Acceptable reason for a sick.day

[hotubhannah]

Just curious as I lie here unable.to sleep - mainly because of work issues playing in my mind.( In particular one individual who regularly shours his mouth off.) But not helped by my perimenopausal state. I've had one hour sleep.so far and the alarm is due to.go off at 6am. Is lack of sleep a reason to not work tomorrow ? Curious as I remember another colleague mocking someone who did just that - little.did i know id be in the same situation now. Im not one to take time off -1 day in 4 yrs-- and I'm won't necessarily take tomorrow off as I've got loads to do but in these enlightened times I wonder if it acceptable.

I have spells where I wake around 2am and can’t get back off to sleep (this is one of those times) and then find myself dropping off at 6am just when the alarm is about to go off. Needless to say I get up and go to work and usually don’t feel too bad. I certainly wouldn’t call in sick and state the reason as being I haven’t slept. However, lack of sleep can make you feel really unwell so if you really do struggle when it’s time to get up, you could always ring in and say you’ve been up in the night with stomach upset or similar? It depends on the type of work you do as to how lack of sleep will affect you. HTH.

If you're so tired it's dangerous to drive I'd consider taking time off (or "WFH" and napping the morning then working until late evening if possible)

This week just happens to be the week I'm the senior manager in the office - most people are wfh anyway at the moment. Thing is I struggle most Monday nights as I try and get back into the swing of the week. Quite agree not sleeping doesn't come across as great reason to stay off but there is a part of me thinks if I was at a different stage in life I wouldn't have this issue ie should we be kinder to women going through menopause? Nevertheless we are going through some organisational change, there an arsel of a manager who is trying to land grab and making my life painful so it won't do not to be in. I'll see if I can at least sneak away early but maintain some decorum in a grumpy tired state

Food poisoning
A cold
A bug

Food poisoning
Migraine

Cold - no, lasts longer than a day and has visible effects.
Bug - no, can be treated with insectide or being trodden on.

@TwoLeftSocksWithHoles
Migraine no
I actually got fired from a warehouse job for being of sick with a migraine they told me I should have taken paracetamol or ibuprofen and come into work.

A cold can last for a day btw

Can't you take a mental health day? Sounds like you need it ((hug))

Also sounds like some of you have / had some awful colleagues and managers

@SatsumaFan that's warehouses for you !
You get treated like scum like your a slave, like your all rats in there little lab. and your well-being does not matter to them they just want people doing there work For them. They wouldn't care if you was dying They want you there working and if you don't go in they'll just fire you not caring that there taking away your job and pay and get someone else

Sickness bug... then you'll get 2 days!

@whoeverthrewthatpaperyamomsaho

I actually got fired from a warehouse job for being of sick with a migraine they told me I should have taken paracetamol or ibuprofen and come into work.

They've obviously never had a migraine, I think they've confused it with a headache.

Tiredness isn't an acceptable reason to call in sick? (Weird that this is probably the 3rd thread I've seen in as many days about taking time off work/school for tiredness!) What about all the new parents who drag themselves in on No sleep? If everyone stayed off due to tiredness no one would get any work done? And how do you measure who is more tired than someone else? Lots of insomniacs function perfectly fine on 3 hours a night whereas others need their 8 hours

The only way it would be acceptable would be if you were a brain surgeon or something 🤣

if lack of sleeps means you are unable to do your work adequately then it is a good reason to stay home and call in sick imo.

I was very annoyed at one of our team who phoned in sick tired (admin role). Who hasn’t dragged themselves into work after a terrible night? But if you need a day off for mental health reasons or because you are feeling overwhelmed then I would do it. I wouldn’t say that on the phone though - I’d say stomach bug.

I wouldn't even give a reason, just say you're not feeling well you'll try to sleep it off and if you feel ok you'll be in after lunch if not you'll be in tomorrow.
You don't have to ask permission to be off sick just tell them what you'll be doing xx

It wouldn’t occur to me to call in sick for a night of little/no sleep.

Same response as to the poster yesterday morning with the same question. I was surprised yesterday that someone in what sounds like an office job would think of doing this. It would be different in a manual job where safety is at stake.

Lack of sleep is not something that affects just menopausal women. A friend of mine has been coping on 4-5 hours of broken sleep for nearly 4 years for other reasons. I don’t know how she does it.

It sounds as though there are things about your job that aren’t good though OP. Are you on the lookout for other jobs?

I had terrible menopausal insomnia for a couple of years that made me weepy, nauseous and dizzy. Generally I need 7-8 hours, I was getting about 5 hours broken sleep (the classic waking up at 3am).

I never took a day off for it, as my thinking was that then I would feel it was acceptable and where would my days off end as it was so frequent. I did speak to my manager though to explain, and on a few occasions when I couldn't cope I would leave work early. It was a horrible time, and yes I think there should be understanding around it in workplaces.

Completely depends what job you do and whether you'd be safe to do it. I know an armed response policeman who has called in sick before due to lack of sleep. I can appreciate this.

Office worker and lack of sleep? No. I'd soldier on.

So of course I went in although I definitely wasn't firing on all cylinders. I did finish relatively earlier and went to bed early and had an amazing nights sleep. I felt great yesterday. Interestingly there was acknowledgement from our Execs at how tired everybody is at the moment (lockdown weary? Wfh having an impact?) And we all need to consider what/why we are asking others to do . Anyway it was good to hear that its probably more than me feeling drained albeit for different reasons. Maybe its a bigger problem than we all realise? Certainly wfh has changed my life - we eat as a family every night for Instance but I don't get a let up between meetings whereas in the office I get to walk between buildings.and the pace of work has hugely increased. The menopause does have an impact too and affects sleep and confidence. Im going to be more mindful of my teams workload and not judge if someone's having an off day and try and put into context if someone else is making my life painful. Have a good day all

HRT is amazing for menopausal insomnia.

I worked on rolling contracts 20 years ago. They paid two sick days for every 3 months worked, wasn't sick for three years. Then had recurring back injury and took 4 days sick. In agony. They docked my pay 2 days. I knew the job had 12 months left and so took 2 days every 3 months sick when I was tired so it cost that company 8 days. Ultimately an employee is as valued as a paper clip, stapler or eraser look after yourself first.

One night many years ago I could not sleep at all. I still went to work. I think it depends on how you actually feel.