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.

A policy that rigid is stupid, as there are many reasons why a person can't call in themselves.

It does matter what people think. It's an impractical policy that is all about red tape and forgets the people at the centre of it.

Agree with most, it is the policy that is ridiculous, not the person phoning in for someone who is sick.

If I don't get a phone call from that person then it goes down as an unauthorised absence. The only allowances are hospitalisation or physically unable to produce words. I work in a hotel so 24/7 business, I'm usually oncall so I have my work phone on constantly and will take calls at any time so there is no excuse.

And if you were my manager I'd be speaking with my union rep and/or HR to set up a grievance against you if you put my absence down as unauthorised just because I was having an anxiety attack and had somebody calling in for me as, while I could physically speak, I couldn't phone in.

I think the question the OP should be asking is "how is it fair for me to get disciplined for not following the company policy about phoning in when sick, when my manager is the one overriding the policy?"

Common sense should apply if someone is too sick to phone but the OP shouldn't be disciplined when someone more senior than her has agreed an exemption.

It doesn't matter what the policy says, you have an obligation under Employment Law to act reasonably. If someone is genuinely unable to call in, then a reasonable employer would understand that they would need to get someone else to do it for her. If the 3 times she has been off are for the same thing and she is on medication for it then potentially she could also be protected under disability discrimination legislation.

Policies are great so long as you remember that you are dealing with human beings and not robots!

Who is doing her return to works?

So, if someone couldn't ring in, are you seriously suggesting that you would prefer not to know what was going in, rather than someone ringing in on their behalf?

Mumps, fever, vomiting, lost voice, tonsillitis .... depends if it hurts to talk tbh

Also I do think it’s an age thing ... not that that’s an excuse... but I’m 22 and I HATE making phone calls - when you’re raised with text, email, online ordering, online table bookings ... it makes it a little scary.