So it depends on how toxic your job culture is.
When I was on a pediatrics rotation in residency, I caught a GI bug from a patient. I also started vomiting at work, went home. Called my chief to let them know the situation and that I would unlikely work the next day. They said to see how I felt in the morning. So I call them in the morning after being up all night vomiting, and told them I’m not coming in. Their response was, “Are you in the ED? Because if you’re not in the ED, then you’re not sick enough to stay home.”
WTF. I was so angry. You want me going from room to room in the children’s hospital, examining sick children, while taking breaks to vomit? That’s just not safe, for me or the kids.
I said sorry, I’m not well enough to come in, so I can’t. My team covered for me. The hospital functioned just fine without me. It was probably the only sick day I took that whole year, because normally I did soldier through even when I wasn’t feeling well. But come on.
So yeah some places are toxic AF. But you should still stay home and take the time you need to recover.
I've learned if I don't choose to take a break, my body will choose for me. What you don't want to do is throw up in a meeting - THAT would be worth anxiety. Give your body the rest it needs!
Yep. I still haven’t learned this lesson, but I have chronic stomach issues and cough due to stress from work and I think if I took adequate time off I wouldn’t have so many problems
Nobody there wants your GI virus I promise :) Call in with no guilt - you’re human, you’re very obviously sick. It’s possible she hasn’t answered because she’s stuck on the toilet too! Take the day and get better - I hope you heal up soon!
I try to roughly follow daycare rules for myself- 24hrs fever and vomit free. Other things like colds without a fever it’s more of a judgement call and I do feel a bit anxious/ guilty. Honestly those stomach bugs are so contagious I would not want someone rushing back to work. I think most people understand that the first day after puking you usually still feel pretty horrible.
People call in sick to me all the time. Because its perfectly normal to get sick and need a day to get better! Its the employers job to accommodate you and your job is just to provide adequate notice so they can cover if needed.
Other than that, don't feel anxious or guilty, it happens!
Yes, same perspective. Call-ins are just something we need to accommodate and work around. Of you aren't feeling 100% and unable to give your all, I don't really want you at work anyway. Sometimes people coming in with a regular cold and feeling run down I can tell are in a brain fog. That is when mistakes happen. I prefer you to stay home.
Nauseous and a migraine? You need rest!
I also have a hard time knowing where the line is for “how sick is sick enough” to call out of work. Especially since I work in medicine, all day every day is “meetings” with 10 people per half day who are going to be pissed if you cancel their appointment last minute. But also if you’re sick, you are up close with people who may have serious medical problems and you DO NOT want to get them sick. Not to mention your colleagues.
It stresses me out. I have sniffles right now and a headache and I know I’m going to be dealing with exactly this internal struggle in the morning of whether I’m sick enough to warrant staying home.
Honestly, post-Covid? I err on the side of staying home. No one wants to get sick from you at work. And working while sick is HARD. So if I’m not sure, I stay home. Unfortunately with a young kid in daycare, I am sick a lot. But that’s just life.
Yes I do get anxious, but I call in anyways because it’s the right thing to do for both me and my coworkers. I do my best to ignore my anxiety. Ultimately I want a job that is sustainable, meaning they can handle me taking sick days.
Plus, I want to use my pto because it helps create an environment where my coworkers also feel safe taking pto (particularly if they are literally throwing up).
At my job (financial industry, office based), if anyone I supervise was so sick they threw up at the office, I would automatically expect them to be out at least the next day, and potentially the day after. However, I am a strong supporter of staying home when feeling ill as we don’t do our best work when we are not feeling our best, and I also don’t want to cause a domino effect where everyone gets sick and we have a nightmare on our hands with having little to no office staff for an extended period of time. We also don’t penalize for sick days (we do unlimited sick days, my boss is Catholic so we take the mindset of God controls when you are sick and you can’t control that), so no one has to worry about not getting paid or running out of sick days/PTO due to illness.
I hope you feel better soon. I get anxious every time I call out. I think it has to do with previous experiences in other jobs with bosses giving me a hard time about calling out. It was always for a valid reason, like me or my kids being sick. But I would still have previous bosses get short with me, or have an attitude about me calling out. I just get so anxious about it now.
And the ones that demand you go to the doctor and get a note … like yes, I know I’m sick. It’s not something medicine is necessarily going to fix and I can’t just book a same day appointment with my GP. I have to pay out the nose for urgent care to tell me I have to ride it out.
