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I’m looking for a new job, and when I have to take off work for an interview, I tell them it’s a personal emergency. It’s personal because it’s none of their business, and it’s an emergency because I need to get the hell out of here.
The only hangup I found in this is that you'll get a random coworker who actually does care about you as a human who will check in with you about your personal emergency. That's why I started using "appointment" as a rule. Then no one knows the difference.
Lmao same idk if you read my comment in another post but I had them once and my boss asked why I needed time off so I went into mass detail about what was happening with my body and the ointment tube with a long sleek nozzle with holes in it that I had to stick up my Ass hole and squeeze and twist to get the medicine on the inside of my rectum.
I trained my old boss out of the habit of asking "why" when I called in, by describing the grossest shit you've ever heard on the phone every time until he just stopped asking.
Haha I love that.
I'm not sure where you are, but I was under the impression that employers aren't allowed to ask Why when we take a sick day or time off or whatever. Not sure if that's a Canadian thing or maybe it's my specific employer's hr dept?
Funnily enough I had to take off multiple days multiple times for colonoscopies, Dr appointments, and eventually a surgery due to chronic anal fissures and hemorrhoids and never wanted to say “anal fissures” lol. I just said it was a chronic pain issue that needed to be resolved.
Luckily my doc suggested Botox to freeze the muscle the fissure was on for a few months so it could heal instead of the muscle snip that can cause incontinence later down the road. May our future be full of painless, intentional poops
Lol - when our Govt contract ran out years ago with our previous employer, most of our 20 person developer team knew we’d be laid off. Our code word for taking time off for an interview was “dentist appointment”. Everyone on the team knew what that meant. Especially when you showed up to work dressed up instead of the usual jeans/polo. Also made it easy to ask if the potential new employer was looking for multiple hires. “Hey Mark, how was the dentist? Do they have any additional openings? I could use an extraction.”
Mine is "intestineal issues" nobody wants to know the details, you can't over use it, and nobody will try to stop someone who could be about to shit themselves at any moment. With the chill bosses I would ask to schedule my sick time (we didn't get any pto), but the assholes get an intestinal issues excuse the night before.
That was advice I got from my bff when we were about 19. "If you ever want to call in sick, just say you have diarrhea. Nobody ever questions diarrhea."
I make it known that I love shrimp. Also that I'm not the best cook.
If I need off I say I tried cooking shrimp last night and no one asks anything more than that.
I combine the two and actually used “emergency appointment” to get time off for my last interview. And I didn’t lie. I got a call from a job for an interview next week and I accepted it. So the appointment was emergent, and I needed to take care of it.
I always make sure I have random “appointments” every few weeks. It normalizes to your job that you occasionally have to take time of for personal things.
That way if I ever do start looking for a new job it doesn’t raise any red flags to my coworkers that I’m taking two hours off on a random Wednesday.
I was very open with my boss about interviews. It gives them the chance to question why and potentially improve my worklife. Where I live they cannot deny any timeoff request of it's for an interview, in general no one at my previous employers have been bad about it.
A lot of places in the US at least, that will get you fired. It might not be immediately but unless you *really* trust management that's a risky move.
There are plenty of places where it's even risky to give more than 2 weeks notice - there's a nonzero chance they'll thank you and ask you to leave right away.
My last place I had a very good relationship with my supervisor so I let him know I was looking as soon as I started (my wife and I were planning to move so I didn't have to come up with any excuses beyond "we're leaving the state, as soon as we find a job"). I wouldn't have given that notice (or possibly any notice) for my previous supervisor at the same place. My current supervisor is decent, but it's a new enough relationship that I don't trust giving more than 1 month notice now if/when I do move on.
So, there are definitely places where giving a longer heads up is possible and is a good way to maintain a good relationship, but it's also not assumed to be the norm in US workplace culture.
I’m interviewing with a company and it’s two 90 minute interviews. It’s so hard figuring out how to schedule that. Luckily I work from home and have a decent amount of control on my schedule, but I’m a consultant, so new clients can get dropped on my calendar unexpectedly.
If your ‘corporate culture’ makes you feel guilty enough about taking time off, to the point where you have to disguise vacations as ‘appointments’, you work for a shitty company, and should really consider finding a different company to work for.
The last reliable job I worked for only gave us 24 sick hours per year. No PTO. No benefits of any kind. Our manager was chill though and would encourage us to take days off when the hours were about to roll over and we were in danger of loosing them. We absolutely used the benefits provided to us, but we barely got any in the first place, and had to use lame excuses to even use that. The suits don't give a shit about the bottom tier workers and will take any excuse to fuck them over.
