I've been on sick leave since Friday because I injured my back. My doctor issued the sick note up to Wednesday. I'm feeling better but I'm still in pain and my work often involves heavy lifting.

 

I told my boss that I hoped I would be able to come in Monday, but that I wasn't sure and would get in touch with her again on Sunday. Because of staffing shortages, she seems to have somehow taken me calling in sick personally.

 

Now I have to write to her that I won't be coming in until Wednesday.

 

Does anyone have any ideas on how I could best phrase this? I hate that I worry so much about this and even feel guilty.

 

 

 

Staffing shortages aren't your problem. If you're in pain and physically not able to do your job, then you've got nothing to feel guilty about. What's the alternative? Go in and potentially injure yourself further, so that you have to take even longer off work?

 

Just be direct and to the point. "My doctor has asked that I remain off work until Wednesday, so unfortunately I won't be able to come in until then".

You're better than any job who will just replace you the next day once you drop the floor. 

 

Yourself first >>>>

Hi. This is your boss. Get back to work now or I'll tell everybody about your ATRL account.

 

k bye, sunshine

Take as long as you need to heal and don't worry even for a second about your boss and your work.

 

If you'd call in sick because of hungover or something like that, then you might feel guilty but recently I took PTO to go to the gym during better hours and I don't give a ****

Edited March 17, 20242 yr by stupidjock

“taken it personally”  is she dumb?

Never feel bad for a company or job. They will replace you within 2 weeks regardless 

Trust me. Your boss doesn't care about your back or your health. Keep that in mind. 

 

Take care of yourself and dont take your job too personally. Ever. 

Always put your health first.

NEVER EVER feel bad for not being able to go to work. Because they wouldn’t feel bad if they ever had to let you go. 
 

Capitalism is a two-way street and we’re not here to make friends with people who treat us like crap!

Edited March 17, 20242 yr by getBusy

Sometimes you just have to take a day for yourself to recover.

No job is worth getting seriously injured over! Make sure you take your time to get better, you have a doctors note and shouldn’t have to explain yourself any further than that. 

I understand how you feel. I am a teacher and I know it's a major nuisance whenever any of us staff calls in sick, so I am usually very reluctant to do so.

But ultimately if you are sick/injured you MUST do what is best for your health and any good boss will understand that. It's ultimately better for them that you're in good shape for the job so they should support you

A good manager would be more concerned for your welfare and want you to take the time off to recover.

 

As @glitch has said, be purely factual about it when communicating with your manager.

You have a doctor's note. It is your right to be off till Wednesday. 

Going thru a staffing shortage on my end as well and I used to feel bad whenever I would get asked to come in on my day off but now I reject it. **** that, if the people calling in “sick” aren’t getting in trouble I shouldn’t either for rejecting their shifts. 
 

With your case you have a doctors note and are injured. You can’t go in you could hurt yourself even more. Don’t feel guilty just let the doctors note speak for itself 

Your health always comes first

 

NEVER feel bad about putting yourself first in those kind of situations.

Thank you for everyones responses. I just messaged her. I'm panicking about what she may respond. Its possible that she won't respond at all because she's pissed but whatever... 

this is just capitalist brainwash at work. your health is the only priority here. 

Does the place you live in have any law that protects workers when they are sick/injured? Cause where I'm from, it's literally illegal for employers to threaten or punish employees for having medical conditions

WHAT???? You need to rest until you're in health omg what's wrong with people? 

Back when I worked in food which was more high stress in my day to day than my current job, whenever I was sick I would always feel guilty for not being able to make it to work. I worked in some pretty toxic workplaces when it came to that regard, despite hardly ever being sick. I remember one even said it was your responsibility if you were calling out to find a cover. Like...??? 

You are fully entitled to sick leave. The business being short staffed is nothing to do with you.
 

No need to feel guilty, you have done absolutely nothing wrong. Hope you’re feeling better soon. 

The reality is you're doing her a favour by taking the full time off to recover. Back injuries are serious and easily exacerbated, and it's likely that any exacerbation would make the problem far worse - potentially leading to weeks or even months of time that has to be taken off to recover. Whether she realises it or not, taking the full time off now is the best decision to make from her perspective and from yours. A few days of staffing shortages are always preferable to months of recurrent issues.

 

(Not to mention it's your health vs the needs of a non-living company)  

You need to take the time to properly recover or else you risk further injuring it even more, which will require much more time off.  There is no way around this, take care of your health and go back when your back is better.  Your boss has no choice in this scenario.  If you feel bad for her, maybe just bring in some cookies or buy her a coffee when you get back.