Third degree phoning in sick

[Pinkpowerofthought]

I've been at my work for a year now. No sick days previously.
I phoned in this morning with flu and said I won't be in because I have flu.
My work is super busy this time of year so is a pita for them but I phoned at 6.30am.

They asked about my flu symptoms and said maybe it's just a head cold. Um no if it was a head cold I could just muddle on. I've got sore throat, headache, swollen eyes and achey muscles. I also feel really sick and have pains in my stomach.
They suggested I call them at lunch time to see if I can come in tomorrow and they can find something for me to do even if it means something lighter.
Aibu to think they were totally unsupportive, pressuring me to come in before I'm better and making me feel like I was exaggerating my symptoms?
They asked if I was going to see a doctor. I told them bed rest and fluids would be all he would tell me to do.
Aibu to think this was ridiculous?

Goodness me, there are a lot of doctors on this thread.

I understood that with flu you are too ill to get out of bed.
NHS web site has the following symptoms
Flu can give you any of the following symptoms:
a sudden fever – a temperature of 38C (100.4F) or above
a dry, chesty cough
a headache
tiredness and weakness
chills
aching muscles
limb or joint pain
diarrhoea or abdominal (tummy) pain
nausea and vomiting
a sore throat
a runny or blocked nose
sneezing
loss of appetite
difficulty sleeping.
. The main differences are:
Flu symptoms:
come on quickly
usually include fever and aching muscles
make you feel too unwell to continue your usual activities

Cold symptoms:
come on gradually
mainly affect your nose and throat
are fairly mild, so you can still get around and are usually well enough to go to work

I’ve had flu more times than I can count. I’ve always been know as the Flu Queen because I am prone to getting it along with bronchitis and the Dr’s even thought I had pluracy once I was so ill.

Guess what? I was still able to pick up a mobile phone and look at the internet for 5 minutes whilst I lay in bed. Having the flu wipes you out but it doesn’t make you completely incapable of doing anything. You still have to get up to use the toilet which takes more energy than picking up your mobile phone.

Regardless, the OP was ill. Ill enough to feel she couldn’t cope with her daily routine at work. And being out in the cold whilst she is ill isn’t exactly going to help her get better any sooner.

Yes employers need to monitor sickness because people take the piss. But given this is the first time in a year she’s even called in sick I think it’s reasonable to give her the benefit of the doubt.

I never understand employers who try and bully people to come in when they’re genuinely ill. Common sense is if someone has something contagious it’s best to let them stay at home and have only one of your workforce off than let them come in and spread it around and have half of your workforce off.

Glad I work for a lovely company now that insists you take time to rest when you’re ill!

My beautiful granddaughter has worked for 5 yrs and Ben off one day in the past. Very close knit group but being pregnant and not having an easy time the doctor ordered her off. The manager ( also a shareholder) suggested she just started her mat leave which wasn't possible so she refused. This group of ladies has gone from being friends to not a single tx or phone call , mention on Facebook or anything else for that matter. We feel the other 3 girls are like this just to keep said manager happy. We are spitting tacks, how could they do this to her when she thought they were so close.They had a night out and didn't even tell or invite her. They are in my mind mean girls and not worth another thought but she will have to go back after the baby and how awkward is that going to be I wonder.

Your employer has every right to question you over your illness and when you may be well enough to return to work. Not dealing with sickness robustly enough is why this country is full of malingerers

PinkPanther my friend had something similar happen. She had a hysterectomy and work wanted her back within 3 weeks of the operation and were really pushing her and demanded in the end that occupational health were involved. My friend felt 6 weeks would give her time to properly recover but the boss laughed this off and demanded OH decide. Unfortunately for the boss, OH gave her 8 weeks off and demanded a gradual return to work so she was doing 2 days a week then 3 days and then 4 days for about 3 weeks each. She was finally back full time after about 5 months.

Huge backfire.

The most satisfying bit was her saying “goodness, and there was me thinking 6 weeks would be enough before I was back full time and here we are 3 months later...!”

Corporate greed at its finest.

The HR staff should be able to instantly review how often you call in sick, so it's not like they have reason not to trust the OP's claim.

If you value what yourself and what you offer to your employer, don't work for people like this.

Whether the OP has flu or not is irrelevant, she’s ill and just saying that you sound as bad as her boss. No way would I do that to my staff. If they’re ill I tell them to stay home and rest and come back when they feel better and hope they feel better soon. This stiff upper lip BS means everyone is miserable the one coming in who obviously feels awful and shouldn’t be and the ones catching it so more end up off, hardly makes sense just from that point of view. Is work really that life and death unless it is actually life or death?! That’s what gives me the rage, treating people like that showing them they don’t give one shiny shit about them. Where is peoples humanity?? Sheesh...and breathe.

