boss phones when i'm off sick

annie_d

And that, surreysaver would be perfectly acceptable. Its the "keeping updated" part that many seem to struggle with.

Bogof_Babe

What amazes me about all this is the crummy relationship people seem to have with their bosses. Suddenly, the moment a holiday or illness starts, the boss becomes the enemy.

Makes me wonder how they ever manage to work together in the first place .

glossgal

Unless your job is particularly important or you work in a team of like 3 people then a few days off isn't going to be the end of the world, you don't need continual updates. Bosses often use this tactic to guilt trip.

If I'm off I always ring in before my start time with the understanding that I'll ring again the day after at the same time if I'm not in. What gets me most, and friends, family etc have experienced similar problems so I'm not paranoid lol, is the presumption from your employer that you're not telling the truth about being ill. If I know Im going to be off for a few days I still have to go through the pretense of it being a one off or my employer will think I've planned a week of sunbathing and watching Trisha! You can't win

GrammarGirl

liney wrote: »

Do read all of it: I have also been know to call someone on a day's holiday to ask them an informal question regarding work. The alternative would be to wait until they return, and have a formal meeting about the whereabouts of XYZ and not doing a proper hand over before their leave.

Specifically referring to people not hadning over properly prior to leave.

Yes, fair enough, not handing over properly is an issue. But ringing someone at home when they've booked just one day off with an informal question about work is out of order in my view, regardless of how well they handed over. If it's informal and non-urgent, wait 'til tomorrow and ask them then!

sammie383

A little off tangent here, but what I found really annoying was when I was on maternity leave!

I went on it at 29 weeks pregnant and was entitled to 9 months, 8 weeks later I had my baby. When she was just 2 weeks old I got a TEXT from my manager asking when I was coming back to work!

I politely told her I was entitled to another 7 months maternity, and would be taking it, as I had informed her in my notification of maternity leave!

I then got another text just 3 weeks later asking me the same thing, when I was coming back.

That to me was bang out of order, especially as I gave her a date I would be returning. Needless to say she is an ex employer now!

DON79

Another tangent too. Whenever I have called up to self certify because of flu or other illness - all that happens is that I get moaned at down the phone about how short staffed the company is and get the guilt trip laid on about not coming in.

Are they allowed to make comments like this when you phone in sick?

I have been under stress at work & had other issues to deal with which are making me ill, so instead of self certifying, I have gone to the doctor and been signed off instead for 2 weeks because I was fed up of being made to feel guilty for being ill.

liney

GrammarGirl wrote: »

Yes, fair enough, not handing over properly is an issue. But ringing someone at home when they've booked just one day off with an informal question about work is out of order in my view, regardless of how well they handed over. If it's informal and non-urgent, wait 'til tomorrow and ask them then!

I think by using the word "informal" i am maybe confusing the issue. I wouldn't call for something that could wait, however if i need to know now and its something caused by the person who has taken leave and not handed over properly, i would rather speak to them "informally" for a min to sort the issue instead of hauling them into the office for disciplinary. I don't call them just for a chat!

TotallyBroke

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

I always think if you have nothing to hide you shouldn't mind a phone call. Another thing that irks me is when people get their partner or someone else to call in sick for them - this is only acceptable in my view if you have lost your voice, are in hospital, or don't have a phone at home or a mobile.

I agree with this although there other situations when this could happen.
I work with someone who rings her daughter to then ring us and tell us. Bugs me but it's not breaking our company rules so nothing can be done.

tanith wrote: »

If the situation is likely to continue for more than a few days then a doctors certificate will be supplied of course which will the give the employer at least an initial indication of how long the employee is likely to be absent, as said in previous posts if the sickness is going to be longer than a few days then a call from your boss is acceptable but daily calls to check on you is not acceptable. Its not a case of having nothing to hide, but once given notice of sickness or a sicknote then the employee is legitimately absent and should not be harrassed and put under pressure or be questioned regarding absence or return to work. This could be an employer suffering stress or depression and receiving calls from a boss would only antagonise the situation. In my experience its normally an over zealous boss who does this type of thing most HR depts know its unacceptable.

You can now self cert upto 7 days so you would be very unlikely to get a DR to certificate for you before then unless you are extremely ill.

You are supposed to ring in every morning at our place before lunch to say you will not be in. Although in our department if we are sick on a Monday and phone in, we'll say I'll ring back on Wednesday unless you see me tomorrow or Wednesday. If we had something serious then we would say on Wednesday I won't be in until Monday.

Even if off sick due to depression or stress you should be able to explain this to either your Manager or directly to HR, once this has been done then you will not get the calls and questions.

tanith

Why is it so hard to cover people for sickness once you have been informed they are sick? If someone rings in sick you ASSUME they will be SICK until they inform you they are coming BACK or supply a sick note .... its not rocket science...

Timmne

tanith wrote: »

Why is it so hard to cover people for sickness once you have been informed they are sick? If someone rings in sick you ASSUME they will be SICK until they inform you they are coming BACK or supply a sick note .... its not rocket science...

Problem is, most won't tell you they're coming back, resulting in two people sitting at one desk when they come back unannounced.

It's not rocket science but it's not quite as simple as people think.