When your work tries to make you feel guilty for having a sicky.

[LikeAshesWeFade]

Hey guys.. just thought I'd have a rant.

I rung up work this morning for the FIRST time and told them I couldn't make it as I was crook and hadn't slept. Well.. the not sleeping part was correct atleast. I've managed to sleep a whole 2hrs put together between 11pm and 7am.. god knows why. The brain is just over-tired I think, got some nasty restless leg too.

There is other people there who are more than capable of doing my job.. I'm not superman, although they like to think I am. Gives me the shits that you can't take a simple day off work to obviously recooperate and get some sleep without that horrible fucking feeling of guilt in your stomach. Pff.. I'm turning my phone on silent and getting some zzz's.

Companies should hire more staff to have as back up for when the permanent employees take a legit sick day.

Then again, they are Italian. They'll try milk you for all you've got.

[Thelema]

yeah I ALWAYS feel guilty when I ring in sick, even if I AM sick LOL.

Then again, I'd try to make damn sure that I'd been at a place for at least 3 months before pulling a sicky, even if I was sick.

[watertrade]

I will get on board with this!

I'm one of those people that feels, what I call the 'the modern guilt' when it comes to having time off work - I have been at my place of employment for about 13 years off and on - casual, contract and now permanent. have only had a few days off in that time and when I do I spend most of the day on the phone or checking emails to make sure everything is fine ( which of course it is - the world doesn't fall apart without me) I was just thinking about taking tomorrow off if I feel like I do today! However! the other colleague in my area ( there are only two of us) is away again today and if she is away tomorrow I feel like I have to come in... anyway - I am my own worst enemy when it comes to The Modern Guilt Grrr

[lhb2444]

I feel your pain, I work for Aust Post sorting mail at Marrickville and am the only one that does my job. On the 1 occasion I called in the morning to say I was unwell they told me that this would be an issue (not really telling me I can't take the day off) just whinging to me about how there was no one else to fill my position and therefore no mail would be sorted at Marrickville and how this would cause issues.

I then got the 'oh well, I guess if your really sick then I'll just have to try to sort something out, but by any chance can you just turn up to collect the mail from the driver and wait a half hour to see if we can find a replacement that you can let into the office?' So I said yes I can do that, no replacement turned up so I just ended working the shift as usual

[Max Cady]

I just rang up and said I wasn't going to attend a staff meeting. it's the first staff meeting they've had and I've worked there over a year, I figure if it's serious that'd drag us into the office individually anyway.

It's funny I bet they have never felt guilt when they've taken shifts off me at late notice = ( I find it really hard to say no to work and when I finally do they make me feel horrible

[LikeAshesWeFade]

Yeah I agree Thelema. I usually don't take sick days until well over 6mths into a job, but these fuckers have run me to the ground over the last 2wks! Then having the daughter every wkend mixed with sleeping maybe 3-4hrs a night on average for 14 days straight.. shits finally caught up with me and I need to recoop.

I've always struggled to justify money and why we need it to live.. I would be in bliss if I could just take my girl and go live in the Amazon. So yeah.. when I'm feeling sick or run down from work I most certainly prioritise my health over earning money.

[whitewind]

I never take time off, I had a day in the last year and a half full time. And recently I took much needed stress leave for 10 days straight with a cert, and now myboss appears to be penalizing me by taking me off the work I was enjoying in the afternoon ie computer work in the air con and has got me cleaning instead because apparently I am too stressed and need to focus more

What a c*nt

[LikeAshesWeFade]

Aghh.. I feel for you brother. I couldn't imagine coming back from a well earned stress leave and then feeling like you've been knocked down the ladder a little.

[ghosty]

why not make your work /boss feel guilty for wanting to make you work when sick?

[LikeAshesWeFade]

Yeah definitely. Reverse psychology is always a good tool.

[whitewind]

why not make your work /boss feel guilty for wanting to make you work when sick?

LOL

Sorry, you don't know my boss. I specifically requested doing the computer work because I developed the system, I know how it works better than anyone, the work isn't getting done if I don't do it, I'm good at it and I need to not do 9 hours solid slog in the sun and then go home to look after my child til I go to bed, I told him I was having relationship issues and needed to go a bit easier, and he ignored everything I asked for and told me to go and do the stuff he knows I dislike most and which doesn't really need doing.

He's a c*ck and the more time I have to deal with him the more I dislike him.

Grrrr

[ghosty]

hmm sounds like he needs 25 dried grams snuck into his lunch. some just need a BIG wake-up call dont they.. i wouldnt do that but the thought greatly appeals to me =)

[goneski]

I always feel guilty about calling in sick too.

In fact, I've been at my current job for a year at the end of this week and haven't taken a sick day off yet.

