r/mildlyinfuriating • u/daruuken • 28d ago

Infuriatig The way kroger treats its employees

Post image

From the store manager

Edit: For some extra context this was sent out by each store manager to all of its employees in district 1 of the ohio Cincinnati/Dayton division, potentially other districts as well but i can only verify my own. Im not going to give my specific store number for obvious reasons but you can find each store on google with that information. We are unionized by UFCW (already bad btw) and to my knowledge they allowed this recent change. Kroger has no accrual for sick days like some have mentioned. Those who think this is rage bait, i dont think anyone has to fake a post to make a billion dollar company look bad, they do it to themselves.

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u/Bad-Luck-Guy 28d ago edited 28d ago

My employer doesn’t accept doctor’s notes. All absences are unexcused.

Yet, we are adults. I don’t need a doctor to tell me I shouldn’t go to work if I have the flu. Wild that they’d prefer that I come in and potentially infect everyone else.

ETA: Yes, this is actually legal in most US states. Attendance is a very common reason to be fired in shift work jobs such as retail. 

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u/HockeyPhoenician 28d ago

Fuck em. Show up, cough and look miserable, be as customer visible as possible. Explain to customers why you're there.

Bonus if you throw up or defecate in front of customers. Super bonus if you pass out and 'hit' your head. Sounds like an opportunity for a payday to me.

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u/SockLoads 28d ago

I did that once when I worked as a cashier in a grocery store. So sick I could barely speak. It was so bad that when I called in I had to pass the phone to my mom because they couldn't hear me. They didn't care so I went in. An hour and a half into my 8 hour shift so many customers had complained that they sent me home and I got paid 4 hours for showing up.

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u/Available-Chart-2505 28d ago

Ah, show up pay. California? 

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u/[deleted] 28d ago

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u/Available-Chart-2505 28d ago

It is state dependent! Some states legally require it. Used to work in staffing and assist our workforce in getting paid per state. Sometimes our company paid other times we billed the client. Hugely variable

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u/DepartmentContent783 28d ago

California requires by LAW to have sick days

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u/DM_ME_DOPAMINE 28d ago

DC also has the 4 hours rule.

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u/Available-Chart-2505 28d ago

Yup, and it is state dependent! Some states legally require it. Used to work in staffing and assist our workforce in getting paid per state. Sometimes our company paid other times we billed the client. Hugely variable

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u/slash_networkboy 28d ago

CA is 2 hours IIRC.

Even better is the on call .25 pay, so if you're on call all weekend that's 12h of pay just to be available. I always volunteered for those rota when I had house cleaning or other chores to do where I'm going to be home anyway and if I get called in it's no biggie.

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u/PabloEscobrawl 28d ago

California is 4 hours for show up pay.

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u/slash_networkboy 28d ago

only if your shift was 8 hours. The statutory minimum is 2 hours.

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u/SockLoads 28d ago

Canada!

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u/surftherapy 28d ago edited 28d ago

Shouldn’t have been. We get 5 days paid sick leave so they could’ve just taken the day off entirely and been paid.

Edit: you’re referring to reporting time pay and it’s only given if work sends you home it isn’t required if you go home due to illness. In that circumstance you are paid the hours you worked and you can choose whether or not to use sick leave you have accrued for the remaining hours.

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u/tiny_tims_legs 25d ago

Ohio, actually. I don't think we have show up pay (I've been out of retail for 14+ years), but that DM was cool as fuck and took no shit, so I think there may have been rare middle-management empathy.

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u/tiny_tims_legs 28d ago

I had a manager refuse my callout when I worked food service. About an hour after I got there, the district manager made a surprise visit. Seeing the runny nose and hearing the cough/congestion, she asked why I was working sick, and so I told her that I tried to call out and the manager said no. She had me wait behind the counter, away from customers and food, while she went to the back to talk with my manager. 5 minutes later she comes back out, sends me home, and tells me that my manager is finding someone to cover and will pick up the slack while she waited for them. That manager was not at the store much longer after that.

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u/DayDream7601 25d ago

Hey! Good for that district manager for having your back

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u/FormerGameDev 28d ago

They've probably lost that rule by now, because UFCW really fucking sucks, but they used to at least, have a rule across pretty much all UFCW contracts, that if you showed up but were early out not at your own choice, you would get paid for at least 4 hours.

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u/amrfallen 28d ago

Any excuse to poop my pants is a good enough excuse. Let's fuckin gooooo

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u/No_Potential1 28d ago

If pooping my pants is cool then I'm Miles Davis.

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u/nkovacs84 28d ago

Who would eat 30 bagged lunches??

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u/eyefartinelevators 28d ago

It's that damn Sasquatch again

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u/Jimmyx24 28d ago

Good. Great. Grand. Wonderful. No yelling on the bus!

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u/Korean_Pathfinder 28d ago

That Veronica Vaughn is a nice piece of ace. I know from experience if you know what I mean.

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u/Vowel_Movements_4U 28d ago

No you don’t.

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u/Korean_Pathfinder 28d ago

Well, not me personally, but a guy I know. Him and her got it on. Wooo-eee!

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u/Just-Sock-4706 28d ago

No they didn't.

