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Original poster

Calling in sick

36 replies

user1497643032 · 06/03/2023 19:55

So started a new job but unfortunately caught covid on 1st day which meant I started work few days later and then 4 weeks later another positive covid test & called in sick on Friday & on monday, I sent an email because I had lost my voice so can't call & I had no one to call for me. But I got no reply Frm anyone.. but then I recall them saying one has to call in but I do I if I have lost my voice

Is this something to worry about?

OP posts:
Margo34 · 08/03/2023 15:23

there are very very few instances where calling would actually be detrimental to health. And I completely agree that calling isn't detrimental. But whispering can be.

Starflecked · 08/03/2023 15:27

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starfishmummy · 08/03/2023 15:48

nocoolnamesleft · 08/03/2023 08:22

I remember trying to call in sick when I'd lost my voice and work kept putting the phone down on me because they couldn't hear me.

This exactly. DH had to call in and then they said I should have called! He told then I had tried but they still weren't happy, he handed the phone to me so I could answer their long list if questions. That didn't work either as they couldn't tell whether I had said yes or no.....

Gymmum82 · 08/03/2023 15:52

Even if you have legitimately caught Covid twice in 4 weeks I would be thinking you were unreliable and would take the piss with being off sick a lot. So yeah I would be worried. Presumably you’re on probation. If you can’t get through probation without being off sick twice it doesn’t really bode well for your future employment

maddiemookins16mum · 08/03/2023 16:16

Jewelanemone · 08/03/2023 08:27

If you don't phone in, how will you use that special 'sickness' voice that people reserve for such occasions? That quavering, whimpering, croaky sob that gets wheeled out no matter what the illness, to demonstrate just how close to death's door they are? Drives me flipping mad - just speak in a normal voice (unless you've lost it, of course)!

Ah yes ‘the voice’. I remember calling in sick once as I’d ‘had a fall 🤣🤣’ in the garden and badly sprained my ankle. I literally could not walk, let alone drive to work or get a bus etc. My manager stopped me mid sentence and said ‘you sound fine’, my reply ‘there’s nothing wrong with my voice, it’s my left ankle’.

Janedoelondon · 08/03/2023 16:26

WindowGazers · 07/03/2023 09:07

I think they're likely to be sceptical - you'd not believe the number of times I've had emails from people stating they'd lost their voice and couldn't call. It's a common reason for sending an email instead of making the required contact, but in reality it's not that common that people actually fully lose their voice. I'm sure there will be other people with management experience here who can back me up with this one!

One thousand percent agree!

Janedoelondon · 08/03/2023 16:28

Margo34 · 08/03/2023 14:09

A quick phone call is fine, "hi its x I won't be in today because of y, ill keep you updated as to when I'll be back" or something won't cause more damage.

Any whispering is still whispering. It could cause more damage/pain/inflammation, it could delay recovery. Whispering is detrimental to voice care.

Am I reading this correctly? The world has, officially, gone mad. I have never read anything so ridiculous in my life!!

nocoolnamesleft · 08/03/2023 18:08

Janedoelondon · 08/03/2023 16:26

One thousand percent agree!

Show quote history

But it does happen. I ended up referred to ENT, had a flexible nasendoscopy, and was told if I didn't go off sick for 4 weeks I'd never get my voice back. That was after I'd tried to get through a week of night shifts with no voice and failed miserably.

gettingolderandgrumpier · 08/03/2023 18:18

Come on op you got covid twice in a month and you lost your voice so you couldn’t ring in .
yes you’d fail your probation for any job I’ve ever had so yes I’d be worried.
what would you do if you employed someone think about it?.
why are you even testing anyway ? and twice in a 4 week period.

spelunky · 17/03/2023 13:59

Starflecked · 08/03/2023 08:20

I don't think it implies a lack of trust or is a way to judge whether someone is sick, but from a welfare point of view it's important to speak to the member of staff for the first day at least. I used to work with someone who would text in sick but the reality was her partner was abusive and a way to control her was to not allow her to work some days; yes unlikely but you can't guarantee an email or a text is actually from the person. Doesn't have to be at 8am though, usually with x time of usual start time, its only a phone call its weird how some feel this is wildly unacceptable.

I'd say the fact you've only just started and have been off twice with covid in the space of a month and haven't followed the reporting procedures probably would raise a few eyebrows.

Potential domestic abuse is a very far fetched/ tenuous reason to require a phone call for sickness absence. If someone is in an abusive relationship, other signs are more obvious. An abusive partner coud also easily be standing over someone who calls in sick and telling them what to say and you would be none the wiser - it is not a safety mechanism at all.

As a manager who has taken part in numerous training courses about staff management, HR and sickness absences, I have never had this mentioned to me as a reason for having to talk to someone on the phone rather than email. Work laptops usually have numerous protections and encyptions anyway so it would be pretty difficult to get on and send an email from someone else's work email account.

My company justifies phoning by saying that it's important to have a conversation about how long the absence might last etc - again, that is nothing that can't be done in an email.

I'm not saying a 30 second phone call is difficult or that it should be avoided if people prefer it - I'm just saying there is simply no good, sensible reason at all to make it a requirement. Both email and phone are perfectly valid methods of communication and an email will be seen almost instantly by most office workers.

Megifer · 17/03/2023 14:07

Covid twice in 4 weeks, bad enough for you to be off both times (assuming they don't insist people staying off if positive regardless of how you feel) and haven't followed their absence reporting procedure?

Your employer may give you benefit of doubt but I wouldn't be surprised if they dismissed.

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