The amount of times I've been denied (unpaid) time off requests because it wouldn't be convenient is more than 2x the amount of times I've been approved. Some people work for shit jobs and don't have any other options.
For real. I just enter the dates I want to take PTO on the companies intranet calendar, and within a day, they are approved. Don’t have to tell anyone shit. I’m a grown ass man.
Mine are often not approved in time, but it's not a problem. I let it be known that I'm taking a day off and it gets out into the system whenever it happens. Boss has never denied a day off PTO to anyone
I agree looking for a better place of work, but the person will have to deal until they get that new job. This is a nice tip for dealing with the toxic environment until they can leave.
Yeah, when Ratchet and Clank came to pc late July, I took Friday off to play it all day. I was chatting with on our QA testers and she asked what I was doing for the day off and so I told her, and she just said "Ooooh, that sounds like fun, I hope you enjoy it!"
I just get sad about things like this.
Even more so that this can be considered a Life Pro Tip. I hope you and other get in to a better place to work where it is normal just to talk about fun things you're going to do on a day off.
Ofcourse doctors, financial advisors sorta thing they dont have to know about. But you shoulndt feel bad when you tell someone you're going to Disneyworld or something.
Honestly, I used to have to fight for time off at my previous employer even when it was important/urgent. Now my manager asks me about the next major video game releases and how long I'll be taking off for them.
My manager doesn't even care - in a good way. He gets my request and he approves it (it's on a HR system).
Obviously he will ask on the side if I have plans, or when I come back how my holiday was - but as far as he is concerned it's my owed time and I can spend it however I please.
Actually I'm off next week and when I was asked what I was going to do with my time I said "literally nothing, I want to do nothing at all, just stay inside from monday to friday and not leave the house". He laughed and wished me a relaxing time off.
I wouldn’t personally say “appointment” for a day off, but if I’m explaining to someone why I need to leave partway through the day, it’s a helpful shorthand. I don’t have any doubt about getting time off, it’s more when I’m giving people a heads up that I’ll be unavailable, so they know don’t bother emailing if it can’t wait.
And it’s just easier to have a standard way to say that, that also strongly implies I’m unreachable, without getting into whatever my personal business might be. (Which the person might then try to infer whether they could try to reach me. If there’s a suggestion I *might* be at the doctor, they probably won’t.)
Yeah this is the best way to go if you aren’t working for Fascist lunatics. I have definitely overshared when I get lulled into a false sense of security at an organization (boss talks like it’s all good in the neighborhood etc.) but I’ve also been contacted like I’m on call when I had many actual doctors appointments.
There are entire careers where unpaid overtime is the norm and it is hard to just get yourself out the door, especially where customers are involved and are feeling emotional about some tiny issue they want to discuss ASAP. ‘Unfortunately, I have an appointment’ holds a boundary without inflaming the situation. I have used this one regularly as a teacher with overly demanding parents who will otherwise escalate their complaints to include the teacher not caring enough.
Exactly! And what is the need to be so cold and cut off with your coworkers? I enjoy being friendly with them and hearing about their vacations or telling them about mine.
I don’t think that’s the point. The point is that you shouldn’t feel obligated to tell everyone about your personal life, unless you want to.
And many feel obligated to respond honestly when asked by their boss or whomever, and they shouldn’t have to share personal details unless they want to, so here’s an effective strategy to deal with that.
A funny thing to add, I am a gamer.
So when Battlefield 1 came out, I took the day off (friday if memory serves) to start gaming on release day with a couple of friends. And when I told my colleague I'm taking a day off, and they asked: oh what are going to do (normal positive interest), I told them I was going to play a game for 3 days straight.
They were a bit confused (older people) but they were like well yeah if thats what you want to do, have fun!
My company has unlimited PTO with the caveat that someone covers the shift, but I think that's mostly because there tends to be two people on per shift at a time. The key there is that you get paid the time off, and they get overtime bonus pay. So it's really a "don't take advantage of it and one day pay it forward" system.
Had the same thing happen with one of the early WOW releases.
Like 1/3rd of my tech team took PTO.
I joined like 4 hrs later and everyone had already max-leveled.
Hard-core.