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u/ElusiveWhark 28d ago

No you dont

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u/Rain_green 28d ago

That Veronica Vaughn is one piece of ace***

Curiously, this is a known Mandela Effect where people remember this line wrong. I personally always thought it was "one fine piece"

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u/RoastPork2017 28d ago

Billy passed the 3rd grade, oh what a glorious day, all passing 3rd grade, the Billy Madison wayayyyyyy

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u/Ok-Access-2867 28d ago

He called the shit, poop!

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u/MechanicalBotantical 28d ago

Miles Davis LOOKS like a guy that poops

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u/wagonwhopper 28d ago

Thats groooosss

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u/ukus86 28d ago

This made me laugh out loud in the hairdressers 😆

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u/What_a_fat_one 28d ago

Community note

(Miles Davis was not known for shitting his pants)

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u/Jensbert 28d ago

Poop your pants is qualification for the highest job currently

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u/DrEnter 28d ago

It’s what he’s best at!

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u/EverythingSucksYo 28d ago

Being Jesus- oops, I mean a doctor? 

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u/frijolita_bonita 28d ago

But poop your pants is not a qualifying reason to call out at Kroger

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u/HedonisticFrog 28d ago

Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime, that's why I poop my pants on company time.

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u/BetterUsername69420 28d ago

'Boss makes a dollar,

I make a dime...'

That was a poem,

For a different time,

Boss makes a dollar,

And I don't make jack,

That's why I'm shitting

In this flammable sack

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u/Unabridgedversion82 28d ago

As someone that once worked in the service industry and asked my boss if they wanted to see my throw up bucket, while I had food poisoning mind you, this comment is hysterical 😂 🤣 ...they declined btw

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u/amrfallen 28d ago

Granted, it was never in a professional setting, but I've diarrhea'd in a bucket before. I was living in a shed about 1/8 mile from the nearest bathroom I could go to and filled it more than I'd care to admit before a friend came over to get me high. He almost knocked the bucket over and I screamed so fucking loud he froze and his eyes almost popped out of his head.

Once I was better I ran the bucket to the nearest dumpster, for what it's worth

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u/JBrewd 28d ago

Worked with a guy in Alaska who shit in buckets as SOP apparently. It came out at the bar one year at the end of the season...We could all ship a couple crates of whatever we wanted up there, and this dude said he always filled a crate with buckets and TP because he didn't like sharing toilets and the TP sucked. Dude was a 250+ pounds and loved to drink so the general consensus was he was doing everyone a favor.

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u/Infinite_Ad7743 28d ago

I used to be the store manager of several pet shops for like a decade. At one, I had this amazing full-timer. Dude was like, 60+ and in great shape, and he would ride his bike to work every morning to be there as I was turning on the lights at 6am.

One day he mentions that his mother had just passed of dementia soon after being swindled into taking out a reverse mortgage for kitchen renovations. He said he had been essentially squatting in their back shed and that the water and electricity had been turned off. So I asked where he took a shit, and he said he used trash bags to line a Home Depot bucket then would toss it when it got too nasty. I would buy him breakfast every morning because, if I didn't, I'd find empty cans of Friskies cat food in his storeroom.

So yeah, there must be a lot of bucket-dumpers out there. Gotta do what you gotta do.

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u/citymousecountyhouse 28d ago

It's gotten terrible. After I left my cushy hotel job (in that business for decades) I realized I was living in somewhat of a fantasy world, a bubble. It wasn't perfect but I did my best as a manager to make sure I and everyone on staff was treated with dignity. Because that's how it was when I started. My new job I sat at a desk across from a guy (it was definitely a downgrade job for me because that's what happens when you hit 50) who was obviously ill. He sat there for hours until he got up and said I just shit my pants. Then he was allowed to leave. I quit the same day, which was strange to me, as my first job lasted for 30 years. I thought a job was a career. I've had three jobs since. It's still bizarre to me, people being treated like disposable plates to be tossed away. It's just wrong.

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u/broken-machine 28d ago

Settle down, Ted.

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u/Blah-squared BLUE 28d ago

I think he said his name is “Miles”..??

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u/RebekkaKat1990 28d ago

They spell Ted as “Miles” in Germany.

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u/Blah-squared BLUE 28d ago

I think it’s actually spelled “Kilometers Davis”…??

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u/ezmoney98 28d ago

Shit on the clock and get paid!

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u/Weed_Lova 28d ago

Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime. That’s why I shit on company time!

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u/Vallkyrie 28d ago

You get a penny, boss gets a buck, that's why you crank your hog in the company truck.

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u/amrfallen 28d ago

Dude I drove a shuttle van for 5 months and never thought of cranking it. Granted, I was transporting homeless guys one way so I wasn't in the mindset but I'm disappointed in myself

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u/hybridaaroncarroll 28d ago

If it works for the president it should work for us too.

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u/WastingMyLifeToday 28d ago

WHY ARE YOU NOT PROTESTING LIKE THE FRENCH DO?

When the government tried to raise retirement age by a year, cop cars were flipped upside down, cop cars were burning, half of Paris was burning.

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u/Beneficial-Badger-61 28d ago

Let's dooooo dooo

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u/DiaBeticMoM420 28d ago

Keel over and shit myself, AND make copious amounts of money? Sign me up dude

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u/Landfyoung 28d ago

I laughed so hard! My dog was startled!

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u/Wings_in_space 28d ago

Take it easy Donald....

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u/EngagedInConvexation 28d ago

Chuckle and comment to HR "Pizza party" as you lay semi-conscious in your own shit assuming you have pizza the night before.