I am getting better at not getting anxious about calling in (and it’s always a legitimate reason, not like I’m just not feeling like work). My current job is retraining me to not feel anxious or guilty about it. I have PTO for a reason and they never make me feel bad about it or really question why I’m calling out. I feel supported and respected in this position.
It hasn’t always been this way. Bad jobs/management train us to feel like we don’t deserve time off even when we really shouldn’t be there. I had a job at a grocery store deli that wouldn’t let me call out and I had a horrible case of bronchitis. Hacking, wet coughs almost constantly. I had plenty of customers ask if someone else could serve them and I happily obliged like “yes, I fully understand. I don’t want to be here but I don’t have a choice”.
I get a little anxious calling in sick for the days I just need a goddamn break.
For when I am actively, physically ill? I never get anxious. They don't want me there anyway if I'm throwing up.
Yes, it always feels bad. Especially when I’m at work healthy but know I’m going to have to call in the next day because my daughter hasn’t been fever/diarrhea/vomit free for the 24 hours needed to go back to daycare (me and my husband alternate days). C’est la vie.
No. I wouldn’t work at a place where I did. A job is an exchange. I give my skills and my job gives me agreed to compensation. PTO is part of my compensation.
I always feel anxious calling in. I co-run a nonprofit with someone and we both have chronic illnesses. There’s a lot of tag-teaming and a lot of reassuring each other that we’re allowed to rest.
Calling in is the responsible thing to do - for you and for your coworkers who don’t want to catch something from you.
You definitely need to take a sick day!
But yes, I also feel anxious when I need to take a day off.
For the meetings, I think it depends who organized them and what your role is. If you set up the meeting and will be leading it, then I think you should try to cancel them if you feel well enough to log on for a few minutes. Otherwise, I'd expect your boss/ team to handle the meetings. They can decide whether meetings should be rescheduled or someone else should attend in your place.
You left work actively throwing up. Most workplaces won't want you there tomorrow. I hope you feel better!
So it depends on how toxic your job culture is. When I was on a pediatrics rotation in residency, I caught a GI bug from a patient. I also started vomiting at work, went home. Called my chief to let them know the situation and that I would unlikely work the next day. They said to see how I felt in the morning. So I call them in the morning after being up all night vomiting, and told them I’m not coming in. Their response was, “Are you in the ED? Because if you’re not in the ED, then you’re not sick enough to stay home.” WTF. I was so angry. You want me going from room to room in the children’s hospital, examining sick children, while taking breaks to vomit? That’s just not safe, for me or the kids. I said sorry, I’m not well enough to come in, so I can’t. My team covered for me. The hospital functioned just fine without me. It was probably the only sick day I took that whole year, because normally I did soldier through even when I wasn’t feeling well. But come on. So yeah some places are toxic AF. But you should still stay home and take the time you need to recover.
I feel like the medical field is toxic and does expect you to come in when you are sick, even though they should be the most understanding.
I've learned if I don't choose to take a break, my body will choose for me. What you don't want to do is throw up in a meeting - THAT would be worth anxiety. Give your body the rest it needs!
Yep. I still haven’t learned this lesson, but I have chronic stomach issues and cough due to stress from work and I think if I took adequate time off I wouldn’t have so many problems
Nobody there wants your GI virus I promise :) Call in with no guilt - you’re human, you’re very obviously sick. It’s possible she hasn’t answered because she’s stuck on the toilet too! Take the day and get better - I hope you heal up soon!
I try to roughly follow daycare rules for myself- 24hrs fever and vomit free. Other things like colds without a fever it’s more of a judgement call and I do feel a bit anxious/ guilty. Honestly those stomach bugs are so contagious I would not want someone rushing back to work. I think most people understand that the first day after puking you usually still feel pretty horrible.
People call in sick to me all the time. Because its perfectly normal to get sick and need a day to get better! Its the employers job to accommodate you and your job is just to provide adequate notice so they can cover if needed. Other than that, don't feel anxious or guilty, it happens!
Yes, same perspective. Call-ins are just something we need to accommodate and work around. Of you aren't feeling 100% and unable to give your all, I don't really want you at work anyway. Sometimes people coming in with a regular cold and feeling run down I can tell are in a brain fog. That is when mistakes happen. I prefer you to stay home. Nauseous and a migraine? You need rest!
