course of action I think is to resign nearer the time if you have not got another job. I hope you find one though.

Lying about being sick on Christmas Day is a great way to be sacked, if that's what you want. Put yourself in the manager's position - how would it look?

Im not sure why you have posted, you clearly dont think you are unreasonable.

As a nurse, who has done more than my fair share of Christmas shifts, I do think ringing in sick would be unreasonable.

You dont want to work Christmas, there is plenty of time between now and then to get a different job

Why did you bother asking for opinions when are ignoring everyone's advice? If you don't like it then look for another job. You sound immature and difficult.

You sound ignorant as fck OP, and I'm starting to understand why it might take you a while to find other employment with your attitude.
Just don't work in hospitality/health care/emergency services - it's so fecking obvious 🫣.
Your poor colleagues, especially if they have young children, elderly relatives or anyone else who depends on them.

So vote with your feet and quit, OP.

At the end of the day, you've chosen to work somewhere that is open on Christmas Day and they don't even give staff who work on Christmas Day extra pay.

Other jobs are available.

But you would be very very very unreasonable to pretend that you are going to work on Christmas Day and then just not show up. Because then someone else who may be enjoying what might be their last Christmas with an elderly relative, or their first Christmas with their new baby, or their first Christmas off in five years, will get a call just as they're sitting down for lunch telling them they have to go in because you haven't turned up.

If I were your manager and you did this, I would fire you. So you may as well leave before Christmas so at least they have time to adjust the rota.

Good thing is you have plenty of time to find another job it’s only august.

Don’t get upset over this put your efforts into finding a new job, it can be done.

As someone who has worked in retail over Christmas it is shit when others won’t help out and 12 hour shifts Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is not fair especially when it can be shared between staff, but as said above be proactive now and look for a new job. Good luck.

Put your notice in before Christmas if you're still there, make sure you give enough notice as per your contract.

You know how a business works right?! Of course theyre going to put the price up over a festive period.

look if you dont like it, get another job. You knew what you were signing up for with the potential to work unsociable hours etc

This reads as though you want us to say it’s ok to phone in sick. Obvs it isn’t. You have a good reason to not want to work Xmas Day, so make sure you have changed jobs by then - it’s August so you have time. Phoning in sick is totally unfair on your colleagues who would have to pick up the slack.

OP, work up to the day before, keep searching for jobs in the mean time.

Ring in sick then if you must, but be prepared to be fired first chance they get.

Hopefully you will get another job by then.
Get as much experience as you can working there to pad out your CV.

As it’s an hotel and some people like to go to an hotel other staff. for Christmas, I imagine there will be kitchen staff and chefs, housekeeping staff and maintenance staff on duty and a duty manager.

Of course you don’t want to do it. I don’t imagine many people want to work on Christmas Day, but certain jobs dictate that some people have to.

I think you need to make a decision about whether you want to keep that job, look for another or give up work altogether. Phoning in sick will ring all sorts of alarm bells and isn’t fair on

I worked in a hotel that had to have cover from 7am to midnight, we had 3 receptionists, on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day etc we choose to split the day into 3 and each had a shift per day. We put the days and times into a hat and took one each in turn.

I was allocated the midnight finish on Christmas Eve and the 7am start on Christmas day, only the other two didn't turn in, didn't answer calls and the duty manager was rushed off her feet with guests demands, guess who worked from 7am till midnight on Christmas day and had to go in for 7am boxing day just incase the receptionist who should have been on didn't come in.

That was the first and last time I worked hotel reception.

I’d get looking for another job to be honest. Don’t call in sick just remove this situation from your life as soon as possible.

And the split shift thing is so it only means one person misses their family, not lots of people unable to relax and celebrate properly...

We "do" Christmas as a family on Boxing Day. I request that as my "one day off" as we have to work 2 of Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and New Year's Eve. It has happened I've had to work though, mostly at the start. Because newest start works Christmas is common to be fairer to longer standing staff who have had to miss several

You didn’t read that at all, did you?