got caught playing hooky

[thelus]

ok, i have the worst of luck. I called into my on-car sup today and told her i was sick and i wasn't coming in. i did this becasue, i worked for her on Saturday doing Saturday air and i needed a 2 day weekend to catch up on stuff i needed to do. so i go out and get something to eat and well and behold there was the vast majority of the centers management there. i feel like an ass and probably going to get canned from my nice little part time air driving job.

 

[upsdude]

Re: got cought playing hooky

Never call in sick if you’re not sick. Should have called and said you had personal business to take care of and you wouldn’t be working today.

Had a guy in my center a couple years ago, calls in says he is sick. About an hour later the center manager and a sup are in WalMart buying bottled water for the drivers. Low and behold there’s the sick guy in line, fishing supplies and a case of adult beverages. They fired him the next morning, after 3 days the division manager put him back to work.

Seriously, don’t call in sick if you aren’t. We really hate management being dishonest with us, why do it to them?

 

[freeloader]

Re: got cought playing hooky

You get personal days for a reason - to use them. If you have personal stuff to take care of, just say so, and be firm about it. If you're a good employee and have a good record, then I doubt that anything will happen to you.

 

[PassYouBy]

ok, i have the worst of luck. I called into my on-car sup today and told her i was sick and i wasn't coming in. i did this becasue, i worked for her on Saturday doing Saturday air and i needed a 2 day weekend to catch up on stuff i needed to do. so i go out and get something to eat and well and behold there was the vast majority of the centers management there. i feel like an ass and probably going to get canned from my nice little part time air driving job.

As my dad always told me when I was growing up..."Tell the truth, and you MAY NOT get in as much trouble."

 

[browniehound]

Re: got cought playing hooky

I think if you need the day just tell them you're sick. There is nothing they can do about it. As long as you call you can't be fired.

I would have agreed with the prior posts had it not been for something I experienced. One night I just couldn't fall asleep. I got zero hours of sleep that night and and called the next morning explaining why I wouldn't be in. Apparently, safety wasn't an issue that day because my sup begged me to come in and gave the usual lie about taking work off.

Well, it didn't work out that way. I was on area until 7 pm that night and I had to drive with the doors open and no heat (it was early March) just to help me stay alert.

This is why I believe in just saying you're sick. I didn't that day and got talked into coming in, driving on 0 hours of sleep and risking my safety and the public's safety. Luckily, nobody got hurt. But I believe that day I was more of a danger than a drunk driver. I could literally feel myself noding off on the ride back.

My opinion is, if you're going to be out, just say you're sick. And if you don't get any sleep the prior night, don't drive a commercial vehicle the next day!

 

[jds4lunch]

Re: got cought playing hooky

Next time say your goldfish is sick

 

[Bad Gas!]

Re: got cought playing hooky

2 things:it is possible to be sick in the morning and feel better in the afternoon..enough to go eat...also,if you get seen early in the day ,you can always call your medicine doc-pay the co-pay and tell him you got something if you need an excuse you got one.A good doc will see so much flu and stuff going around that he'll tell you to rest................All this said,I don't like calling in unless I'm really sick because it would suck to come back from a fake illness only to develope a real illness when you get back....Take Saturdays off if they are optional and you need the time..

 

[cino321]

Re: got cought playing hooky

If I really need a day off, I call in sick. I rarely use personal days because I rarely can have the ones I need because of seniority. If I'm really sick I get doctor's notes.

 

[JustTired]

Re: got cought playing hooky

Any time I need off, I call in and take myself out of service. They know better than to ask me why. They know I will just tell them that it's my business, not theirs. Just remember to call later in the day and put yourself back into service. Otherwise you may go in the next day and be told to go back home. Darn. I hate when I get 2 days off like that!

Oh yeah, try not to abuse it. It can catch up with you.

