Manager phoning me when off sick. Is this the norm?

[MUC089]

I've come down with a horrible stomach bug this week and have called in sick for the last three days (today being the third). I'm starting to feel a bit better, but not 100% ready to go back to work.

In my work we use an app that we're required to use each time to log things like lateness, sickness, etc, instead of actually phoning in person.

So, that's what I did. I also make sure that the app logs my sickness correctly before logging out just in case.

Straight away on Wednesday morning I had a text from my manager asking if I was okay. Today, my phone started ringing and when I looked it was my manager calling me on WhatsApp from their personal number.

We have a team WhatsApp group chat thing, so that's why we all have each other's numbers, but honestly, this is stressing me out and makes me feel very uneasy.

Having read similar threads on MN, I'm now wondering if this is the norm in the UK, or if I'm just being overly sensitive and unreasonable.

Most of my working life has been spent in another EU country and it's a massive no-go to contact staff who have followed the sickness policy of phoning in each day, so I don't know if my expectations are just unrealistic and this is acceptable here.

Personally, it feels really intrusive and quite unprofessional - especially as I have followed procedure and haven't logged a long term sickness that would require a doctors note.

Is this the done and acceptable thing, or would anyone else find this behaviour stressful?

If the policy is that you log it on the app then she shouldn't have been calling you - unless there is also something in the policy which states that after X number of days you should speak to your manager to discuss support. That normally kicks in well beyond 3 days though.

Did you answer the phone to her - and if so, what did she say? Surprised she's allowed to use her personal phone in these circumstances.

You have followed the employee process.

They may well have a manager process that says that they need to speak with an employee once to check their welfare and ask for any handover info, then leave them alone until their return.

it doesn’t sound like they’re being unreasonable, if you answered and then they kept ringing or messaging that would be too much, but wanting to speak to you once to check in is ok I think as you don’t have a verbal call in rule.

It depends on the purpose of the call. Your manager has a duty of care to you, to check on your wellbeing, and it's also reasonable for them to ask for some idea of how long you might be off, so they can put in place cover arrangements. A call for those purposes is normal, there would be something wrong if your manager ignored you when you were ill.

If the manager is calling trying to hustle you back into work, putting on pressure to return before you are well, or calling with unreasonable frequency, obviously that is not acceptable.

Since you didn't answer you don't know why she was calling. We are required to speak to members of staff who are off sick. That has been the case most everywhere I have worked.

My manager rings every three days to see how the employee is doing and to get a rough idea when there will be a return to work. We do shift work over 24 hours so they need to know where to plug gaps. It's in our sickness policy.

Why don't you text your boss and find out what they wanted?

Thanks for all replies. It seems that this is more normal than I realized, so I'm guessing it's possibly a cultural thing that I need to get used to.

I'm just surprised because I've genuinely never come across this before, so wasn't sure if I was being too sensitive about it.

To answer some questions:

@SirChenjins, this was my thinking, too - I feel that if I followed the process of logging sickness via the app we use and it's clear it's a short-term sickness, then I feel a phone call is inappropriate, especially from a personal number.

I'm not sure if we have an additional policy, so will definitely re-read my contract to see what it says.

I didn't answer because I was half asleep at the time, but also I was just a bit shocked, and to be honest, it just made me feel quite anxious as I don't like unsolicited calls at the best of times (my issue, I know).

@CurlsLDN That's a good point, and I'll keep that in mind. I do get what you're saying that they're not being unreasonable, but I think it just shocked me a bit because I feel like I followed the process, and to call people when they're sick just feels a bit unnecessary.

I could understand if I was off for a week or more, then a call to check-in is fine, but it just felt quite intrusive. It could just be the way I'm feeling that is making me overthink and be more sensitive, I'm not sure.

@CesareBorgia Also a fair point, and I do get that it's better than having a boss not care at all. However, it's also not an approach that works for everyone.

I think, from my perspective it feels intrusive because I've followed the sickness policy (though I need to look at in more detail to see if I'm missing something), and if I'm only off for a few days, that should be it.

If I was off for weeks, then that's completely different, and I would expect to communicate with them about my expected return, but when we log our sickness in the app, we list the expected return date, so I feel like calls and texts are unnecessary.

When people are off sick for a few days with a cold/bug/mild illness, I do think they should be left be to recover, as long as they follow the policy and call in with enough notice, which I did.

I appreciate I'm probably in the wrong about this, though.

I didn't answer because it was not an expected phone call and I've never experienced that anywhere I've worked before. It does seem to be done thing here, though, which I just wasn't aware of.