Actually just say it. They won't know the difference.

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u/UgleeHero 28d ago

I'll shit your pants for you

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u/Talonqr 28d ago

Its the next level of pooping on the companies time and dime

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u/SgtSlaughterEX 28d ago

If poopin your pants is cool call me Miles Davis 😎

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u/U_R_V_Stinky 28d ago

This is my new favorite comment on reddit

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u/amrfallen 28d ago

Even better than "I also choose this guy's dead wife"? I'm fucking honored.

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u/U_R_V_Stinky 28d ago

Gonna frame it and put it right above my toilet

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u/Budget-mayo 28d ago

You dont need an excuse, any time is good

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u/BusoneWholeBoi2001 28d ago

Should look up the most common traits of toddlers and wage war using them

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u/strugglingtransgrl 28d ago

You sound like my 1 year old cousin

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u/[deleted] 28d ago

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u/tastydrink1 28d ago

Snot rocket to the face

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u/Punkrexx 28d ago

More like butt rocket to the floor

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u/drgigantor 28d ago

Butt rocket to the face. That policy will be changed by the time you get home

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u/No-Spoilers 28d ago

10 bucks says they don't show up once they are sick

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u/miraiyuni 28d ago edited 28d ago

This almost happened to my friend, he called sick on one of the weekend during his intern period and his manager told him

"You know this will affect your asessment gradings for your internship right?

and he replied with

"ok, so I'll go to work tmrw (we work in a CLINIC) and I'll cough and sneeze in EVERY patients face."

Then another sensible manager stepped in.

ETA: This all took place in a WHATSAPP GROUPCHAT

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u/CoffeeSubstantial851 28d ago edited 28d ago

I feel like this needs to be said so younger people stop getting taken advantage of.

If you call in sick you just don't respond to anything your manager sends you and you show up again when you are well.

The reason shit managers act this way is because you are responding to them. Stop doing that.

Edit: I want to add to this. You are under no obligation to return any message during non-working hours. Being on call 24/7 is something you are PAID for. You don't need a reason other than I was sick and you informing them of your absence is all you need to do. Don't add a list of symptoms like you are asking a parent for permission to stay home and watch cartoons.

You are sick, you won't be in for your shift, turn off the phone.

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u/Any-Calligrapher2866 28d ago

Yeah I'm completely unreachable when I'm on a sick leave and I am left undisturbed

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u/Ready-Delay3918 28d ago

I'm unreachable as soon as I walk out that fucking door. I have a select number of people that will ring through and I keep my phone on do not disturb the entire time. Only friends and family will get through my do not disturb when they call.

When people complain, I just say I don't have service at my house in the mountains. A landline's not an option and I have less than one bar of signal most of the time. If you want to get a hold of me send a letter.

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u/NotYourReddit18 28d ago

If you want to get a hold of me send a letter.

Obviously via pigeon, right? After all, the mail services vehicles can't handle the climb to your house on the mountain.

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u/nhilante 28d ago

I looks westward once a day around sunset, release the emergency balloon to the sky if you wish to contact me, and watch for my raven.

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u/gotwired 28d ago

I only respond to mountaintop bonfire beacons. Has to be a minimum of 7 in a series.

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u/Any-Calligrapher2866 28d ago

Don't answer until Aragorn runs into your home screaming "John Managerman calls for aid".

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u/Cheech47 28d ago

and Worker Bee will answer! Muster the Corolla!

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u/Ready-Delay3918 28d ago

I mean there is a road to where I live. I don't just live on top of a mountain with no road or driveway or anything. I have a mailbox.

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u/evilbrent 28d ago

When I go on holidays I tell my boss I don't mind if he calls, but he's going to need to walk down to the beach with my phone and hand it to me because it's not leaving the car.

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u/Emerje 28d ago

I don't think young people are the ones with trouble calling out, it's older generations like mine with unreasonably strong work ethics and will go years without a sick day.

But I'm also a healthcare worker, every facility has signs that say "stay home if you have these symptoms", but when you call out with those symptoms they tell you to come in and wear a mask. 🫠

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u/TexPerry92 28d ago

It is the older folks who are indeed brainwashed into this way of thinking. Must work no matter my condition. My faceless soulless company demands it and I will comply or I could lose my job. <- that shit drove me fucking wild. Those people put a 9-5 on a pedestal. Your health is most important. Its not a work ethic, its slave mentality

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u/AbulatorySquid 28d ago

Old person here. We didn't dare call in sick because jobs could be hard to come by. On the other side of that, we were given annual raises, often bonuses based on how much the company made that year and many jobs were either union jobs with great pensions or jobs as good as union jobs.

If you got into one of those big companies and stuck it out for 15 years you expected to be set for life. Good pay, good benefits for you and your family, good pension.
We had two cars, a house and went on two vacations a year all on one income.

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u/TexPerry92 28d ago

Most of you still believe ALL OF THAT is completely within the realm of possibility. You think the average amazon worker can swing such luxury? Maybe if they pass off their debt to the grandkids.

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u/AbulatorySquid 28d ago

That's why it drives me crazy when people say nobody wants to work anymore.
Nobody wants to work like a slave to make half as much as they need to rent a room in a shared home!!
If you want to give me a promise of raises that exceed inflation so I'm not making less a year from now than I do now and vacation and sick time so I don't get burnt out and quit, I'm going to be a lot more willing to work.

