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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Having to ring absence line by 8am

219 replies

ProbablyLate · 07/10/2021 07:35

DH and I are both teachers and have this policy and I wonder if it's the same in other jobs.

If I need a day off for illness I have to ring school between 7:30 and 8am. I appreciate that schools need to know as early as possible if staff aren't going to be in, and this works fine in the situation that you wake up ill in the morning. DH came home ill yesterday and last night let his head of department know he wouldn't be in today and cobbled together some cover work but he still has to be up to ring the absence line.

AIBU to think that if its obvious the previous day that you're going to be off ill the next day there should be another way of letting them know as often having a good sleep can make you feel much better?

OP posts:
MitheringMytryl · 07/10/2021 09:19

Sounds silly and a bit pointless but they need to have some sort of standard procedure for this kind of thing. Teaching is one of those jobs where you will absolutely have to get cover for an absence so I can see why they have a strict policy.

Silverswirl · 07/10/2021 09:22

They are hoping you change you mind in the morning and drag yourself in. That’s because school still expect teachers to work, even if you feel poorly. That’s because they are so underfunded many really struggle to afford expensive supply teachers and many primaries have been forced to cut TA positions to the bare minimum.

Peanutsandchilli · 07/10/2021 09:22

Yes it's ridiculous, but personally I'd let him sleep and ring for him, if necessary.

Clarice99 · 07/10/2021 09:25

[quote girlmom21]@Clarice99 a sick note is clearly different.

If you had flu and it started on a Wednesday would you phone and say 'I definitely won't be in until Tuesday? No, because sickness doesn't always start on a Monday and last a week. Yes I would, and have, notified by boss daily. On your 1st day of sickness you may think you'll be ok by day 2/3 for it then to last longer, or vice versa. [/quote]
I wouldn't phone on Wednesday and say I won't be in until Tuesday. I would however say I won't be in for the remainder of the week and would not expect (or be required) to call again.

You didn't say that a sick note is clearly different hence my post.

You said:

Isn't it just courteous to notify your manager each day in a timely manner anyway?

And it's that point I disagree with. I view that as oppressive.

SheWoreYellow · 07/10/2021 09:25

The sensible thing would be for him to let them know in the morning if he’s made a miraculous recovery. But there’s no reason for him to phone again to say he’s still ill, given that he let them know yesterday.

lanthanum · 07/10/2021 09:31

Being able to leave a message would be so useful in some situations. If you've been up until 4am throwing up, then what you need is to be able to leave the message and go and sleep.
(Of course some schools would expect you to set some cover work before going to sleep, which is also crazy.)

Miseryl · 07/10/2021 09:32

Can he ring the absence line the night before and leave a message? Surely 8am is just the deadline.

Dojacatpaws · 07/10/2021 09:36

How did he know he would still be ill the next day

FuckingFlumps · 07/10/2021 09:37

@Dojacatpaws

How did he know he would still be ill the next day
What an odd comment. There's lots of reasons someone would know they won't be well the following day. Confused
IARTNS · 07/10/2021 09:38

In my previous job, it was 2 hours before start of shift and every day of absence. The only time I didn't have to call each day was if I was in hospital or had provide a sick note.

Mummyoflittledragon · 07/10/2021 09:38

@Blanketpolicy

Obviously not knowing the nature of his illness and expecting a drip feed, I am assuming he is just feeling a bit fluey/migraine.

I have never actually encountered someone feeling ill and when finishing work for the day preempting they will be off sick the next day.

He could feel better overnight after a sleep, so not unreasonable to be expected to call in in the morning with an update so they know for sure if cover is required. It is just a phone call, he can go back to bed after if he needs more sleep.

What?! Have you never been ill and been 100% sure you would be too ill to be in the next day? I’d love to know what that feels like!
Cookiecrisps · 07/10/2021 09:43

I work in a school and we need to ring the team leader by 7:30am. We must speak to the team leader so can’t leave an answer phone message and then we have to phone in by 3:15 the sane day to say whether we’ll be in tomorrow. It is often easier to drag yourself in than be off ill. It is not good.

