To find work absence procedures frustrating?

[Whoareyouanyway]

In my place, even if you are sick you have to speak to them on the phone. You can email text etc. But you still have to physically speak to your line manager even if you're unwell.
I just don't understand why. Or if it's an emergency, I suppose if you are in hospital and physically unable to speak in extreme circumstances that's different.

Just don't understand this level of distrust that employers have, does anybody else have this in their contract?

We trialled a system of 'Email OR ring'. Everyone emailed and the level of absence increased significantly by a number of staff. For example, we had one who had 6 grandads die, another who had terrible tonsillitis and bad backs- but was smoking and playing guitar in a band in pubs and clubs.
It caused more work all round following them up, finding cover, putting attendance procedures in place.
People take the piss if it is easy to do so. We all have to telephone our line manager now and we all have return to work interviews. It's amazing how the piss-takers' health and attendance has improved.

My workplace has that rule, but I'm not aware of it being widely enforced. It's obviously up to specific managers, but from what I've seen, most are happy with an email.

Yes - even genuine sickness absence can lead to warnings and dismissal. It’s about the impact on the business not whether it’s genuine or not

My husband phoned my work once to say I was in bed feeling awful with laryngitis, a really bad headache and suspected (turns out it was) chest infection. Boss demanded to speak to me. DH handed me the phone, but I couldn’t make a sound. Boss thought I was taking the piss and started berating me. DH heard and took the phone back to tell her to catch a grip.

Samw boss tried to sack me for having too many miscarriages. Said had breached the regulation maximum 2 absences. Twice as needed hospital admission for ERPC because I was haemorrhaging so badly.Again berated for not phoning myself (the fact I was having emergency surgery wasn’t a good enough reason for my husband to phone apparently). Once I took off the day I was actually miscarrying and went back the next day to a row.

I've been like this in previous workplaces (current manager is happy with an email).

I feel like I'm a child trying to bunk off school, rather than a responsible adult who has a good relationship with my manager, not much sickness history, and is genuinely too ill to work!

This is for safeguarding reasons. Someone could have hurt you and email in on your behalf. They need to speak to you to make sure you are safe.

Unfortunately I agree.There are certain people who just skivers who do not have a work ethic!

It's because if you can email/text/WhatsApp, rather than telephone (or somebody else telephones if you are too ill), it will be proven statistically that sickness absence rates go up ... as its "too easy".

It's designed to make you feel uncomfortable and induce guilt. I got dh to phone in for me when I had my work induced mental breakdown.

Usually employers are not that caring.

It’s literally just because it’s easier to lie by text, and phoning in sick in person is more of
a deterrent to the dishonest…

There was a case where a girl was murdered by her boyfriend who buried her in the woods. The boyfriend had been texting her manager. The alarm was raised as the manager finally got suspicious that they couldn’t talk to her.

I'm a manager and that is why I do it. My staff are fab, hardworking and I really wouldn't want anything to happen to any of them.

We allow texts. Or emails.

At a previous firm a colleague had a burst appendix, rushed in hospital and was pretty much unconscious for two days before she started to improve. Her H rang the day after she was taken in and she was disciplined for not ringing the morning of her absence between 8-9 (she was in an operating table at the time). So ridiculous - that was when I decided to leave. Stupid decision made by stupid people. No common sense applied.

Yes! The croaky voice. I call it 'sick note throat'. If you're ringing in with a bad back, How's that impacted your voice? 🤣🤣🤣

This. I've encountered DV cases before where an abusive spouse would beat up their partner badly enough to show, or simply not trust them to come home if they allowed them to leave the house, and one of the things that stopped them being able to completely take control was the individual having to speak to their manager themselves. It's pretty obvious if someone's on speaker phone or being coached through what to say in that situation so if you already have suspicions that all is not well at home that's another solid clue. They might not accept support if it's offered, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be offered.

Also, messages go astray, emails can go to spam, if you've spoken to someone you know they know you're not coming in and can arrange cover.

Edited to add: asked the daft thing to quote the previous poster who talked about workplaces needing to know something terrible hasn't happened to you with the person contacting them being the cause of it.

I had to phone in every few days when I was on ( unpaid ) parental leave because my teenage son was dying in hospital. My witch of a line manager asked me if I could come into the office for a meeting and was annoyed when I explained that i couldn’t as I was sitting at his bedside all day, every day as he only had a few days left.

She then said she would email me with a date to come into the office the next week for a formal meeting. When I phoned her in a few days, she asked if I was definitely coming to the meeting, so I said that no I couldn’t commit to any date as I was at the hospital every day.

She then said in an exasperated voice “ you said that last week ! “. When he died a few days later, she ordered me to come into the office for a meeting in the week between the death and the funeral.

I still had to keep phoning her every few days until the funeral. Maybe she was worried he would come back to life and I’d have claimed unpaid leave under false pretences.

BTW Id been in the job for over 10 years and had never taken a single sick day, the only time I’d ever had off was my maternity leave. And she knew it was all true because I worked in the NHS - she could have phoned up the ward or the records office if she wanted to.

Whilst I do have to phone in with general sickness, and I hate it, our HR department would be more than happy for someone else to phone in those kind of circumstances, and rightly so 🤣.

They would also accept an email if it was a case of bereavement, which I know is different.

Calling in and return to works decreases the amount piss takers, will take the piss. It's also a chance to ensure you have support and are properly recovered. Very common practice. Can it be awkward? Sure. Everywhere I have worked has had this rule, although many bosses are happy for texts at their discretion. It might depend on how likely they think you are to take the piss or if they think you're vulnerable

Didn't save her, though, did it?

You have to have a rule for the first point of contact. You can relax it later for employees you trust if you think they will not be able to phone easily, and obviously make alllowances for people rushed into hospital etc, but if you have a slacker you need to be able to put pressure on them.

Hopefully employers can tell the difference between serious illnesses and life events and the guy who's just "feeling a bit under the weather" yet again.

They don't though. My employer is no more responsible for "safeguarding" when I'm outside the office than my neighbour. It's a stupid excuse to use.

For me, it's a duty of care thing...anyone could text/email. Hearing someone on the phone provides me with some level of comfort that my team member is safe. I've had an unfortunate instance where someone couldn't get into work because she had been assaulted by her then partner who messaged me from an unknown number pretending to be her. Something didn't sit right so I called her and that's when the whole sad story came out.

Good idea. Too many malingerers these days.

Yeah. The raspy voice. Skiving wankers.

One phone call for a full days pay to do nothing at your place of work? Is it really such a hardship?

A lot of places don't offer full sick pay.. don't be so quick to assume.