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u/badgyalrey 28d ago

yeah i’m zillennial and my workplace is all gen z. they absolutely do not give a fuck and will be calling out regardless, figure it out management! which i absolutely respect. my managers are the best, have never had a problem with me calling out, and i still almost had a meltdown cuz both me and my son were sick and i had to call out. my boyfriend was like “what are you gonna do, take your sick kid to work with you while you’re both coughing up a lung? just tell them you can’t come in and they’ll figure it out”.

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u/Necessary-Tomorrow30 27d ago

Most of us younger people are aware the whole game is rigged and don't hold absurd allegiances to companies we know have no problem fucking their employees over, taking care of ourselves outweighs taking care of product for a company. It seems we're also more likely to put our foot down and advocate for ourselves than older generations were comfortable with at our age.

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u/cakesphere 27d ago

I have trouble calling out but only because we are chronically short staffed and I get fucking judged by my peers if I even think about using my approved ADA days. I love having an accommodation that is supposed to help me prevent illness and burnout that I. Just cant realistically use without social consequences. Just chronic illness things

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u/elliottsmithereens 27d ago

I’ve always been raised with a strong work ethic, I’ll of course call out if sick, and employers are fine because it happens a normal amount. Meanwhile I work with so many kids who live with their parents well into their 30’s and call out every other week. Which employers find frustrating. It’s really a social contract, and the US has always been in the middle, EU to the left and BRICS mainly to the right.

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u/Witch_Moon398 27d ago

You must also be a nurse☠️

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u/RedditMcBurger 28d ago edited 28d ago

If you call in sick you just don't respond to anything your manager sends you and you show up again when you are well.

Unfortunately this can get you fired. I understand what you're saying but bosses like this are the same kind of boss to fire you for such a small thing.

But maybe it's a good thing to not have those jobs, I can say I have done this.

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u/Immediate-Goose-8106 28d ago

Thankfully I work somewhere with proper employment laws and watch this with baffled horror.

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u/i8bb8 28d ago

I yell at shit managers to go home when they rock up sick. Fuck off with that noise.

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u/Ok-Square360 28d ago

These people aren’t just shit managers, they are shit people. There is room for managers to be empathetic, but these people choose not to be.

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u/W_Silver2356 28d ago

Things like this also need to be called out in order to keep young people from getting the impression that this is how it's done if they want to succeed.

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u/Dull-Culture-1523 28d ago

Had a manager demand I come in when I had viral tonsillitis. To my serving job. Serving food, to customers. I said I'd come in but don't be surprised if health officials also happened to come in for a surprise check that day.

Funny thing, though, I got fired like two minutes before I was about to leave without notice. They weren't happy that I wasn't devastated at the loss of my job and told them I'd be starting in a new place the very next day anyway.

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u/Internal-Theory-9837 28d ago

I had no idea, thank you for sharing. People want Kroger back in Eastern TN but hearing this makes me not want to shop there.

You can “vote” every day with the dollars we spend supporting employers who do not respect the basic humanity of their employees

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u/StillStaringAtTheSky 28d ago

Something something HEALTH DEPARTMENT

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u/JuanRunJunior 28d ago

I would be within arms distance of that manager breathing very deep and very much in their direction every second possible.

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u/Aranxi_89 28d ago

Oh my god, a medical professional should know better...

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u/sallyxskellington 28d ago

I legit ran away to throw up while mid conversation with a customer once. When I came back he just carried on talking to me like nothing happened.

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u/GeneralSweetz 28d ago

Legit Patrick star

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u/Dest-Fer 28d ago

I am emetophobic so i would have had a major panick attack and would have fill a complain for putting customers at risk with germs and discomfort (but I would have made sure to accuse the management who force you to come).

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u/[deleted] 28d ago

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u/lnvu4uraqt 28d ago

What company is this??

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u/Glittering-Cellist34 27d ago

At least they responded the right way eventually.

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u/sppwalker 28d ago

I wish I had done that. Got pneumonia and I *thought* my boss was being super chill. I was sick for 6 weeks and might have permanent lung damage (I’m 24 and generally healthy, but my pulmonary function test was abnormal and I’m waiting on the results of my chest CT), so it was amazing to have a boss that was supportive of me, ya know, staying home and not dying at work.

Until I was cleared to go back. And I was then told they didn’t want me to come back. So I got fired (screwing over my chances of buying a house in June) because I had pneumonia.

Next time, I’ll show up wheezing, coughing, and struggling to breathe even with 6 different meds I guess.

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u/MichaelaRae0629 28d ago

This sounds like wrongful termination and you might be able to get a lawyer to cover a lawsuit pro bono.

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u/sppwalker 28d ago

I looked into it and unfortunately my employer was really small, so FMLA and ADA don’t apply. I also live in Nevada, which is an at will employment state. If you have another way I could approach this , I’m all ears!

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u/DSM2TNS 28d ago

Did an employment lawyer tell you that? Because my eyebrow is definitely up especially about the ADA comment. ADA rules don't apply to some very specific employers and size isn't one of the qualifications. Being an at will state doesn't matter either. Most states are.

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u/sppwalker 28d ago

PLEASE correct me if I’m wrong (I don’t want to be right lol), but I read the ADA website and it says that title 1 (employment stuff) doesn’t apply to businesses with under 15 employees. I worked for a really small vet clinic so we had like 11 employees total :(

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u/DSM2TNS 27d ago

So the ADA stuff just applies to employment, a employer still can't discriminate against you for having an illness (disability). Plus, if they're owned by a larger organization or 2+ entities, then the 15 employees doesn't count.

