First day back after mat leave and I’m ill

[Candle81]

WIBU to do call in sick? I’m due back at work tomorrow after 10 months off. But yesterday morning I started being ill, I think I’ve caught something from my baby who always has some sort of bug.

High fever, aches, coughing, headache, upset stomach and completely lost my voice. If I’m not better tomorrow AIBU to call in sick? I’ve worked at my company for 7 years and barely had a sick day!

WFH is working, the clue is in the “W” part. There are some bits of work you can do from home when ill but sometimes you’re just too poorly – sounds like the OP needs to sleep and rest, not be on camera faking it til she makes it. MN is really the worst place to ask work questions, so many here love the feel of the boot on their neck.

OP, I’d far rather someone coming back came back well and consistently than did a day while sick and unable to focus, made themselves worse, tried to stumble through the next day, then had to eventually call in sick anyway. Just recover, then start work.

I would have a Teams call with my boss and say I'm not very well and can barely speak. Then go back to bed, and take paracetamol every few hours and gargle with salt water.

I think I’m going to be doing team and client introductions as I’m not going back into my old role and I have retained IT access

Could you send an email or speak to your manager today to ask to rearrange agenda for first day back? I'm surprised about IT access as security should mean your access is revoked in extended absence.

Be proactive as you can be as that suggests good intention. If I heard from a team member in your situation the day before I would be positive towards the employees absence.

My first day back was just trawling through new IT updates and just getting to grips with stuff. Tbf that went on for like a week so could you do that from home?

It's different because you're not risking making anyone else ill by logging in.

No I’m not, but it doesn’t change how difficult it is to function when unwell.

If you're managing to post on MN it seems like you're capable of sitting on a computer. What I would do is call your boss today and let them know you're ill, and arrange to take another day's leave (sick, AL, special leave, whatever they can accommodate) in advance. I think it would look really bad to call in sick on your first day back, especially as it's a Tuesday and they're presumably at work today.

Call your manager today to give them a heads up and so they can hear that you’re actually ill (if you have enough voice to do that!)

It is unfortunate but return after mat leave is hard as it is and if you can't function because of your illness there is no need to add to the stress. They have coped without you for 10 months they can surely back up for a day or two. People get ill and often at inconvenient times, it just happens. Get rest!

I think honestly if I were you I'd suck it up and do what you can. Sounds awful but the majority of places I'd work this would raise an eyebrow or worse with managers who would assume this was setting a precedent of you now being 'unreliable' post-baby, especially if you mentioned you'd caught it from them. I don't think that's right but I do think that's how it'd be seen - and croaking your way unsuccessfully through a teams call with your manager and then saying you'll get reading through your emails/handover notes/whatever you can do lying down would seem 'better' than calling in sick.

It's unfortunate and shit and unfair, but - in my opinion - probably not worth the bad impression.

(As a manager, I personally would be understanding if not a bit miffed. Do you know your manager well? How sympathetic are they likely to be? That could change things!)

I personally would suck it up but I have already been through the ill baby/toddler years and if I hadn't, I would have never been at work.

Saying that, you are an adult woman with your own decision making capabilities. Only you can decide if you are too unwell for work and surely don't need strangers on the internet to validate your decisions?

I'd call them today and warn them. This happened to me, it is not ideal but couldn't be helped. I think I took a couple of days extra holiday. The first few days back are generally just catching up anyway so hopefully you won't be missing much

If you can WFH I'd at least log in and say hi and everything but then say you're really struggling so might have to log off again after a couple of hours

I had to call off on my first day after mat leave as my baby was in hospital with sepsis.
They understood. But for anything else I'd just max out the painkillers and power through.
It will probably be a transition/handover day anyway so you won't have to actually "do" that much?

YANBU to take time off sick if you really are sick, but YAB a bit U to be pre-emptively assuming you will be too sick to work in the morning, with a thing that started yesterday. You may very well be significantly better by tomorrow and able to work, so I'd wait and see, before planning to be off sick.

Suck it up and get through as best you can.

If you have a good reputation at work it won't matter. You are sick. If it was a cold maybe - but fevers etc? Nope. Take a sick day as you are sick!

I would dose my self up and try to at least have a catch up day working - maybe speak to manager and explain whats going on, see if there are updates, training etc you can be doing

Edited as I see it's tomorrow and not today you are due back.

I'd try to speak with my manager today so they knew I was poorly (and potentially not going to be able to log on tomorrow)

WFH certainly means I have taken less sick days in the past 5 years but there have been odd occasions (Noro!) that I could barely manage to log on and tell my manager how ill I was.

Unless you are so unwell you can't get out of bed I would log in..rest up as much as possible today if it's a bug they usually pass in 24/48 hours so you should be a bit better. Maybe email today though and give them heads up about your voice

@Candle81 how are you feeling today? Did you make it in, or did you ring in sick? Hope you take the time needed to recover if the latter x

@Getkettleon im not due back until tomorrow, my mother in law has come over to look after baby so I can get some sleep today! When I say I have no voice I literally can’t make a sound. I’m sure my baby thinks I’m ignoring him which is breaking my heart a little bit.

call manager today and explain you’ll log on but meetings need to be postponed as likely you will have no voice

I would contact them now and say you won't be working tomorrow. It's totally fine, just bad timing - better to let them know with notice when possible. On my first day back after mat leave i ended up having to leave at lunchtime because the nursery called to say my son was unwell - just one of those things and nothing bad came of it!

I really don't think PTSD or anxiety can cause you to have a fever.