To call in sick for my first day of work?

[SicklyWorker]

Starting a new job tomorrow but I have an awful cold. It's not Covid.

Nose streaming, sore throat, sinuses hurting, headache, feel dizzy and sick.

I'm meant to be going to the office for 9am tomorrow.

I do already have my laptop here as it was couriered to me.

Options are:

1. Dose up on Lemsip and hope for the best

1. Call in sick

1. See if I can can WFH on my first day and try and do the inductions over Teams

None of these options seem like a great first impression.

WWYD?

'Just a cold' to some people is bloody awful for others. Like the OP I've had 'just colds' worse than covid.

Good for you if you get by with just a sniffle, for many of us a heavy cold means being practically useless and stuck to the bed/sofa.

I had a really similar situation I caught bad tonsillitis during the two week training but was too scared not to go in to the office on my first day so I dosed myself up and went I had a temp and was looking awful after an hour of being there they kept asking if I was alright cause I was so flushed and obviously poorly, I said I had tonsillitis and was taking antibiotics and cocodamol they were so upset I had felt I had to come in and sent me straight home for 7 days it didn’t show on my absence record etc they were really supportive

Funnily enough I had nearly this same experience recently, but from your manager's perspective- I hired someone to do some remote contract work and we planned to meet in person before they started just for a chat and for me to give them a small piece of equipment they needed to log on to our client's secure network. They showed up with a nasty streaming cold, which I of course caught.

I was absolutely furious, I ended up in bed for two days, miserable for over a week, and I had to miss another in-person client meeting that I was actually looking forward to, which could have easily cost me a lucrative job with that client.

Of course I realise that many of the jobsworth idiots who somehow fall upwards into management positions think that you should never miss a day in the office for any reason short of death, and it's entirely possible you are unfortunate enough to work with one of these people. So give them a call to ask what they prefer but for god's sake give them the chance to say no. If you have your company laptop am sure there is plenty of onboarding work and documentation-reading you can be getting on with.

@Castawaywilson @MrsDrSpencerReid that's all well and good when that's what your workplace culture is but in the uk, schools take a dim view of children being off when they could be in. Obviously with D&V there's the 48 hour rule but with schools and workplaces here, a cold is a cold - as stated on the NHS website. In a lot of jobs, people are neither paid nor supported to be off with a cold.

I can just imagine my boss's face if I rang in work every time DS picked a cold up at nursery....

If I was doing your first day induction I'd rather you stayed at home and the initial induction was done over Teams. We've had this happen a couple of times in the past year and have delayed the person's start date. I wouldn't want you sharing what you've got with me! I'd have a higher opinion of someone who didn't come in and spread their cold around TBH, and if I was your new manager I'd rather have a text to explain than gave you drag yourself in if you're not well.

These things happen, it might be a bit annoying for your new team but if they're like my colleagues they'd be way more pissed off if you ame in then gave them your cold.

Imagine the fun you'll have when you and your whole team have that cold a few days later.

You're letting your prejudice (which is that anyone who calls in sick is taking the piss until proven otherwise) interfere with common sense (the obvious fact that one person off work for a day or two is better than several people off work or losing productivity because they are trying to work through sickness, due to trying to accommodate your aforementioned prejudice against people who call in sick).

@SicklyWorker I think you need to spell out your symptoms in your text message. If you feel dizzy and sick it clearly isn’t ‘just a sniffle’ type of cold. Do you have a raised temperature? I would tell your manager that, although you haven’t tested positive yet, you have possible covid symptoms. If WFH is possible in the role, it seems the ideal compromise for tomorrow.

Someone at my DH’s workplace was told he HAD to go in while he was ill with a heavy cold and cough. He tested positive for covid a few days later and they had 15 people off with it by the following week (including the manager who insisted that the guy couldn’t wfh!)

I reckon it’s Covid but you’re not showing positive yet.

This all over

I wonder if this is the same as what DD and I have had recently. Been absolutely wiped out for a week, never known a cold like it- and definitely negative for Covid.

We recently had a new starter turn up with a cold, he was taken round the office to meet everyone, low & behold he then tested positive for COVID.
The whole office ended up being sent to WFH for a week, with return to the office reliant on a negative test. Caused so much disruption!
Hopefully they will let you WFH.

Go in.first day you take a sickie you'll be remembered for all the wrong reasons for long time to come.some might sympathise,most won't.
take a mask and do your best.hopefully you'll feel better to a degree.
good luck!💐

Wiped out sums it up. I do have a temperature and aching legs + coughing and sneezing non stop but I can function.

How about this for a message:

Hi boss,

Apologies to message on a Sunday but I wanted to give you a heads up that I have had Covid symptoms since Friday. Tests are negative so far but I wanted to check the policy on coming to the office with cold and flu symptoms and a high temperature? Would you prefer to have the inductions over Teams?

Appreciate this is bad timing, I was hoping I would be better by tomorrow but it's not looking likely.

Sickly

Your drafted message to the new boss make you sound like a teenager messaging its boss trying to come up with an excuse not to go

It's a cold op
Take panadol. Take 3 of them. Cough medication and a hot flask whatever it takes and go to work

Or send your weak af message and be let go straight away perhaps. Well at least then you can stay at home
Which is what you want right....

And at LEAST have the guts to call your manager vs an email......

Complete piss take.

What job do you do out of interest @Marvellousmadness ?

The responses on this thread are really helping the first day nerves

I guess I asked for it posting in AIBU

I wonder what your new job is OP?

Writer?

Sick, argumentative or nerves?

I'd message my boss today and ask ... I'd be pissed off if you came I and gave everyone cold ... I'd prefer you WFH , but each manager is different

Send the message but offer to call so your manager can hear how terrible you sound.

Clearly a contentious subject!

Everyone commenting is 100% certain that they themselves are correct and everyone else is totally wrong. Can anyone really be that arrogant?

My OPINION is that, I would never call in sick for a cold, but I would make it clear I had one once I arrive, and keep my distance from any staff.

If it was my first day of a new job, to be honest I wouldn’t even consider ringing in sick unless I had a fever or d&v. Because of the covid culture of today though, I might consider phoning my manager an hour before I was due to start, to ask what the policy is post covid for other virus’. They might have a policy which states to wfh if you’re well enough, or to stay home until symptoms have gone. Or it may simply be that, if you’re well enough to work then you should, but be sensible with hygiene when in the office

No, I think you have to just call if you’re going to call. They’re not going to take you up in an offer to judge how sick you sound.

It's Sunday, her boss doesn't want to be answering calls ...
OP just text, you'll be fine ☺️ people get ill, yes it's bad timing but it's not the end of the world.... we now have the options to WFH so o don't see an issue to be honest