To call in sick after this happened

[cherryblossom83]

I have worked in the same company for almost 20 years. I love my job. Due to the nature of my job it can be difficult to get time off at certain times as any shifts swapped have to be done ourselves. I accept this and have missed out on family events over the years.
I rarely take a sick day I've had one sick day in 5 years.
I've now had a bereavement and because it is not a direct relative of mine but someone I knew extremely well the company will not authorise me the day off to attend the funeral. The problem I have is because it's a training course hence why I cannot swap with one of my colleagues despite the course taking place frequently and I have offered to attend the course on my days off they will not accommodate me due to the course being at maximum numbers. I don't have access to see who is on the course on other days.
Aibu to just call in sick at this point as they will have to find me a place on the course at a later date or would you basically just keep saying what I have already said that I need to be there.

You can self-certify for up to 7 days, so no NHS resources needed.

This really annoys me, take sick a week prior and stay off if you will get sick pay. Let them sort it out, try and come up with something that wouldn’t allow you to get to work so if you have to drive say something that you can’t drive, as long as no one could collect you. You could then still go funeral as someone kindly helped you.
companies annoy me today as there’s no give and take

This kind of scenario would be typical of where I work too, there’s so many people who take the piss yet they don’t value the long term staff who rarely go off sick or cause any issues.
You Can’t go off sick with something like flu or noro in case you are seen out and about however taking a few days off due to bereavement is acceptable in my opinion if it was someone close/special to you. It is so frustrating that your employer could authorise this and just lose you for one day but their actions mean in future you won’t even bother asking for the time off and take the easier option!

I know that. There were posts saying to get signed off for 2 weeks as it's harder to argue with a doctor's note.

Call in sick under the guise of mental health due to the impact of the bereavement upon you. If you need to, make sure your doctor knows you’re feeling depressed, so you have back up, should you need it

I would speak to your manager. Remind them of your loyalty and if they aren't able to accommodate then you might start looking elsewhere for employment. Do you think that would change their viewpoint? Or are they a company who are happy to replace people?