So I called in sick today...
 

Today, for the first time in my life, I called in sick to work (nope, not sick, just didn't want to work 'till midnight on a saturday night when I stayed an extra hour closing last night without even a "Thanks for helping us out, jenn." cuz I didn't HAVE to stay) and a short time later received a NASTY voicemail from one of my managers calling me a liar (I had tried to get someone to cover my shift last night, so I could get the night off honestly). I know I shouldn't have called in sick, but the company I work for is bullshit and I am in the process of finding another one. I was planning on giving my two weeks the last time I worked, but the manager I needed to tell wasn't there. And I was pissed about last night. So basically what should I do about this. I work tomorrow, so I'm going to go in and talk to them and "see what kind of punishment should be in order" to quote my manager. I am planning on going in tomorrow and saying that if she had a problem with my calling in sick, she should have waited until the next time i worked and spoken to me face to face and she didn't handle it professionally. See, the way it works at Abercrombie and Fitch is that if they like you, you can get away with anything. A friend of mine called in sick after she couldn't get the night off to go out to dinner with her boyfriends parents, and there was nothing wrong with that. But then it's me.... and it's the end of the world. Like I said, I shouldn't have done it in the first place but I am sick of the whole company being run like it's high school all over again. I'm sorry this is so random, I'm just putting things down as they come to my head. And I know that the entire store knows about this because my managers love to gossip about employees. So, this is kind of embarassing. Anywho, let me know what I should do.

Companies that treat their employees poorly should not be surprised when there seems to be a lack of loyalty. But you have to ask yourself, do two wrongs make a right?

Experienced managers always handle personel issues in person. You get the employees immediate and often unfiltered reaction to the topic being discussed. This goes a long way towards determining if the employee is dedicated to adding value to the company.

File a grievance against the manager in question for harrassment. Maybe you were having sinus problems or food poisoning or a bad migrane. Missing one day shouldn't be a Federal offence. If they want to talk about appropriate punishment, turn the tables on them.

If they're already talking about punishment before you even return to work it sounds like they dont believe you were sick.

Did anyone see you out and about, perhaps? I find it hard to believe any manager could be as unprofessional as to accuse you without any evidence at all.

How long have you been working there? If you have been there awhile, calling in sick shouldn't be a problem.

Sounds like you handled it correctly (tried to get someone to cover for you), and I hope you have the voicemail saved, because like tricks said, I would file a grievance and play that voicemail for the Head of the HR department.

yes, it is your call as to the nature of your sickness.
you made the call that you were too sick to perform your duties.
the onus is on the manager to disprove it.
and since it's a subjective call - you win

I'd make an issue of it.

I'm a true believer in mental health days. Obviously you needed and deserved one! The nature of your "illness" is none of the manager's business. Is there a policy around how many days out before you need a doctor's note? (In my place of employment, it is 3 days.) I would look into it and go to the meeting with your manager empowered with information. It may be that you need not "admit" to anything and I certainly wouldn't. (Don't lie, just don't admit you weren't "sick sick.") I also would not tolerate any sort of "punishment" as that would be admitting to a wrong done and you did nothing wrong by taking care of yourself! You will be a better employee as a happy, well rested, mentally healthy, person.

Should have told them you needed the night off and if they asked why,your response would be that it is for personal reasons.Nothing quite says none of your business like that.

Been there years ago, same circumstances. You could push the sick issue and you most likely will prevail, however, you will suffer consequences. I agree that your mental health is important and a good employer will recognize and allow for it. I would fight the accusation and look for another job.

I'd say "hell yeah I was sick, I was sick of your bullshit and favoritist attitudes. If you really gave two shits about your employees you wouldn't let some of them get away with murder and then "punish" others for taking a sick day cause you won't give them any time off. Punishment? how about making me work here for five more minutes under your nazi bootheel? Gimme my fuckin check I'm out of this shithole."

then spit on her trendy ass, turn on my heel and walk away.

i think it's obvious that it's time to quit!! did your manager actually say "see what kind of punishment should be in order"?!?! that's insane, even if you had actually deserved to be reprimanded. i wouldnt give them 2 weeks, i'd give 'em the big ole finger but thats just me!! i hope everything works out whatever you decide to do.

So yeah. they fired me. i went in and got into it with one of the managers. I refused to sign a wite up form that basically said that I was a liar so they fixed it and it wasn't much better so i refused to sign that one too. then she came out with the newest one (basically saying no call no show that i agreed to sign) she said she heard me talking badly about the company and that i was planning on giving my two weeks so just to go home and don't worry about it. and the rest of my shifts were covered too. so i got the HR number and i'm gonna call them tomorrow and see what can be done. so, that was my day. bermuDa, I wish i had the guts to say what you posted. That would have been great :) but being happy about not ever having to go back into that shithole upset her even more than anything i could have said :) thanks for your advice guys. Now next question, what should i say to the HR dept to make sure she gets in trouble.

I once found a small wad of hundred dollar bills (couldn't have been more than $1500) hidden on my dad's dresser. I asked him what it is for, and he told me it was his "Fuck you money." I asked him what that meant, and he told me it was in case one day he felt like telling his boss to fuck himself.

Basically, there's a ton of people out there that have a horrid time at work for any number of reasons, but show up every day because they need the money and don't have another way to get it. So always make sure you've got a comfortable pillow to fall on if you need to disconnect yourself from your job abruptly.

The truth. Tell them you feel that you were treated unfairly, and be professional about it. If you come off as vindictive it will ruin any credibility you may have.

well, two alternatives.
fight it - all the way.
or
just move on and get on with your life.

For sure tell the truth. Make sure you document the date, time and name of the person you spoke with. Also I would suggest sending them a written complaint of the incident. The manager cannot prove anything about whether you were sick or not and if you haven't received any other pink notices for being late often or skipping out much they have no excuse for terminating you. If you stood up for yourself and the manager just got indignant you have a big case here. But DOCUMENT Everything. You can get a long way if you do this as professionally as possible. Make sure that whoever you talk to knows that you are writing down the information - if they see you are truely serious about this and not just griping they will be more likely to do something about it. I'm feelin' burned for you about this. It would make me so irate. There is nothing that gets my ire as a group of people who are clickish or unfair about things like this. Good Luck. Go and skin you a bear.

I like that.Or you could just put up enough fuss knowing that you are moving on.

I would request a face-to-face meeting with your manager and his/her manager and HR. I would take my five minutes to explain to anyone who would listen that the reason I called in was because I was sick of how I was being treated, and that I was ill from all the stress and bullshit. And I would be as specific as possible, giving names, times, and description of incidents as they happened.

I would bring everything I wanted to say printed on a piece of paper and request that a copy was put in my personnel file and that a copy also go in my manager's personnel file.

And I would end by requesting a written apology from my manager that would be delivered to me and filed similar to above.

Good luck...

I'd mention the word stress....a lot.

Just talk about how you were overworked blah blah blah and be sure to bring in the voice mail somehow. Just be professional.

And remember "facist ass-clown" is not an acceptable substitute for "management" Although in this case it's completely understandable. :D

Thanks guys so much. This is the second time I've been fired from a job, maybe that's why it's not bugging me at all. Plus, I hated it. And your resposes made me laugh out loud, so I appreciate them. Any of you ever been fired for stupid reasons and what did you do about it?