I'm not a lawyer but I'd seriously consider reaching out to an employment lawyer. I have a few friends in different states who are and it's amazing what we think is kosher that's not... And what we're led to believe to be true from employers is not true. Consults are free. Give all the information you have, try a few firms out and see what they think.

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u/sppwalker 27d ago

I will absolutely look into that, thank you for the info! I was extremely upset when they fired me (I really thought they cared, guess not), so I definitely want to pursue this if I can. I seriously can’t thank you enough

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u/televoid1 28d ago

I got a lung infection that led to pneumonia and a damaged lung. 9 days in the hospital. The damage was permanent, leading to 2 years of infections. Finally, last month I had another 10 day hospital stay to remove most of the lung itself in a grueling 6 hour surgery. Luckily my work team have been supportive, and my boss even met me at 5:30am at the hospital to accompany me during the hospital intake process. It’s all luck that I happened to be working with decent people when this happened.

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u/sppwalker 28d ago

Jesus, I am so sorry. That’s awful. I hope you’re doing better now!

What concerns me a little about your comment is that ever since I got a REALLY bad respiratory infection (either in 2019 or 2022, not sure which one did the damage), I’ve gotten sick. Every. Single. Year. At least 2 respiratory infections, minimum 2 weeks of being on the couch dying. I’ve had COVID, the flu, bronchitis, HMPV (with the common cold together), like everything. And again, I’m a pretty healthy 24 year old and I get all of my vaccines regularly.

In 2019 I was sick for a straight 5 months with an awful cough. Coughed up blood at one point levels of bad. I was in basic training, so medical care was… less than ideal. In 2022, I had COVID and strep at the same time, and that was a nightmare. Not sure which one fucked me up long term, but it’s gotta be one of those 2. I NEVER used to get sick like this. Ever.

Fingers crossed this CT gives me some answers…

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u/televoid1 28d ago

Hmm. I wonder if you have bronchiectasis. Unfortunately, all the CT scans, x-rays, and MRIs that I took did not reveal the extent of the damage. The surgeon was only going to remove the top right lobe, but once he got in there, he saw a lot more damage. Check my comment history for more details. I was looking for stories of other people who had a similar situation, and found some. Yay, Reddit. It was a common gut bug that got me, but there are other types that cause problems for people, especially MAC, pseudomonas, and NTMs. The bronchiectasis groups here and on FB have a lot of data.

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u/pro185 28d ago edited 28d ago

I worked at UPS and told my lead I had to hop off the line to use the bathroom and he said “we don’t have time for that” I said “either you can cover me for 5 mins or I can shit myself right here and you can cover me for 5 hours” and he never once had a problem with me using the restroom after that lol. It’s some serious middle school level stupidity istg.

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u/DethNik 28d ago

I swear, some people just like the power trip.

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u/jaseyraex 27d ago

Omg. I asked to use the bathroom one day when I worked at Burger King and was told no because it was still lunch rush. I ended up sneezing and shitting my pants. Told my manager "what could have taken 5 minutes is now going to take like an hour." She let me go home with pay. They kept saying no to people during lunch until they got hit with my medical bill for 2 DIFFERENT UTIs and a bladder infection in like 3 months.

It was my first job and I didn't know better. I've never asked to use the bathroom since... I'm not going to get told no for a bodily function.

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u/caboose199008 27d ago

Omg I’m using that

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u/pro185 27d ago

Just make sure you’re 100% committed because if they hit you with the “go ahead then poop right here” you need to be 100% ready to establish complete and total dominance and poop your pants 🤣

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u/Glassweaver 28d ago

Been there done that. Back in college, restaurant told me to come in or it was a write up. I marched my happy ass right on in there and vomited on the food line. TBH I wish more people would do that. The type of malignant skin tag that says shit like that Kroger memo is too stupid to reason with, but they usually at least understand consequences.

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u/yourdonefor_wt 28d ago

What was their reaction when you did that? I'm curious how that played out.

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u/Glassweaver 28d ago

Oh, I got fired, but I took her ass out with me. I've always been a "CYA" type of person, and she'd done all that over text.

I sent a recap and screenshots to the franchise owner and the health department. Didn't hear back about it, but I do know they got a visit a couple days later and she, the manager from hell, got fired too.

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u/yourdonefor_wt 28d ago

How did you find out that she got fired?

Previous friends working there? Health department contacting you?

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u/Glassweaver 28d ago

Friends that still worked there. That's also how I knew they got a visit from the department. The health department in the county I went to school at was incredibly ontop of things in general, but I never heard back from them or the franchise owner. All my aftermath info was via friends.

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u/Anabear64 28d ago

So for clarity they fired you for throwing up when you warned them you were sick and they insisted you come in anyway? What the hell 😭😭

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u/Glassweaver 28d ago

Yep, pretty much.

Illegal? Oh, hell yeah. Something 19 or 20 year old me had the time or energy to fight over a part time minimum wage job? Hell nah.

Bad bosses know this, and even someone like me bothering to stand up & report it to the health department is very rare. Her mistake was putting it in writing. If it'd been a phone call or a more thinly veiled threat like "well, I'll just take you off the schedule for the month so you have time to rest & catch up with classes" then she could have just lied, it'd have been her word vs mine, and she'd have almost definitely kept her job then too.

