Boss called in sick to Christmas party

[idonotmind]

Our boss called in sick to our Christmas party. AIBU? Shouldn't he be leading by example? He has form though, he cancelled our in-office day once due to the rain, which I was actually relieved by.

for goodness sake, what age are you? can you not go to a christmas party with 7 other people without the boss holding your hand, he probably is sick and does not make anyone else ill, i might not want to spend time with you if this is the type of thing you put on mumsnet.

Its a party, theres no obligation to attend even if hes not sick.

Hes your boss not your friend.

I'm fascinated by the concept of calling in sick to a party. It's a party, you only attend if you want to, say "sorry, I can't", no explanation is actually needed IMO. Scrutinising someone's reasons for not attending a party is pretty weird.

Weird that you are even bothered and to actually put a post about it 😏

This

Maybe he hates Xmas parties or he just hates you all or he is sick - enjoy it without him - he hasn’t cancelled it I assume ?

IDK. Some of our best office parties were when the boss came in, shook hands all round, made a short 'speech of appreciation' then ducked out quietly leaving us to our own devices.

🥂🍻🍷🥃🍸🍹🧉🍾🥧🧁🍰💃🕺🏼💃🕺🏼💃🕺🏼

He’s paid to work with you not socialise with you. Sick or not he’s presumably under no obligation to attend your ridiculously early Christmas party.

Maybe you all bore him to sobs and he'd rather stay home alone?

Maybe he had a better offer?

Maybe having a Xmas party in November was a stupid idea and he just couldn't be doing with it?

Maybe he's actually sick?

DH manages a similar sized team. He didn’t go to their Summer party because he was unwell. Turns out he had COVID.

This ☝️
with bells on

I'm glad I don't work with someone who thinks sick people should go to a party and infect others.

Ha. This.

OP has called in sick to her own thread.

He has form because he’s canceled one in-office day for I’m guessing chance of flooding due to heavy rains, and now he’s sick and can’t go to a work party? And that’s form?

You’ve got problems and it’s not your boss.

You think he should show up just to show leadership skills of not taking his health seriously?
So you think it’s okay to be selfish and potentially infect others?

Just say you think he’s lying about being sick.

I don’t blame him not wanting to go to this work Christmas party sick or not.

And it’s not even November yet!

Or maybe he’s realised that, in some cases, it’s not the place of the manager to be socialising with everyone.
some people and work places have a different mindset to socialising with management.

Before COVID my boss regularly came in to the office sick and I had so many colds and bugs caught indirectly from his children. So definitely not with you on this.

Sounds like you might be trying to read more into this.
Why wouldn’t you accept he might be unwell..,?
Managers / Team leaders are only human you know.,,

I never went to any of the staff Christmas parties

Basically cos the date they were held on. .
21/12. Very bad day for me.
Maybe the date maybe a day that they'd personally like to come and go and like me not have to pretend to be happy..
Or maybe they are just plain ill.
Your being unreasonable with your attitude and timing of the Christmas party in November. Crazy early.

Probably a reason why he's the boss and you're his monkey.

I'd hate to have you in my team.

Interesting that you don't believe that he's sick. Bet you and your colleagues would be howling down the walls if he took the same attitude when any of you ring in with a bug

It's not ridiculously early to have an Office Christmas party if that's what's been agreed. Some will see it as the start of the festivities, others will be relieved to get it over and done with so it doesn't clash with their private social lives. There's absolutely no rule against it.

If he is an engaged person normally and happy with his staff and they with him then I would definitely think he is genuinely unwell. What makes you think he would want to dodge the party? If he is a friendly boss and all is generally good between you all I would feel sorry for him that when he looks after himself he has a staff member who doesn't trust him and would want to call him out.
A question for you? Are you generally getting on well at work or is this absence the last straw which has arisen from resentment building up due to his behaviour. If it's coming from a resentment is it a valid response? And if you have issues at work have you addressed them? What do you do when you're unwell? Do you take time off?
You may well be justified in feeling upset if he a selfish jerk. Only you will know the answer. What do the other members of staff think?

As a manager, I fully realise that my job at socials is to turn up when people are on their first drink, buy everyone a round, then make my excuses and leave before people are on their second drink.

Just so people can relax and have a drink without the boss being around.