Worst reasons collegues have rang in sick....

[Itsawildworld85]

Broken radiator in spring....(not boiler!)

Well in that case either they'd be lying about the reason they were off or would have a day's leave taken/a day's pay docked. Either way it's not a valid reason for sick pay 🤷‍♀️

I once managed to get into school in heavy snow, the other three teachers who didn't live far from me had called to say roads were impassable' and were furious at me the next day when they heard I'd gone in, apparently they'd been phoning each other to consolidate their excuses but I'd already left before they called me.
Friday and/or Monday were popular days for 'illness' or 'appointments' once the caravan season opened up, it was the same two women all the time.

Yep, same here and I haven't eaten it since, nearly 20 years later. It was awful!

My exDH is a head teacher. A classroom assistant called in sick one Friday, reportedly at death's door, and then went on and posted all over social media her trips to the hairdresser, beautician etc. as she prepared for her 21st the next day. Asti was in hand almost permanently (not a terribly highly regarded remedy for the 'flu). Colleagues were, naturally, friends with her on FB etc., so she was reported. The London borough HR department was involved. Their response? "Well, it is a big birthday...". Probably because they were struggling to recruit, precisely because they knew she was being paid peanuts to do a very important job, they were as much use as a chocolate fireguard and she got away with it. Anyone after her could have done the same on the eve of their 21st birthday, but it didn't catch on.

Hope that the people on PPs who rang with broken legs and other long term sickness issues. Then returned to work the next day with no cast etc should not get any pay or asked if had any annual leave left, to use that.

These people are the reason why most employers use the 3 periods of sickness in a rolling year, then it’s disciplinary. Though if staff have life long conditions, more relaxed. Also surgery doesn’t count. Especially if the surgery will reduce or fully remove future problems if that caused sickness.

Most people have taken the thread to mean short notice absence rather than specifically sickness.

Shelves broke in the pantry and pickled onions were rolling around the floor

I did go in late once because I got wet - I used to walk to work, it usually took about 35 minutes. On this morning it was drizzling a bit, not a problem set off. Within a minute it started absolutely bucketing down, five minutes after leaving the house I was soaked to the skin.

Went home, phoned up and said I was going to be late, dried off, got changed, worked from home until the rain eased off a little then walked in.

Buses were hourly, when they bothered to turn up, so would have made maybe ten minutes difference to my arrival time.

Junior colleague phoned in sick as 'had taken ecstacy'. This was about 15 years ago, but it's the most bizarre excuse I've heard

There was an event at work that I really wanted to get out of. On the morning of the event I woke up in excruciating pain and could barely move because my back was hurting so much. I had never had a problem with my back before. When I rang my boss to let him know I am pretty sure he thought I was pulling a fast one.

That's brave/stupid of them to admit. I've had many occasions where staff have called in sick due to 'self induced' excesses but normally not where they'd be so bold as to admit to illegal drug taking.

I know, it was unbelievable really! Definitely high when deciding to make that phone call!!

Wasn't a government department by any chance was it? Same thing happened where I worked around 15-16years ago, colleague has taken multiple ecstacy tablets and rang in sick as was in no fit state to work.

A very dear friend of mine once had to ring the jobcentre to say she was very sorry,but she wasn't going to be able to make her appointment as she was stuck up a tree and she couldn't get down as there was 20+ angry bulls at the bottom.

She lady apparently didn't bat an eyelid
Just said 'oh,did you walk across name of field?that's not a good idea' and rearranged the appointment!

It was true-shed walked across a field that she'd walked across many times and somebody had put bulls instead of cows and they got a bit pissed off at her for daring to walk on their land

We took the piss for years!

I didn't actually ring in sick, but was late one morning when my parents had gone out to work and my brother had gone to school, they had locked the door and forgotten I was still in the house and all taken a key so I had to climb out of the window to get out of the house. Left the window unsecured as well, well I had to.

I did that once. Boss was originally skeptical as I lived in town A, and every southbound train from town A stopped at town B where I worked. On this particular day the trains were more messed up from usual so they’d decided to stop one late running train at town A then run it fast to London. Unfortunately I was also running late, saw the train and assumed it was the train that should’ve left at that time and jumped on without checking the board. He did eventually believe me when he saw the note on the ticket the kind gaurd had given me so I didn’t have to pay to get back.

I ran too far in the wrong direction.

This was at school, but... she had to wait in for the carpet fitter to make sure the carpet matched the new wallpaper.

"She" was a very wealthy American girl whose dad was working in London for a while. Goodness only knows what she was doing at our massive comp.

As a student I had recently passed my driving test and my car had been brought back by the garage and parked by them on the driveway of my parent’s house where I was living. I had never had to reverse off the driveway before.

When I reversed off the driveway I managed to reverse into the fence post. I got out of the car and decided it was a sign that I wasn’t supposed to drive the 40 minutes to uni that day.

Sometimes you just know it’s best to go back to bed.

My driving is much improved nowadays.

Although whilst working in the Middle East I had to do a very long reverse out of a very strange road layout and I bottled it. Could have been a lot worse.

I am SE so I don't get to call in sick BUT I did have to call clients and say I was delayed a couple of times for the following reasons
There was a Kingfisher in my kitchen
I accidently disinfected the Gecko
I got stuck in a horse drawn Travellers funeral cortage

I accidently disinfected the Gecko

It has to be the first time anyone's ever typed that. Has to be.

Come on, @Hoppinggreen, you can't just leave that hanging there and there's no way you made it up.

1. how does one accidentally disinfect a gecko?
2. why does it make you late?
3. how does one deliberately disinfect a gecko?
4. kingfisher...? In your kitchen...?

The tube was on strike… he lived down the road, 5 min walk max but figured out if people who rely on the tube won’t turn up (they did though) why should he.

Shower was broken

Mice in attick, waiting for exterminator

The Kingfisher was a seperate incident to The Gecko but it was just the day before. I assume a cat brought it through the catflap and normally I would have opened a window and left it to escape but i couldn't go out for the day and leave a window/door open so I had to evacuate the kitchen, open everything and wait

As for The Gecko - his vivarium gets water misted every day but I accidently picked up the cleaner for the Viv and enthusiastically misted everything, including said Gecko.
I then had to empty The Viv and wash everything, including the Gecko and put it all back, which made me late.
He has hated me ever since

Emotional reaction to something they had seen on the news (which they never specified and was never mentioned when they came back).