Hope you feel better soon OP . Take no notice of your miserable boss. They obviously have have no empathy. I once had a boss like this, happy to say I have a much better one now. The thing is it doesn’t make people go off sick more and for the few that so employers should target them rather than tar everyone with the same brush.

So many doctors on here 😂 So the bank note on the floor reasoning is apparently flawed but surely the obvious answer would be to call dh/partner/whoever and ask them to pick it up so you don't have to struggle to get it yourself 😂😂😂
In all seriousness OP really hope your work stop being twats and you feel better soon

@Cauliflowersqueeze glad that turned into a positive for your friend. My 'manager' was a complete cow and had it in for me anyway.

People say they're starving when they're just hungry.
People say they have flu when they have symptoms to match and they are clearly too ill to go to work. Splitting hairs people! As well as crappy bosses this kind of nit picking is spoiling for drama. It's an infection of its own kind. Anyone with half a brain knows what she meant!

Anyone with half a brain knows what she meant!

Presumably she meant flu, as it is entirely possible she has flu.

This thread really is something special.

Actually they are NOT allowed to ask what's wrong, and shouldn't be pressing you to come in until you are better. So whether its flu or not is not the point. Also they have a responsibility to their other staff not to unnecessarily expose them to illness. Letting them know when you expect to be back is a courtesy but not an obligation, and should be dependent on you actually feeling better.

My dd works for an arsehole who despite seeing how unwell she was AT WORK did not send her home. She was so afraid to ask or tell him she needed to go home she just stayed there! He's an awful human being that shouts at staff infront of customers etc. Dgd was sick & she phoned him to say this. He demanded she rang me to take dgd! She said she didn't think that was right & he said give me the number & I'll TELL your mum she's looking after her!! He really bullied her into going into work that day & in turn me looking after dgd!!
So bosses can be awful... they don't have a right to make you feel bad that you are not well enough to go to work (or home from work!!)

If you don't feel well flu, virus doesnt matter your manager shouldnt be trying to bring you in for lighter work because everyone else gets sick. In our office its a wasted journey coming in sick within 5 minutes theres a mutiny and the rest of the team send you home. NOONE wants to catch what you have ! and we dont want our family to catch it either 😊 so thank you for calling in sick.

OP is a postwoman.
When postmen/postwomen are on strike, you have the managers scabbing.
What stops the manager replacing OP in her duties, instead of phoning OP?

Maybe the employer has had previous bad experiences with staff bunking off sick...she's only been there a year she may not be aware (just saying)

Why do you think GPs bother putting up signs saying “please don’t come into the surgery if you’ve got swine flu” if nobody with flu could get out of bed anyway?

A bloody good point!

Really annoys me this while if you really had flunyou wouldn’t be able to move a single muscle and must just lay in bed unable to even breathe for at least a week.

I’ve currently got flu (or so my GP best friend tells me)
I didn’t lay in bed and wet myself, I dragged myself to the loo cos you know I actually care about my mattress and keeping it clean

I had to look after the kids, admittedly after I picked them up from school I went straight back to bed and left them to fend for themselves for 3 hours, luckily the most they got up to was playing on tablets and eating bananas. I was then woken at 7pm by them enquiring about dinner as it was nearly bed time so I got up and put a pizza in the oven which wiped me out so I laid down on the kitchen floor which is where DH found me when he came home 15 minutes later and thought I might be dead

I would have loved to have stayed in bed and have someone wait on me and look
After the kids and take them to school but unfortunately DH can’t take any time off at the moment and there’s no one else, it’s a choice between me resting or looking after the kids which you know needs to be done no matter what.

People react differently to things, we didn’t realise DS had a burst appendix for 3 days as he didn’t cry or scream or even complain much and doctors said they had grown men screaming in pain for much less.

I had once been in a job for a year and had never taken a day off sick. But I then phoned in one day to say I was too unwell to come in - I had no idea what it was but felt like death plus I could barely function and everything hurt. My manager rang me back and said "you just have a cold and we are busy so you need to come in." I stupidly did (I was in my early 20s and had not been working that long and naively thought that I had to do exactly what they said). The next day I was diagnosed with pneumonia.

Bad virus with a fever is often better than flu for future reference as well as mentioning it’s affecting your bowels.

You should be able to self certify for 5 before you need to see a gp for a sick note.

I had a boss once ego even asked if I’d taken paracetamol.

Get well soon!

I had the flu for 2 whole weeks last year. I slept 18 hours a day for 14 days, but those hours I was awake I was posting all over forums online. I was absolutely bored silly of only being able to crawl out of bed to go and vomit.

Luckily my manager was very understanding and didn't want me anywhere near her