I've called in sick

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I haven't been well all week. A heavy cold, but I've been in and done my best. I was in meetings with my boss all day yesterday. She never once asked if I was OK or made the kind of "should you be here?" enquiries other did, and believe me it was obvious I wasn't well. A bit anti social to be there tbh, but you don't call sick with a cold if you're well enough to work...?

I got up and showered, dressed, got as far as putting my shoes on and finding my keys then as I was about to open the door, broke out in a horrible sweat and felt the need to sit down. So I decided sod this and came back to bed.

But if my boss had shown a bit more interest yesterday I might have pushed through...

If you were bad enough that you expected your boss to comment you should not have been there in the cost place

Quite. That’s where working from home comes in.

So your in a huff because your boss wasn't sympathetic to a cold? And you get your own back by phoning in sick? Bizarre. If your not well don't go to work and spread germs it's simple if you are an adult you don't need other people to tell you what to do

So you called in sick to spite your boss who didn’t, what, blow your nose for you?

Which boss absolutely will not allow.

I don’t imagine someone like the Op not being around is the greatest loss

Exactly. I have no patience for people who are clearly unwell, come into work and cough and splutter everywhere.

If you’re that sick, stay home. You’re a grown adult with agency, you don’t need someone to take pity on you and send you home. This isn’t primary school.

Bloody hell op just read your other threadyou started this morning about your quick temper and how the “red mist descends”!

So call in sick. You’re a grown adult - you don’t need to wait until someone sends you home!

So you call in sick.

It's not complicated. When you have a cough you do not put yourself in a position where you're around other people who you could spread your germs to.

You really shouldn’t have been going in with a cold. It really annoys me when colleagues do this. Keep your germs to yourself.
It’s not your manager’s job to tell you to go home.

Yep this! I have a line managee at work who does this all the time, and I'm tired of being his mum/teacher. It's like he expects me to make the decision for him and/or expects to work ill but to a lesser extent. I constantly have to tell him, I don't mind if you take time off ill, but if you're here I assume that you are well enough to work to normal capacity. If not, take it off. It's exhausting to have to "parent" grown adults

So in your own words you're calling in sick to punishment your boss?

Not because you care about yourself and think you deserve to rest when you're ill?

I would still prefer to not catch their illness. I’m so tired of people thinking ‘it is just a cold’ They can actually make others really ill, especially if you have a respiratory vulnerability.

YANBU for calling in sick, you sound unwell

YABU for going into work yesterday when you were unwell. If several people commented, and you expected your boss to comment, you shouldn’t have been there.

When you die, your family will be planning your funeral while your job plans your replacement. Its just a job, take days off as and when needed. I hate this ‘go to work regardless’ culture.

If you are ill, then you call in sick and you don't go to work.

If you go to work, then it's reasonable for your boss to assume that you are well enough to work.

If you go to work feeling fine and feel grotty as the day goes along, then you tell your boss and go home early.

If you are old enough to have a job, then you should not be relying on your boss to make these decisions for you.

(I've had this the other way, that I have periods of a very nasty cough due to allergies; it does not mean I am too ill for work, and I do not want to be sent home).

Or maybe your boss made the incorrect assumption that you’re an adult and therefore would only be in work if you felt up to it.

You don’t need your bosses permission to be off sick, only you can decide if you are well enough to be at work or not. And if you’re not then you call in sick, it’s pretty simple adulting really.

If your ill your ill.

I used to have a boss who made calling in sick a real awful experience. She would start the Spanish inquisition, suggest you could in fact manage to work, tell us to just "dose up" and come in. So it left staff all coming in to work, and being so obviously unwell that she would then tell them to go home. It's like her immediate thought was we were faking, until she could witness with her own eyes. God forbid you attempted to get a Monday off work!

So I do sympathise if you have a boss like that. But I always say to my staff, if you're too unwell to work stay home. I'd rather they took a few days to rest than struggle on and I'm happy to pick up their work if needs be.

I am laughing at the comment of being ridiculous to go into work with a cough. I have asthma and in summer my hayfever sets it off. I look (and feel) like death and cough and snot my way through the day. Am I meant to take June and July off work?? Because I'll be coughing constantly in the office 🤣😂🤣😂 I bloody wish I could!

I hope you're feeling better soon.
Your boss is now learning the consequences of saying No to WFH no matter the circumstances.
If I'm not feeling the best, I will work from home as my company is pretty flexible. But if it was come in or nothing, then I'm calling in sick and going back to bed.

It’s not up to your boss to ask you questions like that. It’s up to you as an adult to decide when you’re sick and to call in sick when needed.

If you were obviously sick you should have called in sick yesterday!

If you’re ill, you’re ill. It’s up to you to determine whether you can go in or not or if you get there and need to come home. Don’t expect or wait for other people to do the whole ‘do you need to be here’ thing because it’s up to you, only you know how ill you feel. And some bosses will never suggest that you go home rather than work. You’ll be more respected for asserting your needs than for struggling in as a feverish mess.

If you're not well enough to work, you should call in sick so YANBU on that front.

However, while it might be nice for them to ask if you're feeling well, your boss is not your mum or dad. You need to make that decision as an adult.

As a manager, I am sick of having to mollycoddle staff when I have a million other things to do.

Presenteeism is bullshit, why do you want to make your colleagues ill? Use the pay your untitled to. Maybe you wouldn't feel unwell all week if you actually took time to sleep it off.