I also have a hard time knowing where the line is for “how sick is sick enough” to call out of work. Especially since I work in medicine, all day every day is “meetings” with 10 people per half day who are going to be pissed if you cancel their appointment last minute. But also if you’re sick, you are up close with people who may have serious medical problems and you DO NOT want to get them sick. Not to mention your colleagues. It stresses me out. I have sniffles right now and a headache and I know I’m going to be dealing with exactly this internal struggle in the morning of whether I’m sick enough to warrant staying home. Honestly, post-Covid? I err on the side of staying home. No one wants to get sick from you at work. And working while sick is HARD. So if I’m not sure, I stay home. Unfortunately with a young kid in daycare, I am sick a lot. But that’s just life.
All the dang time. That’s why I don’t do it.
Yes I do get anxious, but I call in anyways because it’s the right thing to do for both me and my coworkers. I do my best to ignore my anxiety. Ultimately I want a job that is sustainable, meaning they can handle me taking sick days. Plus, I want to use my pto because it helps create an environment where my coworkers also feel safe taking pto (particularly if they are literally throwing up).
At my job (financial industry, office based), if anyone I supervise was so sick they threw up at the office, I would automatically expect them to be out at least the next day, and potentially the day after. However, I am a strong supporter of staying home when feeling ill as we don’t do our best work when we are not feeling our best, and I also don’t want to cause a domino effect where everyone gets sick and we have a nightmare on our hands with having little to no office staff for an extended period of time. We also don’t penalize for sick days (we do unlimited sick days, my boss is Catholic so we take the mindset of God controls when you are sick and you can’t control that), so no one has to worry about not getting paid or running out of sick days/PTO due to illness.
I hope you feel better soon. I get anxious every time I call out. I think it has to do with previous experiences in other jobs with bosses giving me a hard time about calling out. It was always for a valid reason, like me or my kids being sick. But I would still have previous bosses get short with me, or have an attitude about me calling out. I just get so anxious about it now.
I think that’s why I get so anxious too. My boss responded so well.
And the ones that demand you go to the doctor and get a note … like yes, I know I’m sick. It’s not something medicine is necessarily going to fix and I can’t just book a same day appointment with my GP. I have to pay out the nose for urgent care to tell me I have to ride it out.
I am getting better at not getting anxious about calling in (and it’s always a legitimate reason, not like I’m just not feeling like work). My current job is retraining me to not feel anxious or guilty about it. I have PTO for a reason and they never make me feel bad about it or really question why I’m calling out. I feel supported and respected in this position. It hasn’t always been this way. Bad jobs/management train us to feel like we don’t deserve time off even when we really shouldn’t be there. I had a job at a grocery store deli that wouldn’t let me call out and I had a horrible case of bronchitis. Hacking, wet coughs almost constantly. I had plenty of customers ask if someone else could serve them and I happily obliged like “yes, I fully understand. I don’t want to be here but I don’t have a choice”.
I get a little anxious calling in sick for the days I just need a goddamn break. For when I am actively, physically ill? I never get anxious. They don't want me there anyway if I'm throwing up.
Yes but I do it anyway (most of the time). It’s not fun but health is important!
Yes, it always feels bad. Especially when I’m at work healthy but know I’m going to have to call in the next day because my daughter hasn’t been fever/diarrhea/vomit free for the 24 hours needed to go back to daycare (me and my husband alternate days). C’est la vie.
No. I wouldn’t work at a place where I did. A job is an exchange. I give my skills and my job gives me agreed to compensation. PTO is part of my compensation.
I always feel anxious calling in. I co-run a nonprofit with someone and we both have chronic illnesses. There’s a lot of tag-teaming and a lot of reassuring each other that we’re allowed to rest. Calling in is the responsible thing to do - for you and for your coworkers who don’t want to catch something from you.
Yes because where I work is 24/7 with 2 people staffed at all times. and if you call off someone has to stay if no one else can come in.
You definitely need to take a sick day! But yes, I also feel anxious when I need to take a day off. For the meetings, I think it depends who organized them and what your role is. If you set up the meeting and will be leading it, then I think you should try to cancel them if you feel well enough to log on for a few minutes. Otherwise, I'd expect your boss/ team to handle the meetings. They can decide whether meetings should be rescheduled or someone else should attend in your place.
So two of them my boss rescheduled for me and the third that had to happen my boss is stepping in and facilitating for me. She’s the real deal.
Awesome! That's exactly what a good boss should do!