WIBU to call in sick rather than be late?

[Stupidtrains]

I got a new manager about 6 months ago.

Yesterday my train was delayed, and I had all sorts of issues getting in to work. I arrived 30 minutes late. I work in an office and I didn't have any meetings all day.

My manager pulled me into a meeting to tell me off for being late, not letting her know I was going to be late, and for setting a bad example to the 2 new members of staff who recently joined our team.

I am SEETHING at her audacity to have a go at me as though I was deliberately late and for acting as though my new colleagues would be stupid enough to "copy" my lateness. I don't appreciate getting a telling off as though I was still at school.

This is literally the first time since she joined that I've been late.

I'm sorely tempted to just call in sick next time I have train issues.

You’re going into work.

I find it odd that you don’t think to charge your work phone.

MartaHallard

Late to work
Not letting office know
Work phone battery dead

Being late was outside your control, but all three together makes you look a bit disorganised. If your personal phone was charged and usable, why wasn't your work phone?

I suppose it does, written like that. I don't know, I just had a bad day and it seemed as though everything was going wrong. Sod's law.

halfwitpicker

Yes good point. Our core hours are 10am-4pm and flexible working hours was one of the listed "perks" of this organisation, but manager likes us to be in at the same time so that we can all "work" together, when actually, in reality we don't interact for most of the day. I think she just likes to keep an eye on us. Other teams start at 10am, another lady lines to get in at 7am.

SmackthePhony

^^

We have core hours too - 9 am - 3.45pm. I usually arrive at 8.15 am. The other morning it was 9.05 am (I shit you not ) and I got the same spiel as you. Should have called etc.

Give me a fucking break. I'm a 36 year old woman and you're giving me shit for that? The one time I'm 5 mins late I get shit? When every other idiot calls in sick all the time, and I hadn't called in sick since I started the fucking job?

So yeah, next time the trains were screwed up I called in sick,rather than be late.

halfwitpicker

Ha! Love that you stuck to your guns. Hope that I'll have the guts to follow through.

I can't believe it didn't occur to you to withhold your number and call it your work, every place I've worked would expect some kind of message if you were running late, that's basic work etiquette ime

caughtinanet - to be fair - where I work now - contract and temp jobs in government - most have been flexible about me arriving a bit late and as I have to queue up for passes most days then 5 utes here or there doesn't count.

In previous jobs if it's been 5-10 minutes late and e.g. I'm on the tube with no phone signal then I haven't bothered letting people know but if I know in advance I'm running late then I either email or ring up.

If it's definitely a proper 30 minutes late or just under then I always, always ring, email etc saying I'm running late and apologise. Anyone who doesn't do that gives the impression that they're not a good time keeper, doesn't stick to office rules etc.

The best thing to do generally though is try never to be late.

OP - if your newish boss wants you there to keep an eye on you then you really need to play by her rules and ensure you have your phone charged or do a withheld number from your own phone. I still can't quite believe that first thing in the morning your work phone isn't charged either!

Bit odd. Wouldn't you have been phoning the main office number? Do you have a fancy reception phone that lists numbers?

I agree with others - it was not letting them know where you went wrong, OP.

If you don't have a flexible arrival time, a decent manager would be starting to worry about your well-being if you hadn't called within half an hour of your start time.

caughtinanet

I have never in 4 years called the office. If I'm sick or anything I send an email. It just happened to be a day when my work phone was dead.

Previous manager didn't dictate start and home time for anyone as long as we did the core hours and delivered work to deadlines. So a train playing up didn't impact on my day much as I'd take a shorter lunch if necessary. Once I was late by 2 hours under that manager as my phone didn't charge in the night and my alarm didn't go off. I emailed her right away but she just laughed and told me to come in when I could

Could you have emailed from your personal phone then?

I know work places are different, that's why I said that eveywhere I've worked would expect a phone call as you can't be sure that an email would be read, or do you have a dedicated email address for absence/latenes?

caughtinanet

Could you have emailed from your personal phone then?

From my personal email yes I could if I'd remembered how to spell her name. But again, reluctant to share personal information after the social media issues. I can only access work emails on official work-issued devices.

I just didn't think it would be as much of a problem as it was - particularly for a "first offense". The company policy is flexitime and an employee perk allegedly but has been overriding it in our team. It feels like a massive overreaction. Why not say, you have to call next time this happens? Why pop off at me and try to drag the new colleagues into it?