Is no sleep a reasonable excuse for calling in sick to work?

[Catermellor]

Is ‘I haven’t slept at all’ a reasonable excuse for not going to work?

I really haven’t. I might have had two hours maybe 9-11 and then maybe dozed for half an hour between 4 and 430’but that’s it and that’s a generous guess. I feel all shaky and horrible and I just want to catch up on some sleep.

Don’t go in, just call in sick.

All this faffing just have a red bull and get on with it 😂

You’ve clearly decided you’re going to call in sick OP, what was the point in starting this thread?

Unless you are a brain surgeon, pilot or some other profession that requires sharp reaction times and skill, YABU and you know it.
If you need to drive to work and feel too tired, get a taxi.

You're not working at your job tomorrow though, are you?

Depends on your job. Normal office job where one day of sub-par performance when you're usually half decent and will catch up isn't going to matter so suck it up and go in. Surgeon/18-wheel driver then you'd be a danger to yourself and everyone around you.

I've done it before, rocked up with a bag of haribo with fair warning to everyone I'd had no sleep, was grumpy and was relying on pure sugar to get through. But I'm good at my job most of the time and noone dies or loses money if I mess up.

It’s a troll, just ignore. They keep asking the same (tedious) question over and over and over and then making sardonic remarks about the answer until an OP gets upset. They get banned but return over and over.

My child has a cold, which for some reason always means no sleep (I guess because they can’t breathe easily when lying down) although sleep is an issue anyway tbh. I did think nearly three years later things would have improved 😩

Work is not very flexible to say the least so if I DO get a phone call asking me to pick up it’s often better to err on the side of caution anyway. Unfortunately it is a well established game at our place.

I would be less productive and more likely to make mistakes if I was really, really tired than I would be if I was ill or in pain. At least with illness or injury you can take something to ease it. So, yes I would call in sick but I would probably be vague about what was wrong

To be honest I have forced myself in with zero sleep a number of times. I get chronic overnight pain with a health condition and go in and I’m a teacher!

Totally unreasonable
just get up, shower and get ready

No, it’s my harder, unpaid, thankless job I am turning up to 😂

Are you feeling well enough to do your job today? If not, then the reason for it doesn't really matter.

Sick record also needs to be taken into consideration. If it's good, then no problem.

I think in terms of contributing to SSP or fit note requirements @KimberleyClark is right. If someone is off on the Friday and the Monday, they have been off sick for 4 calender days, even if it's only 2 work days. Similarly, if someone only works Tuesday and Thursday, they would trigger the requirement for a fit note on the following Wednesday, unless they phoned their work to say that they were fit for work on a non-working day.

Why were you the one up. DO you have a partner? If you only work two days, then they should be the one who was up wondering whether to call in sick.

I'd go in but I survived 6 years on minimal sleep when DD was little. I regularly only got 2-3 hours a night. I guess if you aren't used to it it can feel unmanageable but the human body is capable of surviving a lot more.

Well that doesn’t mean every company has the same policy 😂😂

What a very short sighted way of thinking.

It certainly doesn’t at mine.

But being off work with children also gives more freedom than being at job.

You could have a bit of a lazier day with more screen time if not feeling it, or a lovely day out in the fresh air to recharge. More pleasant than being at work in my experience and a "break" from job work, although not a break from responsibility I agree

I find it harder to power through at work on a Monday when the whole week of coming to work is stretching out ahead of me that a Friday when there is 2 days off work coming up

Personally I would (and do regularly!) have an extra coffee and get on with it having a lazy evening and early night. Ds is disabled so crap sleep comes with the game but I wouldn’t use sick leave unless sick (and parental leave when he is!)

Same. I used to operate on 3 hours broken sleep a night (or less) for a few years. Sometimes found it easier to not sleep at all than being rewoken every 30 minutes. Always pulled myself together once I was there.

I definitely wouldn’t want to do my job if I had that little sleep. I’m a pharmacy technician in a hospital, and I don’t think anybody would want a mentally tired tech doing the final accuracy check of their prescriptions!
I also cringe when people mention the lack of sleep they had the night before when I know they’ve driven to work and will be driving back 9 hours later 😖

Everybody is different, I need about 7 hours sleep to feel like I can function! My husband only gets 4.5 hours of sleep each night but because he’s been that way since his mid-teens, it doesn’t affect him.

I’ve also experienced this although it was a long time ago. About 25 years ago I had what I think was flu and called in sick Tuesday to Friday. Monday was a bank holiday. It went down as 9 days sick. They told me if I didn’t get a doctors note (because it was over a week) I’d be brought in for some sort of disciplinary. My doctor refused as he said it was only 4 days and also I was better by the time I went to him. It went on for ages until they finally dropped the disciplinary but it still was marked down as 9 unauthorised days off.

How old is the child? Just a tip, if you haven't tried it, put something under the mattress at the head end so that the child sleeps propped up. Stops them getting so bunged up.

Hope you get some more sleep soon!

Blimey, where do you work? That’s harsh. Where I work it would be 1 day.

OP you are not being unreasonable. I’d phone in sick if you feel shaky and unwell because of it. I can WFH if I feel ill but no that is not an option for everyone.

If you really feel bad just call in sick - you feel unwell, end of story. The poster about the Bradford factor calculations is correct but from memory I think it only matters if you repeatedly taking Fridays or Mondays off sick.

@KimberleyClark

Being off on a Friday does not count as 3 days. Best thing i ever heard to stop people calling in sick !

I’ve had insomnia on and off for for 25+ years. Only time i rang in sick was after three nights no sleep in the early days and i went to the doctor. I worked ina nursery and got grief for that even though i didn’t get paid!

I’m used to it now. A complete no sleep is rare but i’ve powered through and done 12.5 hour shifts. I don’t drive and don’t deal with medications or anything like that. I tend to flag around 4/5 o clock. Plenty of staff that do nights struggle with sleep too.