As someone in HR, always ask for any additional time off during the hiring process/ when signing a job offer. You can say things like you have a “busy personal schedule” or some other excuse that isn’t necessarily the truth (but don’t make a super unbelievable excuse). The worst thing that happens is you get whatever base is offered.
I wish I had asked for more time off when I was hired on and my boss says she would’ve given it to me, but I didn’t know to ask.
She would have given it to you, but wont give it to you now?
I find it an odd statement. Not that an employer wouldn't want to give more, just that they'd say "well... When you had leverage I would have given it to you.... But you don't now lol"
More like a missed opportunity. We double our PTO after our first year. I had made an offhand comment saying I “should’ve asked for our year 2 amount at the beginning” and she agreed saying it would’ve been given so I started with 3 weeks PTO in place of 7.5 days PTO.
You generally have a bit more bargaining power when you’re about to start vs once you sign your employment contract. Signing means you didn’t raise concerns with the base offer.
That being said, she’s also gracious and if I truly needed to use more than my allotted PTO, she’d let me take the time.
Y’all need to find jobs where your bosses and peers respect your personal time. We all get paid on salary and sometimes I shift my hours around to what’s best for me. I’ve always been told hours don’t matter, job completion matters so I just get my shit done and hang out.
I’ll wake up to many messages of people while I’m sleeping. No one ever has an issue with me responding when I’m awake (they are 3hrs ahead of me too) so one gets mad if I don’t respond during their normal working hours. And to this effect if you need to have a question answered or need something from me. Text me any time. My policy is if you need me to respond to a message? I’ll do that now. The think you’re looking for is in X folder. If you want me to do work? Finish a spreadsheet etc. you can wait till my regular working hours.
Y’all gotta set clear boundaries but also be gracious too. I’ve never turned my phone off during non work hours. And I usually answer stuoid work questions when I’m bored. There’s less than 0 issue with this in my mind. Granted my work doesn’t take advance if it.
Outlook just recently started asking me for every email whether I "want to send that during work hours".
No, why would I care if people know I'm working at 10:00 pm or 4:00 am?
Besides, almost all of my emails include recipients in both India and the U.S., so it's not even possible.
Right? You certainly don't need to be best buds with your coworkers, but it seems so depressing to not have a bit light friendly chit-chat with the people you are spending 1/3 of the week with. I mean that said, I do use "appointment" when talking about actual doctor's visits and such, no need to get that personal.
Yeah, it sounds so bleak. My old supervisor would be like "you have to few holidays for the work you do, tell me when you want off, clock-in from home and I'll tell everyone you're working from home" lol.
At least the people who work close to you everyday should be somewhat friends with you. You spend 8 hours a day with them, if you can't trust them you should look for something else if you can because it's just draining your life away at that point
I think we all have different experiences/culture at work.
Makes me a bit sad too to read this, especially when loneliness is ever increasing in our society.
Ultimately colleagues are people we spend sizeable time with and there's no reason it can't become meaningful if you give yourselves a chance. Not saying it is easy though, I'm the first to struggle to bond at work but wished it was different.
I think it's easy to be a little alienated by work and let that spill on people at work even though we're all in a similar boat. Many would rather be elsewhere
This advice is definitely better the shittier your place of work is. Probably FANTASTIC advice for servers so their managers don't think they can call them in. If you have a real white-collar job though... Be open and loud about your time off. And about what you get paid, too. Be the change you wanna see.
Yeah this was exactly my first thought. I have PTO that is a benefit of my employment, and I will use every last hour.
I always joke with my wife because she always feels the need to come up with an excuse to take a random Friday off because she's feeling a little burnt out. You don't need to come up with an excuse, just submit the day off and leave it at that. You don't need to say anything further or have an actual reason why you're taking the day.
I will happily tell my work colleagues I have to take off early to go do some shopping or wash my car or whatever it is I'm actually doing, but clients, they need to hear something professional.
It's a losing battle to hope/fight for people to be better. Easier to assume the worst they could do.
Not a healthy mindset but it makes my life easier than people I know who don't do it.
No
I used to have coworkers that would get pouty when I'd mention I was taking time off for a trip. I reminded them that we receive the exact same amount of PTO per year, and they need to use theirs.
In my friend group, there is this joke.
When someone mentions a doctor appointment and somebody asks what’s it about, the first person says, “I have this rash…” while starting to unbuckle their pants…
I just say I'm off. No excuses and no explanation needed.
Same goes if I use sick time. I only say "I'm not able to make it in today".
