Being Called In

[countrygirl12]

I recently heard a supervisor complaining because when employees call in and she tries to find someone to cover the shift she said no one will answer the phone.  So I am curious, if you have the type of job that this would apply or have had in the past, when your boss called you and you knew it was to ask you to come in and work because someone else called out did you answer or do you answer the phone?

It also amazes me that all these poor people always get sick on Saturday and Sunday when it is sunny and such a nice day out.   

[aflyingmonkey]

Back in the day when I was not working my career job, just a paycheck job while I was going to college, I would mostly not answer the phone when work called, because I have a life out of work & time is valuable.   I would listen to the message & respond accordingly.    There needs to be a balance between work & off-time, unless you're salary I wouldn't want to be bothered by work on my off-time.

As long as those calling out abide by the rules of employment regarding sick calls, I see no harm in calling out.  Too many sick calls & they'll be fired.   I remember a lot of employees tend to call out sick on the holiday, too.   

[cberman]

I never had this happen to me

[oldbuddy]

The last 25 years of my working life I owned the company, so I didn't have anyone to call when I was sick (which was almost never).

[SherylsShado]

I had jobs in the past where I got called in to work because others called in.  Most of the time I had two jobs and worked 50-60 hours a week already, so NO I didn't want to cover someone else's shift because it was usually the SAME person calling in ALL the time.  Considering I never called in---they got told NOT to call me.  (There also were times though where someone asked me in advance if I could cover their shift and I usually did & didn't mind because they rarely did it.) 

There was one job I had where I got about one hour of sleep for about 4-5 nights a week.  I'd finally get a night scheduled to be off and then they'd call me in.     That one was mandatory to be on call in case someone called in....I was so happy when I quit there!! 

Never want a job where I have to be on call again. 

[missplaymate618]

I had a job in the past where I would get called into work and most of the time I would come. At other jobs I had it was mandatory overtime so I would at times work 6am to 10pm, I don't like mandatory overtime and hope I don't have to work a job like that again.

[countrygirl12]

We aren't allowed to get over time.  And if you are part time you aren't allowed over 25 hours because of the new insurance laws.  Sunday we had 3 call-ins in my department.  I found that out yesterday.  And NO ONE would answer the phone when they were trying to get someone to come in and cover.  And like someone else said, it is the SAME ones every weekend and even thru the week.

My deal is if management would PUNISH the people who call in all the time they would stop doing it.  But there is nothing done and nothing said.  So they call in constantly.  That is why most co-workers have quit answering the phone when work calls on their days off.

[dwggs]

Usually we  cover  our own shifts ourselves ... I always answer my phone ... they covered me when I had to have my eye surgery and I owe them big time

[Tresbn00]

I would avoid the phone. I don't answer my phone or the door as it is.  If it is someone that I want to talk to then I will be expecting their call and will answer it. Uninvited calls/knocks on the door are inevitably sales people and if I wanted to buy something I would go on line and do it.  We live in a neighborhood that doesn't allow soliciting but we still get a knock on the door every six weeks or so. If someone is calling in sick every Saturday or Sunday they should be running out of paid time off.  I would hire people that want to work and need the money, then,  I would monitor the number of times that they called in sick and start cutting their schedules back until they were only working one day a week.  Then I would schedule them every other week and eventually cut them out all together.

[ancmetro]

   It is very sad! They just do not show up to work. Too much work to do...not enough workers to do it!

[debidoo]

I am retired but it used to tick me off to get called in because I think people need and rightfully want their days off and I do think 9 times out of 10 its just a scam by someone who wants off.  My son gets called all the time and usually he answers and goes in even though its always this one guy who always says its a "school thing" lol.

[vickysue]

Before I went into management I would get called in quite a bit and it was mostly the same people.  Once I started making the schedule and if someone kept calling in I would make no exceptions with them. Most would want to work some other hours to make up for the time missed and it wasn't going to happen. I would start shortening their hours until they quit.  But I was lucky that I could fill in if someone called in sick or said they were. I liked to vary their schedules so  all employees would have at least one week end off a month.  I took Wednesdays and Sundays off. The rest of the time I was there.

[CharmedPhoenix]

My brother worked the night shift at the state prison, as a nurse.  He worked twelve hour shifts, several days straight and valued his downtime so he wouldn't answer his phone on his days off.  If he wanted to talk to the caller he'd call them back.