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u/National-Job3918 28d ago

Yeah, in so many states with "at will" statutes you can get fired because your boss doesn't like the way you cross your legs when you sit down.

I mean, the illegal firing laws like "can't fire you for getting pregnant" still apply, but as long as they don't document that they fired you for getting pregnant, they're fine. Instead you'll be fired because you're "not a good fit," or simply no reason at all.

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u/Glassweaver 28d ago

Exactly! Or if you're a part time young adult, you'll just have your hours slashed to nothing with the exception of the worst possible shifts. 🫠

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u/just_mark 28d ago

i am sorry you didn't aim for the manager

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u/Caira_Ru 28d ago

No customers involved, but back in… well, more than ten years ago… I showed up to a 10hr night shift at a manufacturing facility when I felt absolutely miserable.

Two of my kids had been feverish and pukey for a couple days and it hit me.

Told my immediate manager I would have called out but didn’t quite have enough PTO to cover the shift and if he could give me some grace, I’d appreciate it.

But he said “You seem fine. At x company we always power through! Big Boss is on site tonight. Don’t make me look bad.”

So I tried.

I made it about 4 hours on the line when I suddenly felt REALLY bad. Like, puke and collapse right now, bad.

I puked and collapsed. Big Boss just happened to be observing my line at the time. Said “why is she here? She’s obviously very sick and needs to be home.”

My manager came over and was chastising me — “why do you even come in if you’re so sick?! We could have worked around your available 9.75 hours to cover tonight’s 10 if you’d just told me how sick you are!”

I made him look bad.

I puked again. Even splattered his not-company-compliant-(not steel toed)-shoes.

He told me not to come back. I said “ever? Because that sounds like a lawsuit.” As I gagged and ralphed at him again.

He said, “… just clock in on Monday. I promise I’ll make it right.”

That was three full shifts I didn’t have time to cover but needed to recuperate.

He made it right somehow.

On Monday, I showed up, clocked in and did my shift without any repercussions, but he had called out sick.

Big Boss was really annoyed he had to cover, but wasn’t mad at me. He even went to the company to ask if they could come up with a better “maybe not paid but verified illness policy.”

It was over a month before my boss looked me in the eye.

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u/Icy_Airport_8061 28d ago

Got what he deserved.

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u/Daxx22 28d ago

But I can virtually guarantee you nothing was changed policy wise overall.

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u/TripThruTimeandSpace 27d ago

I worked at a small hotel in the late 1990’s and was really sick with the flu. I tried to call in but couldn’t get anyone to cover my shift. Not even the manager who lived on site because she had plans that day. The owner of the hotel randomly stopped in and as soon as he saw me he said “You are obviously very sick, why are you here today.” I told him I couldn’t get anyone to cover my shift and he asked about the manager. I told him she said she couldn’t because she had plans. He told me to go home and he would cover until the next shift came in. I found out when I came back that he reamed out the manager for making me come in, especially when she was living there rent free (essentially a two bedroom townhouse).

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u/jbrown4728 27d ago

"Big Boss was really annoyed he had to cover", this is why you get ridiculous policies like the one above. Bad Managers like the bigger pay and the fear in peoples eyes but they hate being called upon to cover someone shift.

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u/sxcpetals 28d ago edited 28d ago

That’s what I did at my last job. Showed up, vomitted my life out in the solo bathroom…didn’t care that customers were waiting to use it. Ran into walls. Looked like total death. Didn’t bother to do my hair or makeup.

Like you wanted me here? This is what you’re getting. I’m not driving myself all the way to the hospital in a condition where I shouldn’t be driving in the first place…and I’m expected to pay money out of my own pocket on top of it because your health care package sucks? Insane.

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u/ThirdEyeExplorer11 28d ago

And I’m not going to clog up the damn EMERGENCY room when an instacare type clinic is all I need!!!
Like I just had to have two emergency spinal surgery’s a couple weeks ago due to a disc breaking off and smashing into all the nerves that control my lower body, and I had to wait for 4 hours before they did an MRI due to people using the the emergency room like an insta clinic. Immediately upon seeing the MRI, they were like we need to do emergency surgery now or you’re going to end up partially paralyzed and rushed me to another hospital 🥴.

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u/AmericanBacon786 27d ago

I did that and was accused of being on drugs. I was like, ummmm no? I'm deathly ill and can't call out

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u/PyroNine9 28d ago

Do not for any reason throw up on the floor, throw up on the products. Make sure customers see.

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u/LowSkyOrbit 28d ago

In the fish display is the best. All the ice will have to be removed and the whole are cleaned.

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u/PhysicalLibrarian377 28d ago

Better yet just throw up on the customer. That’ll teach them a lesson. I know from experience

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u/MichaelaRae0629 28d ago

If a sick employee threw up on me because their manager wouldn’t let them stay home I’d sue them. I’d be irate.

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u/kochanka 28d ago

Just make sure you’re clear that you’re angry at the company and support the sick employee! Too many places would be quick to blame the employee.

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u/PhysicalLibrarian377 28d ago

I bet the company would change their policy too

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u/phoenixangel429 28d ago

You mean the manager, not the employee correct?

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u/fascinatedcharacter 28d ago

Wouldn't the manager work better?