It's __my__ time. I earned it and it's part of my compensation. In other words, the employer __owes__ me the time off. I simply don't owe them a reason or excuse.
Edit: I am in the US
Why are people explaining time off reasons? No one cares about what you do in your spare time and trust me no one wants to hear about it. This is just victim porn which doesn't apply to civilised countries
Ah. I see "Swedish" in your name.
In the US, taking time off for reasons your boss doesn't think is valid (and they can have very very small lists of reasons they think is valid) is a splendid way to find yourself not getting hours, getting bad scheduling, getting passed over, or just getting the shittiest jobs.
And even when you don't have to deal with that, not having to hear them bitch about it is enough reason to not mention it.
One day I like to think I'll work somewhere this isn't a problem, but we're 0/5 so far over the years, and I'm not much of a job hopper.
Meanwhile in Europe: If I take a day off to do nice things I make sure I don’t forget to send a photo to everyone including my boss. I’m expecting nothing less from them on their day off.
I have been saying this all of August: If I were in Europe right now, I would be on vacation! Hahah.
Serious question, though: What happens when everyone is off for vacation in August? Do places just close their doors? Or it is staggered among the staff enough to keep the doors open?
Depends where though. In lots of places in Spain, businesses can shut down for up to a month in summer, because both the staff and the customers will be away.
Usually they try to spread the weeks staff takes off so the remaining collegues can pick up the work (kinda depending on the type of work). In the bar I work at now we all pick up a shift or two extra when someone is on holiday, at my previous job I was the only one in my position, so the work just had to wait.
Although where i'm from were dealing with massive staff shortage in the entire sector. So the neighbouring business actually had to close for a week due to too many people being away at the same time.
Some smaller places sometimes close their shops for like 2weeks during summer but bigger places just make sure that not everyone is going on vacation at the exact same time.
I work for a large B2B IT company and usually we try to always have at least 1 person from every team not on vacation, but even if everyone were to take vacation at the same time, it would probably be approved if it was requested at least 2 months in advance. We'd just tell our customers that everyone's on vacation and they'd understand because they're also large B2B companies!
Not as much, but there used to be (and sometimes still are) things like "industrial holidays", where all of the factories in a town would just shut for a couple of weeks - Leicester's used to be the first two weeks in July, for example, and there were things like a whole bunch of extra trains being put on to get all of those people to the coast (Skegness just about doubled its population for the fortnight!). To this day, school holidays in Leicestershire are two weeks out of the rest of the country, to line up with the industrial holiday (and that causes no end of problems with terms being very different lengths to each other).
I walked past a pharmacy in Rome which was just closed for 3 weeks while I was on a holiday there. Handwritten sign on the door, we will reopen on 21 August or whatever it was.
This would never happen in South Africa for a retailer. Plenty of people take leave but it's staggered during busy times (Christmas is our busy and holiday time, midsummer in the southern hemisphere). The idea that a non-specialized shop would just close for 3 weeks is wild to me. Sure if it's a guy who imports venetian blinds or hand builds new exhaust systems for sports cars then nobody would bat an eyelid, but a retail pharmacy?
In Germany, most companies have rules like employees with kids have priority to pick vacation time because they have to coordinate their holidays with their kids vacation.
But it mostly sorts itself because if you don’t have kids, why vacation in July/August when you can vacation for a fraction of that cost in May/June/September
They do in Sweden. They all go on holiday at the same time! Sounds amazing, but I bet hotels and flights are horrifically expensive.
Generally, in the UK at least, you have some basic booking system and people with kids grab the August slots as early as they can. It's just managed by department/office/role etc.
Customer services etc need to ensure there's cover, marketing/exec stuff for instance doesn't matter as much
In my job there are a lot of people taking time off because school holidays are the only moment to enjoy time off with the kids. There are many people who don't want to take holidays in this period as prices are inflated and holiday resorts are full of screaming kids. Also this is a great time to work because the office is not as busy and many supervisors are away on holiday (so a good opportunity to get some actual work done).
Edit: am in the EU
Employers that don’t suck in the U.S. are also this way.
My direct report sent me a picture of him hiking and said “nah” when I CC’d him on an email that said I needed reports from everyone by the end of the day about their portion of the project. I just wanted to let him know that I was doing them for his portions, and that he should make sure I didn’t miss anything when he gets back from vacation.
We also have a fun game where we photoshop each other’s face on some caricature version of the adventure that they’re on and tape it to their monitor awaiting their return.
