Avoid These Five Things When Calling In Sick At Work

Cold, headaches, everything ache, head pounds, fever burns, need quiet, need peace, cranky, paracetamol, Tylenol, curl up under the sheets, cough, sneeze. These are indications that you are too sick to report to the office but what seems obvious to you might not persuade your boss that it’s bad enough for you to call in sick.

Of course, calling in sick is the right thing to do, but you don’t want to be unreliable in your place of work especially if your boss has scheduled you for a trip. Although most bosses who frown at their employees calling in sick too often do so because sick leave has become a tricky business in Nigeria, with Doctors aiding workers by providing pseudo-medical report even when it’s obvious the employee wasn’t under the weather.

However, whether you’re sick or there is a family emergency that may require your full attention during working hours, here are five mistakes to avoid when calling in sick at work.

1. Don’t call in late

Don’t call in when traffic has started building up in the city because your boss may assume that you woke up late or you’re battling with a hangover in bed. The idea is to call in the time that your boss is not expecting a call from you. If you call in very early in the morning around 5 am, chances are that your illness denied you sleep and your boss may be more inclined to listen to you. He is already aware that an unhealthy employee is not productive except he has already heard rumours that you planned ditching work for reasons best known to you.

2.  Why cough and sneeze when talking over the phone?

Becoming sick is not something we do intentionally because it is not in our control but sneezing and coughing can be in our control when calling in sick. You don’t need to cough and sneeze for your boss to believe you’re under the weather (even if you’re not).

While you’re here see: Check Out Letter Written By Slave To His Former Master In August 1865

Sickness comes in waves and symptoms but not every sickness has the symptoms of coughing and sneezing. Don’t fake it. If your boss doesn’t approve your staying at home because of you’re sick, you may consider reporting to work even though you feel like death is warming over you.

3. Want to lie about your sickness through a mail? be brief

If you want to lie be brief,  that is why TV commercials don’t last long. There is no point sending a two-page email letter to your boss about your sickness because chances are that you may fail to narrate the same thing you stated in the mail when talking to your boss the next day at work.

You can hardly get fired for calling in sick because everyone needs a mental health break at some point but you can lose your job if it was later discovered that what you stated in the email is conflicting with what you’re telling your coworkers the next day.

4. Don’t call in sick when the office is planning a big event

Everyone adds something to the team at work if not your boss wouldn’t have hired you. A big event means a lot for the boss be it an office presentation or a joint office seminar. You may think your boss is trying to be mean if he declines your request during this period but he finds you useful if he pleads with you to be around even when you’re sick.

But also consider your reputation before calling in sick during a period of your company’s big event. Chances are that you may recover from your sickness but your reputation at the place of work might not.

5. Don’t fail to clear the air on whether you will be working from home or not

Your decision to ditch work might be that your sickness is easily transferable and if that is the case, it is advisable you communicate to your line manager on whether you will work from home. Downing tools completely might affect output.

With the high unemployment rate, you may need to consider the safety of your job before you make that next call requesting a day off.