 

[1080Driver]

I went down this road once, called in sick to go to Great Adventure (about a 90 minute drive) on a Friday with my kids & who do I run into but one of our on-cars. He got a kick out of it because he was on vacation & didn't have to pull a load.

 

[Cementups]

It' a runnig joke that I call in sick from different places all aroudn the country. I've called in sick from the beach, from Detroit for the auto show and several other places. they accept the sick call and then when I get back they comment on my tan or ask me about my extended weekend trip. I get 5 sick days a year and it's not really any of their business what I use them for. When I called in sick from Detroit they tried to guilt me into coming in. They even offered to come and get me (snow was bad back home). I told the they were more than welcome and they should have left hours ago since I was in Detroit. I was told to have a nice weekend.

 

[DS]

I may be weird but anytime I ever called in when I wasn't really sick,I just sat around at home and felt guilty.I don't do that anymore.Then there was the time ,the day after my hemmorhoid operation ,my sup phoned and asked if I could come in and deliver air ....

 

[2Slow]

"I have urgent personal business to attend to. I won't be able to make it in today. Just wanted to let you know." Click.

 

[doctor brown 688]

If you are sick, call in sick,if you need time for family issues just say so. I'm not going to point the finger entirely at the hourly,the company has their self to blame also for making people feel they have no choice but to call in sick.I have seen many who tried to do the right thing by asking for the time off(giving them the heads up) and had it granted, just to be told the night before,"sorry" I'm not going to be able to let you have off,I got to have you. Then, to get the day, hourly calls in sick,and end up getting a warning letter for an unauthorized absence when returning to work next day.I try to let them know in advance that I won't be here on such and such day and remind them the night before.I would think it would be easier for management to plan for rather than have an unsuspecting call in. Be honest, can't go wrong with that.

 

[FAVREFAN]

I called in sick once years ago from my gate at McCarren Airport in Vegas. That was too cool.

 

[longlunchguy]

Personally, I hate to waste a perfectly good sick day when I'm sick.

 

[currahee]

What good are personal days when you cant take them. I have put in for a day off many times only to be denied. Everytime i have tried to do the right thing i get burned.So now if i need the day im calling in.
This is the atomsphere Ups has created .It sad that this way it is .I used to feel bad but not anymore.

 

[over9five]

First of all, no-one will get fired if a manager sees them when they called out sick. I just don't believe that story. Is the manager some kind of doctor that magically knows that you weren't sick 4 hours ago when you called in? Maybe there's more to that story like he abused his sick days, but they can't just fire you for using your sick days.


"Personally, I hate to waste a perfectly good sick day when I'm sick."

Gotta agree with Longlunchguy.

 

[Big Babooba]

Some managers give the impression that the only time you can call in sick is if you are on your deathbed. Their take is that sick days are to be taken only when you are sick and that you are not sick unless you are dying. Do not call in sick yourself - if you are healthy enough to use the phone, then you are healthy enough to work. Also, 3rd party calls are not accepted (from your wife , mother ,BF/GF etc).DO NOT die during Peak without permission from your division manager. Of course you will be denied permission because you were healthy enough to ask for it. Do not take the initiative and die upon your own. You will be promptly terminated after Peak with no recourse from the union.

So you got caught playing hooky. You can expect 50 extra stops a day until the day you die (and we know how hard it is to do that around here).

 

[JustTired]

What good are personal days when you cant take them. I have put in for a day off many times only to be denied. Everytime i have tried to do the right thing i get burned.So now if i need the day im calling in.
This is the atomsphere Ups has created .It sad that this way it is .I used to feel bad but not anymore.

I have to agree. That's the way it's been for the past 10-15 years.

To be honest, I don't care if they give me a paid personal day or not when I ask for it. I get enough OT that the money is not an obstacle. If they want to pay me at the end of the year for the days coming to me, fine. What I mean is: If I take a day off in April and they don't want to pay me until the end of year, I make a little more money (August raise). It's their choice.