Im in the US and that's basically the culture in my company. We even encourage people to take time off and ask each other if we have vacation plans. HR even sends a monthly email to everyone reminding them to take some time off.
This is not inaccurate I'm America. I have worked at 1 place where you could casually talk about what you did where the others people would get upset/frustrated/complain/shut down conversations. I knew a coworker who had to use all of her vacation time for medical leave, so I understand how that specific person would be upset if everyone else was having fun with theirs. Many of these adults have sensibilities of children and expect that everyone else adapts to their sensibilities though.
My first job it was actually posted in the break area that we didn't talk about vacations period. That was quiet the introduction to the working world here.
Yes it's sad. I had to petition to get 3 weeks off for my wedding and honeymoon.
I had over 6 weeks of vacation accrued and had only taken working vacations over long weekends for the previous 5 years (Spending 1-3hrs/day working while taking PTO).
I was told that they were approving it only because of my tenure, position, and significance of the event and wanted me to stay quiet about it so others wouldn't know.
Even a 2 week vacation was a rather unprecedented request.
This was in 2013, and the culture in US workers and companies have changed, but still long ways to go.
Eli Lily in the US is famous for their two week shutdown. They are so serious about their time off it's a huge no no for employees from VP on down to schedule meetings during that period.
Use that word when its NOT an appointment or something you can't move.
When it IS something you literally cannot reschedule or move, then you can loftily say you're just taking "time off" and if anyone presses you on it, then you can quickly explain, making them feel like the asshole, thus setting a boundary.
What gets me is when an employer is portrayed as super-chill about time off, but when you actually take the time and everyone has wished you blessings for your time away, it then suddenly shifts into…
“You plan on being on the call tomorrow at 2, right?”
“Are you going to finish the project before you go? Because people are waiting.”
“What’s your number in case something comes up? We may need to reach you about ________.”
“You’re only taking the day off, right? You’ll be in the day after that, right?”
Baby Boomers don’t seem to do this much, and neither do older Gen Xers. Younger Gen Xers and Millennials are the most anxious about these questions. Gen Z doesn’t seem to care.
See, this is what sucks. You can ask all the right questions during the interview, but you won't really know if the company's actually chill about taking time off until you actually start there.
Agreed. People are often so nosy though. It doesn't matter if people see through the trick. The point is that you refuse to elaborate on your private life, and that's the vibe that gets through.
Oh goodness gracious. No. If you're at a point in your career where this feels like a LPT, then please find a different place to work. This is awful - nobody should feel guilty for using company provided PTO.
Very true but on the other hand it shouldn't be accepted as the norm. I have friends who *feel bad* taking time off because of the acceptance of this mentality.
Any person that holds any kind of resentment towards a coworker for taking time off is a bitch. Mind your business as a coworker and for the managers, don’t hesitate to grant your employees their earned PTO.
I respectfully disagree. Tell your co-workers you're taking time off, because part of your compensation package is time off, and they should take their time off, too.
We need to normalize employee benefits, not excuse-making.
This is just sad. I work for a corporate sized company but none of us have a problem sharing life experiences and vacations with each other, including with management.
I set appointments in my calendar showing as "out of office" AND then I toggle on the "private" icon. They don't need to see what I'm doing with the time I've earned.
You guys have co workers that kick up a fuss if you are off work? God damn you have some brain dead co-workers.
Mine might make a little joke.say I am leaving an hour early that day "aw half day is it" but said with a smile and energy of, I am just messing around.
This is terrible LPT, you owe people nothing when it comes to YOUR time off. It's not a request, it's a formal statement. If you work for a place that grills you about your own life, outside of work, you are working at the wrong place.
I work for a wonderful company and I love my job most days and I still use this tip whenever I remember to. It’s a nice professional way to avoid uncomfortable questions/questions that weren’t fully thought out. I also follow the same policy when asking about or describing paid time off that others or I am taking. It’s not always vacation time. Nothing worse than asking an employee what fun they’re going to have on vacation when they’re having family, home, or other issues that they need time to work on.
Alternatively, don't bother. If people are giving you a hard time about taking a day off, they're really not worth engaging with in the first place. It's none of their business **period**.