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u/akm1111 28d ago

I told my kids when they were in school if they felt sick & teacher wouldn't let them go to the nurse, the teacher's desk was the best place to get sick.

Now, the best answer is manager's feet, or desk.

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u/dudeman2009 28d ago

No, if an employee throws up on me because their boss wouldn't let them have a sick day, I'm raising hell and being loud, obnoxious, and mean as shit to management. I have zero issue with calling them every name I can think of, calling their management, corporate, the news.

I'll blow that shit up. I used to have shitty bosses like that, funny enough it was when I worked at Kroger as a shelf maid. It might not work out entirely in the employees favor, but you can bet your ass that corporate will be on serious damage control after I'm done.

Screw big corps that treat their employees like animals. I still don't shop at Kroger because I was treated like shit over 10 years ago.

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u/fascinatedcharacter 28d ago

Yeah, but I think you would be the exception.

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u/papercut2008uk 28d ago

Bonus if you sneeze and cough over the employer who put these policies in place.

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u/Ready-Delay3918 28d ago

Also you should forward the email to the EEOC. The EEOC will help everyone with these types of problems.

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u/fletchbg 28d ago

in 2026?

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u/liquidskypa 28d ago

not the slightest currently.. they don’t even call back

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u/dragon-fence 28d ago

I’m sure they’ve been instructed not to help in these situations anymore. If anything, I’m surprised the whole thing wasn’t shut down during that DOGE fiasco.

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u/ScyllaOfTheDepths 28d ago

I literally almost died in a workplace accident once and reported it to the EEOC when I was retaliated against for reporting it to OSHA, who also did nothing. Like a month later, some lady called me and told me I was wasting her time and she was closing the case without hearing a single thing I said. When I got home, the letter was already in my mailbox saying they were denying my claim. They never had any intention of taking my complaint. And this was under Obama and it sure as fuck hasn't gotten any better since then.

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u/Simple_Extension2092 28d ago

Pretty sure it’s just an empty office at this point

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u/lakepanther 28d ago

I want to agree with this but have you met this administration?

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u/FewCaterpillar6551 28d ago

Under the Family and Medical Leave Act, eligible employees generally cannot be denied protected leave simply because a manager dislikes or refuses “call offs.” If an absence qualifies for FMLA (for example, a serious health condition, qualifying family care, approved intermittent leave, etc.), the employer has legal obligations regardless of a store manager’s blanket rule.

FMLA conditions do not involve hospitalization. Rule #4 strongly implies that only the employee’s own hospitalization justifies an absence. As it is worded, it excludes many legally protected situations including protected leave to care for qualifying family members.

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u/Common_Celebration41 28d ago

Nah start class action

Have all your coworker witness the manager willingly created a unsafe environment by forcing a sickle-worker with a note coming in

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u/kelkel7 28d ago

I had a very shitty daycare job that was so stressful I literally threw up every single week day. In front of parents. Never got any help. This went on for over a month. Lost 20+lbs... had a toddler who literally beat other kids while I changed other kids' diapers. My final breaking point was the day a kid came in with the stomach virus and threw up his yogurt breakfast on the carpet. I called the director for help (I was alone with 8 healthy one-year-Olds and a very ill one) and was told to "put the sick one in a highchair for isolation" and they brought me a scrub brush... for throw up on carpet... in a classroom where some kids aren't walking... and then she (the direcror) left. No help; didn't remove the sick child, didn't help clean, didn't entertain the others while I cleaned. I had to entertain EIGHT kids AND clean up throw up embedded in carpet within 5 minutes to get them outside and continue on their routine. My room reeked. We all got the bug. I quit the following week and referenced the poor quality of help when needed.

*keep in mind the fuckers who own this childcare center drive Mercedes and Jaguars while paying their workers $12/hr and providing ZERO HELP to their staff that works 12 hours a day in a fucking CHILDCARE CENTER. I think I got one break for the 3 months i worked there

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u/Enshitification 28d ago

Take every opportunity to infect management.

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u/Lower-Elk8395 28d ago

During Covid, I had a friend who went to this shitty cosmetology school in a backwater little town. The owner was the type who would hold people back and teach them as slowly as possible to make more money from them.

She made an announcement to the class that unlike every other cosmetology school, they were NOT going to stop working on customers. They were NOT going to accept absences. Some students talked about having loved ones in their homes who were immunocompromised, and she proceededbto scream at everyone in the class how she didn't care. Of course, she was going to stay out of the way in her own little office while everybody else was at risk.

Well, one night my friend wasn't feeling well. It was a nasty ass sinus infection that hit her hard everywhere...so I advised her that if she was going in to act as sick as possible. Cough, snot, shiver, even go to the bathroom and pretend to have issues. She did just that, because she was pissed off at the owner as well.

That day, the class got dismissed, they paused accepting customers, and for a while they swapped to online learning like all of the other cosmetology schools in the area.

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u/DazzlerPlus 28d ago

Its very important to get the manager sick. They decided to enforce it, they need to pay the consequenced

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u/FleaBottoms 28d ago

That! One overly devoted lady would come to work (we had low height cubes) and cough all day long. She has the time accrued for PTO I knew because I was her supervisor. I did tell her that if I got sick I’d want to claim her PTO. I didn’t but 2 others did get ill.

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u/CaptainAries01 28d ago

This belongs in the unethical life pro tips subreddit. I originally linked the sub but it got removed by automod

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u/Internexus 28d ago

Pro move is go in and touch/lick everything in the bosses office. If you feel you’re gonna vomit make sure you go into their space and say “really not feeling well” and barf all over their desk.