I'm from the UK originally, but spent most of my adult life in another country where that's definitely not the done thing, so it surprised me.

I do understand that for some workplaces, depending on shift patterns, staff levels, etc, that it's necessary to keep in touch.

If that was the case, and it was clearly outlined in our sickness policy that would be different, but it's not, and it's the random, unexpected phone call that threw me a bit.

I will review our sickness policy again, though, because it could be something that's mentioned there and I've just missed it.

I don't really feel comfortable with that. Maybe I'm just weird, but I feel like when people are off sick, as long as they followed the policy, there's no reason for managers and staff to be communicating outside of work.

At my work you're not allowed to text in sick, you have to phone and speak to the manager. They then have to contact you weekly and after two weeks do a home visit and see you face to face. So I don't think it's unusual for a manager to try and contact you. Probably was just a welfare call.

Completely normal in my experience. Worst case scenario, if someone is pretending to be ill in order to take time off work, the manager can get a better sense if that is what's happening if they actually speak to the person.

It's normal and irrespective of the official sickness logging policy it's good manners to phone or message your manager if you're going to be off to say why and for how long and what work needs covering while you're away/ flag any issues ( unless it's an emergency in which case call when you can).

Yes, thats kind of the problem. It feels as if you're being investigated and that your manager will decide if you're swinging the lead or not based on the call.

Op in most workplaces I have been in there's a rule that you're supposed to speak on the phone to someone, partly because in the recent past people would leave a message on an answerphone or send an email that isn't checked and nobody knows where you are. I've realised today that I 'called in' by messaging the tram WhatsApp chat, plus reporting via the app - I'm actually not sure if there's still a 'speak on the phone' rile for this team! I think the principle should be that you need to be sure that the team know what's happening, however that's done.

It might be worth clarifying with your boss/HR what process they expect you to follow.

At my work have an app to log sickness, holiday, etc but I would still text or email my boss to let them know I wouldn't be in and roughly what was wrong (not all the gory details ofc)/how long I might be off. I'd see the app as the admin side, but not a replacement for a direct message with boss.

Obviously we don't know your specific workplace policy, but in all the jobs I've had I would have found it very bizarre if one of my direct reports only logged it via the system and didn't contact me. Like you say, this may be a cultural difference.

I wouldn't call them or expect them to call me unless there was something very urgent requiring information only I had. That said, most places I've work in UK have had it written in the contract you're supposed to call to report sickness (though rarely enforced).

Most places want you to call in each day unless you’re on long term sick. Reporting on an app is quite open to abuse. Do they pay sick pay?

I think it's really unreasonable to expect to not talk to your boss at all when you've missed three days in a row.

I think it depends on your role, if it’s an ongoing role such as office based, maybe they need to know what you were working on, where you were upto etc. I’d call my team if they were off sick but had left work unfinished with no details where it was upto, or spreadsheet passwords and the like

I feel it's the social norm to be ready to take a phone call from your manager about being off sick. Most managers wouldn't do it but I've read policies where it says you should call into work etc

Thanks for all the replies. It definitely seems like I’ve misread the situation and potentially overreacted a little. I just genuinely didn’t know this was a thing.

I totally get what everyone is saying about phoning in, etc, but the problem is, and what’s probably led to my confusion a bit is that we don’t actually have a number to call when sick.

When they implemented this new app system, we were explicitly told that we had to log all sickness there only.

Previously there was a WhatsApp number for reporting sickness, but that was replaced with this new system, so that’s literally all we have.

It would just never have occurred to me to contact my manager on her personal number to tell her I was sick.

As I said, though, much of this is a cultural thing, but at least I have different expectations going forward.

Yeah, they pay sick pay. I hadn’t really considered that an app could be open to abuse, but that makes sense.

It’s just what we use for everything from managing our schedules, reporting if we’re running late, booking overtime, etc, so there isn’t any other way to report sickness.

At my work you get a welfare phone call each day your off sick !

I worked somewhere that the HR directive was I was supposed to call people every day they were off to check in with them and ask when they were coming back to work. I refused but am an experienced manager (former manager, gave it up because of crap like this). But I have heard other organizations that pressure managers to call employees so that may be part of what is happening here.

Technically our policy is that the manager has to speak to employee every day. Practically neither of us want to do that so I don't bother calling. I'd expect them to let me know when they're expecting to be back and wouldn't call again unless they didn't turn up then and hadn't let me know anything different in between.

Crossed!