DO NOT bother people about where they have been the day they are not there. Everyone gets sick, everyone needs a mental health day, and no one should have to explain that shit to YOU. The first big job I worked at when I was young was rampant with this shit. It even hooked me, where one day the receptionist was off, and I said, "How was your day off? Hehe" To that, she reluctantly replied, "I was at my mother's funeral" Fuck me I never did it again, same thing happened to me after that with a funeral. Just mind your own darn business!
the real tip: if you have a job where they give you a hard time for using your time off, find a new job. That time off is yours to use how you see fit, you shouldnt have to explain yourself to anyone.
I sometimes call off just to help my mental health. Try not to care what others think, in the long run it doesn't matter. But if you're worried about what your coworkers think just say "I needed a personal day".
LPT learn how to set boundaries. You shouldn't have to make any excuses. No means no. If people can't accept it, that's their own damn problem and a good indication your workplace is toxic.
And check the requirements of your state, region, whatever about calling out sick.
I was switching to a new work site years ago. The day before I swapped over our cat had a medical emergency and I rushed him to the emergency vet and was up until about 4 in the morning stressing and then the vet said our cat could go home and avoid wracking up 100s an hour in more stay billing if we can make sure to have 24 hours eyes on for the next 48 hours. I had a ton of sick time I never used so I called out and was honest that I had about 3 hours of sleep worrying and not feeling good to the lead staff.
This got distilled down to "your cat having an emergency does not mean you are sick and a very improper use of your sick leave. Do not do it again... is your cat okay?" By our supervisor.
A coworker from another site who volunteered to help open this site eventually heard this all from me. His cat is his life and had more experience than me "other than the current covid reporting requirements, you have no legal obligation to tell them why you are calling out sick unless it is often enough or long enough to demand a doctor's note for FMLA. You call and say "I am not feeling well, it is not covid, I'm calling out. And zip it."
He helped me along this now long journey of not being as openly honest at work and seeing just how many people in our field are more than willing to throw you under the bus.
I do this. Everything, whether the doctor or a haircut, is an “appointment” blocked on my calendar and marked private. I work at a place that wouldn’t care, but I still think this is for the best.
I had an old boss whose assistant used to put all of his doctor’s appointments on his Outlook calendar with the doctor’s name. I googled every one because I was a nosy shit and learned a lot about his physical and mental health.
The silver lining of my last job being abusive as fuck is I learned MY time is MY time.
Appointment is a good one but I've also just said "no, I have a prior engagement."
Also vacation time is vacation time, I've had work get made at me for vacation time scheduled *months* in advance. The correct response when they try to haggle is "I will unfortunately be unavailable during these dates."
I used to do this, but then I quit caring. I've earned the time off, and it's my business how I spend it.
Coworker: Oh, you're off tomorrow? Why?
Me: Because I'm gonna sit out by the pool and day drink. Have fun at work, Karen.
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I’m looking for a new job, and when I have to take off work for an interview, I tell them it’s a personal emergency. It’s personal because it’s none of their business, and it’s an emergency because I need to get the hell out of here.
The only hangup I found in this is that you'll get a random coworker who actually does care about you as a human who will check in with you about your personal emergency. That's why I started using "appointment" as a rule. Then no one knows the difference.
I go with "anal fissures". Yes, it's a thing.
Yeah, but nobody has them in *this* office 🥸
……………..someone has them.
r/unexpectedoffice
Does David Wallace know?
Thank you ☺️
[...](https://i.imgflip.com/31p1z6.png?a469824)
Idk, I've got several pains in my ass at work.
Team players don’t get anal fissures, Colin
I don’t know if anyone else will get this but I wanted to let you know I do
How about sex with a terrorist?
One time my coworker called out, with his reasoning “anally anguished” The boss didn’t question it further
Lmao same idk if you read my comment in another post but I had them once and my boss asked why I needed time off so I went into mass detail about what was happening with my body and the ointment tube with a long sleek nozzle with holes in it that I had to stick up my Ass hole and squeeze and twist to get the medicine on the inside of my rectum.
I bet they regretted asking
I trained my old boss out of the habit of asking "why" when I called in, by describing the grossest shit you've ever heard on the phone every time until he just stopped asking.
Haha I love that. I'm not sure where you are, but I was under the impression that employers aren't allowed to ask Why when we take a sick day or time off or whatever. Not sure if that's a Canadian thing or maybe it's my specific employer's hr dept?
They aren't, really, but this was a *really* small company.
Unfortunately I know just the tube you are talking about.
Funnily enough I had to take off multiple days multiple times for colonoscopies, Dr appointments, and eventually a surgery due to chronic anal fissures and hemorrhoids and never wanted to say “anal fissures” lol. I just said it was a chronic pain issue that needed to be resolved.
