Worker ‘Concerned’ After His Boss Was Upset He Didn’t Tell Anyone He Would Be Out Sick For The Day
He thought he didn't need to do anything further to let anyone know he would be out.
fizkes / Shutterstock Most companies have some sort of procedure for taking time off, whether it is planned or unexpectedly comes up at the last minute.
However, one employee apparently thought he was exempt from company protocol.
A worker was worried that his boss was upset when he failed to tell anyone he would be out sick.
An anonymous employee posted to Reddit asking for advice after an interesting run-in with his manager. He explained that he is a salaried web engineer.
“I happened to be out sick yesterday because my daughter happened to have a fever,” he stated.
The man, who works from home, started the day by running some errands. “Communicated early that I had errands to run, and then she got sick on me when I got home from my errands,” he said.
The problem was that he didn’t check in with his manager when he decided he needed to take a sick day.
“We happen to give updates everyday [sic] of what we do, and mine was missing, and he messaged me asking why my update wasn’t there,” the employee said.
The man insisted he had done enough. “I mentioned I communicated that I had an errand in our group chat, and I updated my profile status that I was out during my daughter’s fever,” he said.
The worker was “concerned” because he felt his manager was not clearly communicating the protocol he should follow in the future but only calling him out for not following it.
Photo: Vlada Karpovich / Pexels
Commenters were shocked that the man thought this behavior was okay.
Fellow Redditors couldn’t wrap their minds around how the man thought what he did was okay. After all, he didn’t let his boss know he needed to take time off.
“I don’t know, but if you’re sick, or a family member is sick, or you are taking time off, I’ve always understood that you need to communicate that right away so the manager knows what’s going on,” one person said. “It seems like he had the information about your errand, and then you sort of disappeared.”
Another person pointed out that it seemed like working from home was making this man a bit too complacent. “Sounds like remote work is making you less attentive to your job,” they said. “Running errands and taking care of sick kids with no communication. When we were in the office, we ran errands during lunch or on the way home from work and would never leave to care for a sick child without telling our manager. This is the behavior that will have us all back in the office.”
When you do need to take time off, it’s recommended that you let your boss know as soon as you can.
Fast Company suggested you “let your boss know ASAP” when time off is needed.
“Life doesn’t always happen according to the company calendar,” they said. “Inevitably, things will come up on short notice … You can expect better outcomes the sooner you can communicate.”
Photo: Polina Tankilevitch / Pexels
Of course, in this situation, the worker’s need to take time off was truly last minute. However, it was still his responsibility to let his boss know that he needed to take a sick day as soon as he could.
It seems strange that someone would be upset that their boss was upset when they refused to follow protocol. It is also common sense to let your boss know that you plan on taking a sick day.
Some things should just be instinctual.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news, and human interest topics.