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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Boss wants people to arrange booster jab for a Friday

181 replies

Wantubackforgood · 07/12/2021 18:01

DP had just come home and the owner of the company he works for has suggested that staff should only be arranging booster jabs for a Friday after work so that if they suffer side effects they won't need to take time off .
For context,DP had one day off after his third jab .There have been a couple of others off in the last few weeks.These are all people who would never normally take a day off and only get SSP .

AIBU to think this is a shocking way to treat people who are trying to do the right thing ?

OP posts:
JalfreziAtChristmas · 08/12/2021 10:43

@thatstheloveiwantiwantlove

To be honest I agree with the boss - so many people took the piss at DH work that they felt "unwell" after the first and second jab and had at least one or two days off sick
How do you know they took the piss?
halcyondays · 08/12/2021 10:47

If every working person gets their booster on a Friday after work, it will be a very slow rollout.

Comefromaway · 08/12/2021 10:48

I did that on one of my jabs and booked a days holiday after the other. Dh is getting his the first day after he breaks up for Christmas.

My parents run their own business and chose a day at the end of the week after payroll was completed.

iloveruby · 08/12/2021 11:00

@gofg

It always amazes me how some posters on MN get, let alone keep, jobs with their attitudes to work. Meanwhile there are people who would make fantastic employees languishing on the jobseeker allowance because no-one will employ them.
It amazes me how awfully some people are treated by their employers, who are asking people to delay getting an important vaccination for "business reasons".

It is shortsighted of the companies and foolish of the employees to risk their health in this way. Threads like this make me so glad that I work for an organisation who value and support their employees.

LindaEllen · 08/12/2021 11:09

It seems sensible. I actually booked mine when I knew I could have a couple of chill days after (didn't need them for the first one, but the second one floored me).

If you can't book for a Friday then I wouldn't miss out on it, but if you can then it just makes sense.

Businesses have had so many problems with staffing thanks to isolation and the difficulty of home working. Having staff needing to take time off for this is just adding to the pressure.

Bluesheep8 · 08/12/2021 11:09

I chose a Friday pm for this reason (no coercion from work) but I was able to choose a day and time slot

SilverHairedCat · 08/12/2021 11:16

@iloveruby I don't agree it's a delay to any appointments. Plenty of people aren't even eligible for their 3rd jab yet.

JalfreziAtChristmas · 08/12/2021 11:18

[quote SilverHairedCat]@iloveruby I don't agree it's a delay to any appointments. Plenty of people aren't even eligible for their 3rd jab yet.[/quote]
How is it not a delay if their first available appointment is a Monday but their employer wants them to wait for the first available Friday?!

NewPapaGuinea · 08/12/2021 11:32

Curious to know those willing to sacrifice a weekend being ill would give up a day’s holiday if they were ill during the week?

gamerchick · 08/12/2021 11:35

@NewPapaGuinea

Curious to know those willing to sacrifice a weekend being ill would give up a day’s holiday if they were ill during the week?
I've used nearly all my annual leave for covid related reasons this year. No work, no pay. Before covid I've absolutely used holiday for sickness. Again for the same reason. Just makes sense.
Hoppinggreen · 08/12/2021 11:39

@NewPapaGuinea

Curious to know those willing to sacrifice a weekend being ill would give up a day’s holiday if they were ill during the week?
You are very unlikely to be very ill after a vaccine, just feel a bit grotty with a sore arm. Most people wouldn’t be ill enough to need a day off for it. But if I was to feel a bit achey etc I would rather do it on a day I can spend on the sofa instead of working
Cheerbear24 · 08/12/2021 11:39

@NewPapaGuinea

Curious to know those willing to sacrifice a weekend being ill would give up a day’s holiday if they were ill during the week?
I have done this before. Depends on sick pay arrangements and amount of sick days taken.
RedToothBrush · 08/12/2021 11:43

@NewPapaGuinea

Curious to know those willing to sacrifice a weekend being ill would give up a day’s holiday if they were ill during the week?
Tbh a lot of people will feel crap but no so crap they don't want to be in work. This is more likely than being absent. Perhaps the more appropriate question here is 'would you rather be at work or home if you have a hangover?'

Also if you are more ill and would have taken time off would you rather just be able to cancel domestic plans (not make any in the first place) or have the stress of calling in sick and wondering if your boss thought you were taking the piss or not?

