Calling in sick at work at least once in a year is a necessity for many employees even if they may not be actually sick. Sometimes, you may feel too tired to come to work and you may want to call in sick.
Information from various surveys indicate that almost 1 in 2 employees had at one point in their working careers feign sickness to get out of their work. Therefore, you are not the alone in your desire to take a day off.
However, there is the proper procedure for calling in sick. How do you inform your boss of your supposed illness? The most important part of this process is knowing the company rules and abiding by it.
Though the law doesn’t mandate employers to pay for time not worked such as when taking sick leave however, many employers pay for sick leave to their employees.
Depending on the company culture and the company policy, the amount of days you can call in sick differs from establishment but popular culture is that an employee should get 7 days of sick leave in a year while it can span for longer if you have longer years of service in the company.
To notify your boss, you can send either an email or a text or even a letter. You may have to call on the phone sometimes hence the term “call in”. While you work there, you should try to know the ideal method for contacting your boss.
When You Call in Sick, Do These Things
Make the call ASAP. If you develop a cold or chills and you doubt if you will make it to work, make the call to your boss immediately. If you developed an illness over the night, try to make the contact that night.
Inform your team ASAP. Inform members of your team as soon as you inform your boss. The chain of communication is that you inform your boss, then you inform members of your team especially if your attention is needed the next day.
Keep it short. When you make the call, keep it short.
Give Updates. If you have important deadlines and projects coming up, give updates to your boss on the project. For example, I was supposed to visit them at the paper company to procure paper, I will do that tomorrow when I come in but I will place a call to them to make a pre-order.
If you will not be reachable, let your team members know. If you will need time to rest and will not be available, let them know.
When You Need Rest, Do These Things
If you’re not actually ill and you just want a day off, follow these tips.
Don’t call in. Just send a text or a mail. It would be more difficult to convince your boss that you’re actually ill over the phone. If you know you must call, call at a time when you know your boss is unlikely to pick a call and it would go to voicemail such as very early in the morning or like an hour away from work.
Choose your timing wisely. Don’t choose a time when the workload at the office is voluminous, don’t pick a time when your attention is direly needed. Don’t pick a day after a holiday, it would seem you’re trying to extend your holiday. Choose a generally drab period in the office.
Never tell anyone you lied. It would come out that you lied if you tell anyone you lied either on purpose or by accident.
Make your explanation short. When you make the call informing of your absence, keep it short. Lies are no easy things to keep up, and the more you speak, you more you will be lying. Hence, keep the explanation short.
Stay off social media. If you are faking an illness at work and you’re caught captioning posts “netflix and chill” on your Instagram account, there is going to be real problems. Avoid posting incriminating things on your social media accounts on your day off.
When you get back to work, increase your commitment. If you left projects unhandled while you went for your day off, you need to work harder. To prevent your boss from raising questions about your diligence, you need to increase your work rate.