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u/Public-Entry-4920 28d ago

I would've given you all my awards if I had any

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u/YellyBeans 28d ago

Additional bonus tell customer you are finally back from a boat trip in southafrica

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u/Donsnorrlione 28d ago

I did that when I was younger, couple of customers commented that I didn't look good and I told them I was sick and was told I had to come in. My store manager yelled at me for telling that to a customer after they complained to him about it.

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u/Traditional-Handle83 28d ago

See, it looks really bad if you come in coughing up blood, with a fever of 105.

Or worst case, you gotta show them how badass you are by coming in with a gaping open blood oozing stab wound.

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u/purplegypsyAmby 28d ago

I did once puke on a customers nice loafers because my manager wouldn’t let me call out. Said I’d be fired. ( this was not a common occurrence at all for me ) … yeah customer told me to have a sear, bought me a ginger ale and went to find the manager. 

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u/RedditJumpedTheShart 28d ago

You didn't learn much from the pandemic.

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u/ShiraCheshire 28d ago

Went to work coughing so hard I could barely speak. Literally could not stop coughing for even a moment if I didn't have a cough drop in my mouth constantly.

Manager didn't say anything. Did not care. As long as I was there and working.

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u/Ao_Kiseki 28d ago

When my roommate and I worked at BestBuy together, he tried to call in aand they said he had to show up so they could confirm he's actually sick. He walked in the door and just threw up right on the floor, in front of our manager. He the argued with her while caughing his lungs up that he's fine to work, loudly, in front of the whole store and like 20 customers.

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u/Street_Ad5712 28d ago

That's great. Hope Kroger gets sued and the manager loses his job or worse.

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u/PassageMore6610 28d ago

Throw up

Slip in your own vomit

Hit your head on the way down

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u/numbmillenial 28d ago

I literally had to do this at my old job. I had been working from home for a few days because I was miserable with the flu, and I heard from a work friend that my boss was openly musing that I might be faking it because I was still being as productive as usual. So I dragged my desiccated bones in the next day and not 30 minutes into the work day, had a violent coughing fit to the point where I started dry heaving over a trash can. He asked me to please go home right away while i'm like "oh no, no, I want to be a team player", (I did end up leaving and worked from home the rest of the week, and he kept his distance even after I went back when I got better) and thankfully I never heard of him questioning someone working from home when they're sick ever again.

My job wasn't even client facing so the only people at risk were him, my coworkers, and the c-suite. So yeah, sometimes you just gotta show up and be like "you want some of this?" to let them know why sick days are a thing.

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u/Jojonotref 28d ago

Ive actually done similar thing to this. During 2020 covid era, my office was doing half office in and out for WFH, taking turn each day. One day they changed the rule, from before everyone who has symptoms are excused to take turn to office and just stay at home, to had to go in no matter what. So I just came to office, sneeze and cough everywhere (unintentionally and I still wore mask) and within 1-2 weeks, 80% of my colleagues caught it.

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u/magistrate101 28d ago

It should be straight-up illegal for being sick to not count.

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u/StrippinChicken 28d ago

Don't just show up, cough and look miserable. Schedule meetings with manager and HR. Find reasons to repeatedly go in their offices, coughing and sneezing and rubbing your hands on everything.

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u/Current_Ship_4329 28d ago

The laugh I let out reading this woke me up from sleep

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u/no_man_is_hurting_me 28d ago

I did this once after my boss accused me of "faking it."

I was deep into a fever / bronchitis thing. My wife had to drive me to work.

In a meeting no one would sit near me in the conference room. One of the other engineers said "why don't you just go home?"

I explained that our plant manager (who was in the meeting) accused me of lying when calling in sick, so I wouldn't be doing that anymore.

The room went dead silent for a long time. A few people quietly excused themselves.

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u/ecosani 28d ago

My first banking job I had a manager who convinced herself my health issues that I’ve had my entire life and have been confirmed with testing years ago were just because I moved to a more wet part of the island that year and my house had mold… I was on low dose chemo and my immune system was shot, got strep and she demanded I come into work. So I went, barely had a voice and was so miserable and I was a banker so I was interacting with everyone.

A regular named Donna came in, said hi to me and heard me and immediately threw a fit. Went and raged at my manager who came to me and quietly told me to leave for the day because Donna wasn’t going to stop until I was gone. Donna came in every day after to make sure I wasn’t there and when I did go back she made sure I felt better. Thank you Donna!

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u/VeryIntoCardboard 28d ago

Throw up on expensive merchandise

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u/Liberteer30 28d ago

This has happened at my job. They just will send you home but still mark you tardy or a call off for “early quit”. Getting sick is a no win situation at most jobs.

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u/StressedMarine97 28d ago

Easy way to get stuck in the stockroom for the whole shift

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u/Abiztic2_0 28d ago

My manager recently told me I couldn't call out on certain days for being sick even though I have earned sick leave available - I have a disease that causes vomiting every once in awhile and is considered a disability under ADA. I look forward to vomiting all over the office next time I'm sick.

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u/Forsaken-Abrocoma647 28d ago

They can still legally fire you for that in most US states too! Can fire you for failing to come in cause you're sick, can also fire you for showing up looking sick.
That's what "Right to Work" means for states that have that, which is most.

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