Your opinions on this work debate?

[Pilloefluff]

NC for this as it is very outing but I'm sure if my colleagues see this they'd be interested in opinions too as it did start to get a little heated 🤣

Had a work discussion today about calling in sick, it was to state that when you are ill you need to physically speak to somebody to report it rather than texting as a few people have done this recently.

That's fair enough if you are awake and able to call so colleague asked if the reason for sickness is because you have been up all night ill and only get back to sleep early hours of the morning is it ok to text at that point to let manager know you wont be in and then call when you've woken up to clarify anything. Manager said this isn't an option and you would be expected to call in at your expected time due for work even if this is at 6am (we all have different start times)

I am on the fence I think, i can see managers are just following guidelines but it has never been a problem until now and I can understand if you have been up all night the last thing you want to do is set an alarm for 6am just to have a 30 sec convo to say I'm ill. If someone starts puking the night before and know they won't be into work surely a text to give a heads up should suffice and then they could call in the morning when they are up to it? This would of course be in rare circumstances not every time you were ill.

To add, these are work phones not personal so they would ideally be off/silent so a 4am text wouldn't wake managers. And we are office based, not customer facing jobs so it isn't a big deal when someone doesnt turn up on time for their job (infact it happens regularly when people are stuck in traffic or just late anyway and they arent required to call in)

Thoughts?

I think it depends on your policy and manager. I’ve never expected an actual call and I’ve never called in despite it being policy. Email or text is just more convenient really. The occasions where I’ve not come in have been bereavement, threatened miscarriage and my child being hospitalised. Not really times when I’ve wanted to have a chat to be honest.

People need to follow the policy of the workplace

Policy policy policy, alright, but we're human beings for christ sake. I just can't believe how anal and controlling some employers are. Its pathetic.

I think a degree of flexibility and common sense is needed and insisting on the only acceptable way to advise of absence be a phone call at the time a shift would normally start is poor practice by management.

A text is fine but must always be followed up by a phone call later in the day.

At my workplace there is a dedicated absence line to call and this is recorded and used by HR to directly record sickness on their systems. Texts to managers can easily be missed and sometimes fail to send and are not as official a record of notification. That is why we have a policy that an employee or someone representing them (when they can't call themselves) notifies by phone at the earliest opportunity.

I just can't believe how anal and controlling some employers are. Its pathetic.

Unfortunately this is because of the legal consequences. 99% of the time this will be just someone phoning to say they are ill and they'll be back at work no problems in a few days. However there are occasions where this may be involved in disciplinary action, health and safety reporting or legal action against the employer of some other kind (such as employment tribunals or court cases related to health and safety issues). It is much easier and legally certain to have a blanket policy rather than hope that things are properly recorded on the occasion that it becomes important down the line.

I always assumed that policies which demand you call in we’re always there as a deterrent towards people pulling a sickie - it’s much easier to feign illness in a text or email than over the phone. My friend used to be responsible for the “absence line” at my old workplace and laughed about the pathetic ill voices would put on.

My current workplace (school) has the scariest deputy headteacher on the absence line. I’m sure that’s also intentional.