I definitely think I should've had a day or two off in the last week or so though.. I've had this nasty cold or bug thing (including dizziness and nausea) that's

going around the office. I'd say 5-10 people have called in sick across multiple days and/or "worked" from home over the last 2 weeks..

[LikeAshesWeFade]

Far out.. then you get some companies who will refuse to let you come to work when you've just got the sniffles. Really.. wtf has happened to duty of care!?

[Bigred]

I work as a landscaper and one summer i concreted for ten days solid. I turned up but when i got

there was light headed and said i just cant do it i dont have it in me . my boss gave me some bullcrap

how he had been here as long as me but really all he did was sit there and bark orders i told him to get fucked

im going home, do it yourself if your so tough. He ended up caving in and going home after doing a bit of form work

and leaving the job to the two new kids who had know idea what level meant

The problem i see is the upper management dont realise how hard the job is as us working class make it look so easy

[.dg]

funny

yeah- i've got to schedule my sick days a few weeks in advance

[lhb2444]

So true LikeAshesWeFade, I used to work in a contact centre for the nab and they'd give you stares for sneezing/coughing/sniffling etc for fear that you may infect the 'working hive' haha. Definitely used to be super easy to pull sickies there,

Employee: "Hey boss.... (pulls out tissues and wipes nose/sneezes/coughs etc etc)"

Boss: "Are you starting to come down with something? Better send you home to get some rest, we don't want this spreading round the call center!"

Employee: "Oh ok, if you say so, I guess some rest probably would do me well......... B)"

[Darklight]

I used to work part time casual, as did a lot of other technical staff who were my immediate colleagues

Of course the full time staff had sick days. But they were under a lot of pressure. Guess what? They'd often come in sick as hell with a cold or the flu... and the people who weren't paid for sick leave would catch it because they had to interact with their bosses. It was unbelievably selfish- we'd have to take unpaid leave or infect other staff who were in the same position

Eventually the research staff got the idea that we weren't happy about it and the nicer of them would let us know and be very careful about transfer on the occasions they couldn't avoid face to face dealing with us techies. We really appreciated those that went to the trouble

[LikeAshesWeFade]

Yeah see there is some genuine people in the workplace who still care for the health of fellow workers.. but it's becoming more and more scarce.

I've been "magically" knocked down to 3 days per wk (something tells me because I had dramas with being ill last wk) but it doesn't bother me.. I much prefer 3 days a week and a 4 day weekend. It's still double what the fucking government pay you for making your life a living hell while your on the dole and are ACTUALLY looking for a "career" not bludging or accepting shit kicking work (in which they threaten to cut u off if you don't accept).

I don't think I told them my actual earnings, why the fuck should I tell them days I haven't worked if I don't even get paid for them til the following wk???? So yeah.. I think they cancelled my allowance because of that. Meh. Good fucking riddance I say..!

I'll be back f/t within the next 3mths I can see it now.. the bloke they've hired f/t to help me out is literally losing his shit after the first day. These wogs will PUMP you full of information and tasks to be done without any care about the stress they're putting you under. When I cracked last friday and came home.. I gathered my thoughts and rung the boss to tell her everything that was bothering me and why I cracked.. she begged for me not to leave. I had no intentions of quitting I just wanted to make a statement that they've given me FAR to much to do on my own.

Still they've got me doing 5 days worth of work in 3 now.. I'm handling it alot better knowing there's someone else covering where I also need to be.. so I'm not left with the feeling of needing to be in two places at once but not knowing which one to tend to first.

I can see why they go thru staff on a monthly basis.. you'd think they'd stop n go "hmmm, MAYYYBE it's us putting too much pressure on people without an equal amount of respect" but nah.. can't see that happening anytime soon!

[whitewind]

/

[whitewind]

They sound like twats.

My boss in his infinite wisdom changes my schedule about once a month because "it isn't working" - I would be paranoid but I know he does it to everyone. He changed it last week (as per my previous post) but isn't satisfied so he wants to change it again this week (he's only had 2 years to work out a decent schedule with the current jobs). Indeed, there are 8 contracts each with a time alotted so there are actually a limited number of permutations but for some reason he hasn't discovered the perfect solution - or he thinks having unsettled, confused staff is a good thing. The guy is the ultimate micro manager and there are so many things I want to say to him but can't, it drives me crazy.

Rant over now I can sleep

[LikeAshesWeFade]

Hahah glad you got that off your chest dude! It's unbelievable how some people have the worst ways of creating a flowing system.. A good Boss/Manager can make so much difference to the quality of people they hire and the reliability of employees. Nobody wants to work for a wanker.. full stop.

[Thelema]

My bosses tried this on me once: tried to get me to work 2 jobs.

I did it for a while but thenI went in to see he co-ordinator and told her that it wasn't on, and that from then on I' be working at my normal pace and if the workplace suffered then that was up to her as co-ordinator to sort it out.

Well, she fucking listened!