Whywonttheyletmeusemyusername · 07/10/2021 09:44

My DC school is the same. When it was obvious DD was too ill to go in the following day, I would ring the night before. I would still get the text the next day saying she was absent and I needed to call. On ringing, I was told the voicemail I'd left the night before doesn't count, and I still needed to inform them that day. Ridiculous, and doesn't make sense. Chronic illness....I know when she's going to be too ill to go in the following day, so WHY doesn't my voicemail the night before count?

Beautiful3 · 07/10/2021 09:52

Of course you should, so that cover staff can be arranged. You set your alarm to report it then go back to sleep. Otherwise you'll leave students without teachers/staff.

FuckingFlumps · 07/10/2021 09:55

@Beautiful3

Of course you should, so that cover staff can be arranged. You set your alarm to report it then go back to sleep. Otherwise you'll leave students without teachers/staff.
I'm amazed at how many people are misreading this thread.

The OPs husband informed work he would not be in yesterday, giving them ample time to arrange cover. He even set work for the children to do, which most teachers do even though they don't need to.

The only thing he didn't do was want to ring in first thing this morning.

purpledagger · 07/10/2021 09:55

We have a line to call if we are sick and I work in HR, so oversee the telephone line.

You probably need to rethink the way you view this. The correct procedure is to report your absence to the hotline, not to report via your manager (although I'm sure the line manager appreciated the extra notice).

For our line, the service is open 24/7, so your DH could have called the night before, left a message or you could have called I his behalf to report the. absence

There are downsides to using external hotlines to report absences and this is one of them, but it can get really messy when correct procedures aren't followed.

starfishmummy · 07/10/2021 09:58

Yanbu. Our policy (public sector office job) was to ring between 8.30 to 9.30. Had to ring ourselves not ask a partner (that was interesting when I lost my voice) and call every day unless we had a fit note.

Miseryl · 07/10/2021 09:58

Sorry didn't read the post properly- it says to ring between 7.30 and 8am.

Callmecordelia · 07/10/2021 10:02

It's for arranging cover. If you tell your line manager, then sadly they will forget to inform admin. HOD are busy, they won't always remember to do something in a timely way.

On a spread out school site, the staffroom might not be near the admin office to know whether someone is in or not.

In my school having one centralised line means that one person has the job of collating all the teacher/support staff absences, and organising the most appropriate cover, which is a very efficient way of doing it. They also update the daily staff email bulletin, so everyone knows if someone is absent. If someone is signed off for a period of time, then no, they don't have to ring, but for one off absences for illnesses, then it does make sense.

We had five teachers off on Monday. If they hadn't all called in by 8am, and we had just heard in dribs and drabs from line managers cover would have been even more of a nightmare than it already was.

BuffyFanForever · 07/10/2021 10:18

Before 7am for me and it had to be a phone call where you spoke to the person. No texts or voicemails, even though this was inevitably the time the people you had to ring were travelling to work. This was also the case even when a member of staff was in hospital... still had to ring multiple times to get through to someone before 7 daily.

MrsSkylerWhite · 07/10/2021 10:19

Sounds perfectly reasonable to me 🤷‍♀️

Viviennemary · 07/10/2021 10:41

If you've told them the day before you won't be in thst should be sufficient.

Original poster
ProbablyLate · 07/10/2021 10:42

Thanks for the responses! Clearly an early call is pretty standard procedure. I didn’t make it clear in the original post but DH had to call and speak to someone in the office and was told at his induction that if they left a message they should keep trying to ring to get through to ensure that it has been picked up - so not a necessarily a quick job then back to bed. He was actually sent home from school early yesterday because he was so obviously unwell then was up vomiting in the night

OP posts:
ilovesooty · 07/10/2021 10:51

@BashfulClam

You can go back to sleep after calling the absence line. My last job used to make you call at 3pm-4pm to confirm if you would be back the following day Confused
Yes. In my last teaching job you had to call every day before 8am and by 2.45pm every day to confirm your attendance or non attendance for the following day.
8dpwoah · 07/10/2021 10:56

I've never worked in a school where this wasn't the case and it's often 7 or 7.30am cutoff, even if you're not classroom staff. Are you both very new to the job?