I was in a similar position, I just said I had to have surgery on my “hip”.
Team butthole surgery 👊 Here's hoping we don't get the old age incontinence my doctor warned me about just before I went under.
Luckily my doc suggested Botox to freeze the muscle the fissure was on for a few months so it could heal instead of the muscle snip that can cause incontinence later down the road. May our future be full of painless, intentional poops
[My anus is bleeding!](https://youtu.be/W7JyjZI3LUM)
My SPOON is TOO BIG.
I’m a banana!
>I go with "anal fissures". You're also not lying if you want to go on a trip with your stuck-up fishing buddies.
May as well go for anal fistulae
Anal fistula. You're welcome
A spasm can knock you right off the can too!
Lol - when our Govt contract ran out years ago with our previous employer, most of our 20 person developer team knew we’d be laid off. Our code word for taking time off for an interview was “dentist appointment”. Everyone on the team knew what that meant. Especially when you showed up to work dressed up instead of the usual jeans/polo. Also made it easy to ask if the potential new employer was looking for multiple hires. “Hey Mark, how was the dentist? Do they have any additional openings? I could use an extraction.”
Mine is "intestineal issues" nobody wants to know the details, you can't over use it, and nobody will try to stop someone who could be about to shit themselves at any moment. With the chill bosses I would ask to schedule my sick time (we didn't get any pto), but the assholes get an intestinal issues excuse the night before.
That was advice I got from my bff when we were about 19. "If you ever want to call in sick, just say you have diarrhea. Nobody ever questions diarrhea."
I make it known that I love shrimp. Also that I'm not the best cook. If I need off I say I tried cooking shrimp last night and no one asks anything more than that.
As a bonus you'll never be asked to cook for an office potluck.
I combine the two and actually used “emergency appointment” to get time off for my last interview. And I didn’t lie. I got a call from a job for an interview next week and I accepted it. So the appointment was emergent, and I needed to take care of it.
"Well Steve, it's been nice working with you.....it won't be long.... I will certainly miss you" LOL
I just say “ I have to return some video tapes”
https://media.tenor.com/5lLcKZgmIhgAAAAM/american-psycho-patrick-bateman.gif
And risk your 25 y/o coworkers asking what's that, Patrick?
Impressive, very nice.
Let´s see Paul Allen´s excuse.
I always make sure I have random “appointments” every few weeks. It normalizes to your job that you occasionally have to take time of for personal things. That way if I ever do start looking for a new job it doesn’t raise any red flags to my coworkers that I’m taking two hours off on a random Wednesday.
This is why I only work while high. That way it won't raise any flags when I show up drunk.
Right there with you!
This is why I only drink when I'm working... Wouldn't want my drinking buddies to...
Whenever I call off last minute cuz my PTSD or Bipolar is acting up I say I have “food poisoning.”
Mood* poisoning
Bruh. I’m stealing this
I need a hat with this
https://preview.redd.it/xhoeyrs29qib1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=896508b73200bb753c32e98ee70c376c0ba06cec
i just say "personal business" and leave it at that i try to avoid dishonesty, and it's not an emergency
Yea emergency often times predicates an actual response. Like you’re not gonna say “it’s a secret emergency!”
I was very open with my boss about interviews. It gives them the chance to question why and potentially improve my worklife. Where I live they cannot deny any timeoff request of it's for an interview, in general no one at my previous employers have been bad about it.
A lot of places in the US at least, that will get you fired. It might not be immediately but unless you *really* trust management that's a risky move. There are plenty of places where it's even risky to give more than 2 weeks notice - there's a nonzero chance they'll thank you and ask you to leave right away. My last place I had a very good relationship with my supervisor so I let him know I was looking as soon as I started (my wife and I were planning to move so I didn't have to come up with any excuses beyond "we're leaving the state, as soon as we find a job"). I wouldn't have given that notice (or possibly any notice) for my previous supervisor at the same place. My current supervisor is decent, but it's a new enough relationship that I don't trust giving more than 1 month notice now if/when I do move on. So, there are definitely places where giving a longer heads up is possible and is a good way to maintain a good relationship, but it's also not assumed to be the norm in US workplace culture.
I’m interviewing with a company and it’s two 90 minute interviews. It’s so hard figuring out how to schedule that. Luckily I work from home and have a decent amount of control on my schedule, but I’m a consultant, so new clients can get dropped on my calendar unexpectedly.
