Parent phones in sick for their DD at work. AIBU to think this is silly?

[AppleBananaCarrot]

I don't understand why my manager allows it. I'm a supervisor btw. I have name changed for very obvious reasons.

The woman is almost 19! I could slightly understand if she was 16 (although I'd still expect her to do it) it's in our policy that you can't get someone else to phone up and on the 3 occasions she has been sick (over last couple of years) it's always her mother that has phoned in, I asked my manager and he said that the DD was on a drug that makes her tired, so she couldn't get to the phone, but really? If my husband phoned in and said that, I think they'd life and tell him to put me on the phone.

Parmesanity Yes it does matter. It is based on research to minimise sickies.

I guess people are unaware of the affects then that not following a policy does to supervisors.

Ive had to phone in for dh while he was being cut out of his smashed up car. His supervisors insisted he had to call in himself, which he did 3 days later when he was woken from his induced coma. They had already laid into him about other people phoning in for him and how he's been put on discipline before he got the chance to explain. Their response was to 'not do it again'

I've also had migraines where its so bad I just cannot talk. DH has had to phone on my behalf. Luckily my employers were understanding although I think this is unusual in my previous line of work.

Sometimes its just not possible for the employee to phone in. However if its just a cold/virus type illness then I'd expect the employee to phone in themselves.

Do you think this employee may be either scared of what you would say if they phoned in themselves or do you think they had no intention of phoning in and Mum is trying to keep their job for them?

I think people saying get a hobby is another way of saying you've got too much time on your hands if this is all that's bothering you. Is it any of your business, does your manager mind? It doesn't seem like it

@bimbobaggins is that the only bit you decided to read?

The company deserves to not be informed of absences then.
What happens if you are in hospital, you may not be well enough to even think of ringing in work.

Your manager doesn't mind so how are you getting any stick for it. Be a human being for goodness sake.

Who does her return to work interview? She should be reminded of the company policy and asked to call in person next time, this should also be documented in the return to work interview for future reference. Not following absence procedures without exceptional circumstances can result in a disciplinary/verbal warning and she needs to learn an adult getting mummy to call in sick for her is unacceptable.

There are many serious reasons why someone might not be able to call in themselves, but don't like talking on the phone is not an acceptable excuse. Cant come to the phone (if they are in bed at home) is ridiculous as phones can easily go to them.

"as a supervisor in my company, I have to discipline my team and make sure policies are being followed, if not I get the stick, not my manager. I get it from higher up."

A supervisor, with a team, a manager, with a higher level above the manager ... so not a small company?

Is there a HR officer/department? If so then perhaps you could (at least) ask them for guidance/training on how to implement this policy.

This policy, as a hard and fast rule , is not implementable. It is likely to be possible to implement it most of the time, but there will be instances where it is not possible to implement it. If you struggle with it's implementation and discerning where the rule would not be viable, then it is up to your employers to provide you with appropriate training. Perhaps ask for it.

So, OP, you are complaining about someone who has been off 3 times over the last couple of years, who's mum rang in for her because, as your manager said, she's on a drug that makes her tired so she couldn't get to a phone.

I think you need to forget about this. From the little you posted, I get the impressions she's not off often, when she clearly has a medical condition you have no knowledge of, and your manager is happy with this situation. It could very easily be that Mum ringing in comes under the reasonable adjustment rules.

Most if not all employers policies that I have seen (and I have seen many due to my job)require the person to call in themselves. Maybe she was too genuinely unwell to do that however and that would not necessarily be related to her age. At least someone phoned rather than her texting on.

If you discipline this employee despite your manager being okay with how she called in sick then you're a knob.

As a manager I ignore the 'has to phone in themselves' part, I get text messages or emails usually but trust my line reports, there are no performance issues with any of them.

We monitor sickness leave anyway so someone who was a regular skiver wouldn't last long. Actually our monitoring of sickness policy does have a tick box for escalation, it doesn't happen automatically. So, e.g. if someone has had a major illness that has required a lot of time off then for the next 2 years they'd automatically fail the 'has this person been off more than X days in the last Y months' but clearly it's crazy to escalate if someone e.g. has a broken leg then a year later has a day off with V&D or cold. It's the pattern of sickness that matters.

AppleBananaCarrot

I already said that the policy is to call in sick yourself unless you're in hospital, so why keep bringing that up?
Where? Not in any of the posts I've read.

I had to get dh to call in for me when I suffered a reaction to strong painkillers. I'd been struggling to work with an injury and the gp prescribed medication to help. Unfortunately they first one knocked me out for about 48 hours and I was not entirely 'with it's for about a week. No way could I have phoned. He also had to call in for me the day I was in an accident on my way to work. Hospital called him and he called work for me. Again, I could not have called then.
It sounds as though your employer is making reasonable adjustments as required by the Equality Act 2010. If your colleagues has any of the protected characteristics, they are entitled to this. You, on the other hand, are not entitled to know the reasons why.

@Steeley113 maybe you should be a human as well and read the post?

If you are worried it puts you in a difficult position, can't you get something in writing from the manager, to CYA. Even if it's just an e-mail from you to your manager saying you understand that there is an exception to the policy for this colleague for medication related reasons.

Some Local Authorities automatically escalate and sack people for genuine illness. There is no flexibility at all.
Then people moan about people coming in ill.

If you’ve had confirmation from the manager that she cannot call herself due to the medication I would simply confirm that with her at the return to Work meeting and note it on the form.

She’s had 3 absences in 2 years it’s hardly like she’s constantly taking the piss is it?

@OnionKnight so I should be disciplined instead yeah? Which when my monthly review comes in, I would be, if the policy hasn't been followed.

I love how everyone thinks a manager role is the highest. My manager doesn't discipline me, the department director would, so it's all fine for him to say it's no issue, he isn't the one who it gets traced too.

I suffer horrendous migraines where I literally cannot open my mouth without throwing up. I also slur my speech and find it impossible to have any sort of conversation.

When I worked in an office I had a couple of times off sick and DH phoned for me. No problems whatsoever. Then I started working in retail - oh what fun!

I got disciplined for not phoning myself even though I explained why I couldn't. Then another time I lost my voice completely so DH phoned for me. Got disciplined again. I told them if I lost my voice again I would just make a silent phone call!

So glad to be out of retail

I got someone else (my mum) to rung in for me once, and I've been working for over 30 years. The one time she rang, I was in hospital with concussion. Part of working means taking responsibility for sickness etc.

Probably because its a fucking ridiculous policy that serves no purpose.

Don't be so silly. Of course it serves a purpose.

As long as you know they're not coming in, does it really matter who calls?

Many companies have this policy.

It prevents all sorts of dubious scenarios, such as:

Colleagues 'phoning in' for a workmate friend who they've noticed hasn't made it in (slept in after a night out, usually) - usually a pact between them to phone in for each other under the circumstances.

Or getting someone else to phone in because the sick person has actually buggered off on holiday and it's usually pretty obvious they're out of the country if they make the call themselves.

Etc, etc.

When it happened before, that's exactly what I told the department director, but his reply was "I don't care what your manager has said, you know it's your job"

I got someone else (my mum) to rung in for me once, and I've been working for over 30 years. The one time she rang, I was in hospital with concussion. Part of working means taking responsibility for sickness etc.

OP, I get you have to follow the policy.

What is not clear (and based upon my many years of HR and employment law experience) is why YOU would be disciplined for SOMEONE ELSE not following the policy?