I'm a ftm to a very cheeky, terrible sleeping toddler. He goes to day care 3 days a week and i have had to take lots of time of as he has been sick a lot with viruses, teething, bad reactions to his needles and he also had his tonsils and adenoids out this year. I've also been sick a lot too. I called in sick Tuesday as my back was too sore and I had been sick the previous night, I then get a text from a colleague saying she is not impressed and sick of me not being reliable and that our boss is very aware of my extended absences. I was and still am in total shock, abs I am needing some advice on how to handle this. I have spoken to a team leader already. Any suggestions
9 Replies
You don't say how many sick days and carers days your entitled to and if you have gone over the allowance. Also have you had drs certificates for these absences and how many you've had. I personally call on family and friends to step up when my child is sick especially if I'm close to my days, my sister and her husband take it in turns for when the kids are sick etc. I've been the employer and the employee and from the employers point if view people who take a lot if days get a poor reputation unless they have a major illness.
I'm not sure teething is something id take a day off for. I know it can get bad but it's one of those things that I would have still sent my child to daycare for because they aren't contagious and they can deal with it as well as I can.
I've had to pick him up from day care Cos he is screaming in pain
I've had doc certs and everything. I even went to work and was told to go home by workplace and safety officer as I couldn't stop coughing
Hmm I don't know about this one. If your really sick or your child is sick I don't know what your boss or co workers expect? It can be especially hard if you are working with people who don't have kids caus they just won't get it. On the other hand we all get sick! We all have kids who get sick, but we kind of just suck it up and go to work! I think you probably should have gone to work even with a sore back as you could have just gotten some pain tablets. I think next time your sick just try and show up to work atleast this way you can actually prove to them your sick! Then they might let you leave. I suggest you try and get others to watch your child when they are sick, and I wouldn't keep them home for every cold or cough! I'd also try going to work and taking some cold and flu medicine, or try doing things to improve your immune system.
They all have kids, they weren't things I could go into to work so they see how sick I am; we have had gastro, chest infections, laryngitis, flu. I work in a community health centre, so it's not appropriate for me to be there sick. I had been going to work with a bad back fit 2 weeks, something had to give
Having a bub teething isn't considered sick unless the day care hace to call you because he cant be soothed or he develops a fever or diarrhea.
Unfortunately you are deemed now unreliable. If you have colleuges on you Facebook and your posting up stuff that sick people shouldn't be doing, that might further add to the label of your reliability.
The other thing is that if ypu are commited to your job, you've got to sometimes gut it out. IE sore back, well a sore back might be fine if your working at a desk but not driving a forklift or working where lifting is necessary. You were sick the day before, ok but the next day it was just your back. So whether you slept on it wrong or actually have damage to your back I can't say. But I have gone to work with ear infections and sore throats. I'd have to be dying to not come.... because it's my responsibility.
yes I can understand your child's surgery and dont question that.
I really hope you have provided documentation for your sick leave to prove your illnesses are legit in the eyes of your employer and that the staff members you have on facebook (which everyone does because we all are friends) havent seen you post selfies or statuses of you being out to coffee while your meant to be sick at home.
I think you should handle this professionally. Goodluck
it's not easy to be a working parent thats for sure. You don't state whether or not you are partnered but perhaps if you are it's time for your partner to take some time off with your child. I work 4 days and am a mother of 2 and I am part of the management team in a commercial construction company. I have seen both sides of this - having had to take time off when my kids are sick and also having to deal with the fall out of unreliable staff. Regardless of whether or not you have certificates constant absences make it impossible for your managers to plan the workload and then means that other staff members have to pick up the slack so in that respect I can completely understand their frustration. I am not one of those bosses who expect people to come in when they are sick because quite frankly I don't want to catch it and I don't want the other staff to cop it either BUT I have also had staff members CONSTANTLY have time off due to illness and it just gets a bit much. Unless you have a chronic illness it's going to start looking a bit suss to everyone, especially if noone else is getting sick all the time if you know what I mean. My personal way of dealing with it is going to work if I am unwell (obviously not if I have gastro or something similar) as I figure I'd rather save my sick time for the kids if they need me and let's face it being home sick with the kids isn't much rest time lol If it's a cold or mild flu i load up on cold and flu meds and keep going. Good luck I hope it all works out for you.
I don't think one text counts as bullying. The problem is everyone is jumping on the bullying bandwagon. Sometimes people are going to get angry and say things they shouldn't. That sounds more like a bad day than a bully.