I think how you think about this in terms of practical reality is interesting. Its rather like planning when you are potentially going to be sick rather than being at the mercy of being sick.

I do think a fair number of people would choose to be sick on days when it causes you and other people the least inconvenience as a priority tbh.

LaurieFairyCake · 08/12/2021 11:50

Very simply - the whole working element of the country can't work like that (not enough slots, would take years to vaccinate everyone at that pace)

So NO company should be allowed to

SilverHairedCat · 08/12/2021 12:00

@NewPapaGuinea absolutely fine. I use AL to cope with a chronic illness rather than get sacked for excessive sickness. Even with reasonable adjustments for my disability I would otherwise have been put of a job years ago.

ButtonSister · 08/12/2021 12:03

I chose Friday to avoid having to work feeling under theweather

witsendeverytime · 08/12/2021 12:08

If there's a walk in available it makes sense to me. If an appointment then whenever.

melj1213 · 08/12/2021 13:15

I genuinely don't understand why some people are acting like this is some dictatorial demand and being hyperbolic about the request.

The OPs DHs boss suggested that people get their jab at the end of their working week - it's not a demand, it's just them clearly trying to reduce staff shortages. Additionally not everyone works 9-5 Monday to Friday so it's hardly like everyone is going to be wanting an appointment at 5pm on Friday if their employer asks them to book for the end of their work week.

Nobody is saying "You must ONLY get your jab on Friday", just that if you're offered options, take the one that will cause the least impact if you feel grotty afterwards. If thr option is a Friday in 6weeks or tomorrow, then by all means take the appointment tomorrow but if the options are Thursday 10am or Friday at 4pm, then if you work 9-5 M-F then the 4pm Friday appointment is the better option as you can rest and relax afterwards rather than having to go to work while feeling a bit grotty.

I work in a supermarket, we are already understaffed and people having odd days off here and there for covid jabs and boosters has put a massive strain on other colleagues. Therefore when booking jabs and boosters we have been asked to do so outside of work days/times where possible (as per our existing medical appointments policy) and if that is the possible then we have been asked to book them at the end of shifts and towards the end of our work week.

With my first jab I went to work the day after and was so exhausted they sent me home 5hrs into a 10hr shift. I just felt a bit under the weather when I started but as the day went on I felt worse and worse to the point I could barely stand up never mind do any work and then I slept for 2 days straight and missed 3 days of work. Therefore I booked my second jab for Saturday evening (I work Tuesday-Saturday) so that if I felt as I did with the first jab I could just veg on the sofa and only go out if I needed to. With my second one my arm was a little stiff and I felt a bit grotty but nowhere near as exhausted as with the first one. With my booster, I booked that for a Thursday because the options were Tuesday or Thursday and I figured that if I was going to go to work and feel grotty I would rather it was towards the end of the week than at the beginning because then I was closer to my days off to recharge afterwards rather than having to get through the entire week of work before I could have time to recharge.

Sceptre86 · 08/12/2021 13:22

Yabu. It should be common sense to book on a Friday if you don't work at the weekends so you have more time to rest should you suffer ill effects. This won't be possible in every area though. My dh has booked his for this Friday.

VikingOnTheFridge · 08/12/2021 13:23

While not everyone works the standard week, finishing on Friday and having the weekend off is still clearly more common than any other pattern so the concerns about capacity and delay are valid. And for all you say it's only a suggestion, what happens if people feel pressured and delay their jab because of that? What happens if they do book the earliest appointment they can get, it isn't a Friday and they need time off? You don't actually know.

goose1964 · 08/12/2021 13:27

I had my side effects nearly a week after my booster.

lololololollll · 08/12/2021 13:58

I made sure I did it when off work for two days after. It's a good idea.

iloveruby · 08/12/2021 14:53

It is awful there are so many people in this thread who have to give up annual leave to cover sickness - where I work if you are sick during annual leave then you claim it as a sick day, thus not losing AL entitlement.

Surely, having to use AL for sickness isn't an approach we should be encouraging?

tallduckandhandsome · 08/12/2021 14:57

Not something I would have considered, I would either have worked from home or not worked at all, and work would have been fine with it.

Landof · 08/12/2021 14:57

If they change the age groups soon, I was planning to have it over the Christmas holidays so that I don't have to take time off work, I'll be relaxing with family anyway. I hate taking time off work and want to avoid where possible.