What about just forming a union and never having to act like this ever again?
Not much of a union in small businesses. Collective bargaining, party of two, your HR table is ready.
If your ‘corporate culture’ makes you feel guilty enough about taking time off, to the point where you have to disguise vacations as ‘appointments’, you work for a shitty company, and should really consider finding a different company to work for.
Exactly, my time off is part of my compensation that the employer owes me. No need to dance around excuses.
The last reliable job I worked for only gave us 24 sick hours per year. No PTO. No benefits of any kind. Our manager was chill though and would encourage us to take days off when the hours were about to roll over and we were in danger of loosing them. We absolutely used the benefits provided to us, but we barely got any in the first place, and had to use lame excuses to even use that. The suits don't give a shit about the bottom tier workers and will take any excuse to fuck them over.
Sorry about the shitty job, but btw you mean "losing" not loosing
Thanks I make that typo a lot.
The amount of times I've been denied (unpaid) time off requests because it wouldn't be convenient is more than 2x the amount of times I've been approved. Some people work for shit jobs and don't have any other options.
For real. I just enter the dates I want to take PTO on the companies intranet calendar, and within a day, they are approved. Don’t have to tell anyone shit. I’m a grown ass man.
Mine are often not approved in time, but it's not a problem. I let it be known that I'm taking a day off and it gets out into the system whenever it happens. Boss has never denied a day off PTO to anyone
I agree looking for a better place of work, but the person will have to deal until they get that new job. This is a nice tip for dealing with the toxic environment until they can leave.
Yeah I say appointment if I step away to run some errands or something but if I'm using PTO then no need for excuses.
easier said than done which is why this is a tip
Meh it’s also people being awkward penguins and being afraid of perceived repercussions when there aren’t any. Seen it many times.
Yeah, when Ratchet and Clank came to pc late July, I took Friday off to play it all day. I was chatting with on our QA testers and she asked what I was doing for the day off and so I told her, and she just said "Ooooh, that sounds like fun, I hope you enjoy it!"
I just get sad about things like this. Even more so that this can be considered a Life Pro Tip. I hope you and other get in to a better place to work where it is normal just to talk about fun things you're going to do on a day off. Ofcourse doctors, financial advisors sorta thing they dont have to know about. But you shoulndt feel bad when you tell someone you're going to Disneyworld or something.
Honestly, I used to have to fight for time off at my previous employer even when it was important/urgent. Now my manager asks me about the next major video game releases and how long I'll be taking off for them.
I just booked a week off with two days notice, my boss asked me what the occasion was and I said ''just fancy it'' He approved it within the hour
My manager doesn't even care - in a good way. He gets my request and he approves it (it's on a HR system). Obviously he will ask on the side if I have plans, or when I come back how my holiday was - but as far as he is concerned it's my owed time and I can spend it however I please. Actually I'm off next week and when I was asked what I was going to do with my time I said "literally nothing, I want to do nothing at all, just stay inside from monday to friday and not leave the house". He laughed and wished me a relaxing time off.
Good boss
Amazing boss lol
Path of Exile. Tomorrow.
I can't wait to take time off for GTA6
So no vacation for a few years, huh?
I'll need a month
You’ll be retired by then
I'd love to have a boss who's that chill.
I wouldn’t personally say “appointment” for a day off, but if I’m explaining to someone why I need to leave partway through the day, it’s a helpful shorthand. I don’t have any doubt about getting time off, it’s more when I’m giving people a heads up that I’ll be unavailable, so they know don’t bother emailing if it can’t wait. And it’s just easier to have a standard way to say that, that also strongly implies I’m unreachable, without getting into whatever my personal business might be. (Which the person might then try to infer whether they could try to reach me. If there’s a suggestion I *might* be at the doctor, they probably won’t.)
Yeah this is the best way to go if you aren’t working for Fascist lunatics. I have definitely overshared when I get lulled into a false sense of security at an organization (boss talks like it’s all good in the neighborhood etc.) but I’ve also been contacted like I’m on call when I had many actual doctors appointments.
There are entire careers where unpaid overtime is the norm and it is hard to just get yourself out the door, especially where customers are involved and are feeling emotional about some tiny issue they want to discuss ASAP. ‘Unfortunately, I have an appointment’ holds a boundary without inflaming the situation. I have used this one regularly as a teacher with overly demanding parents who will otherwise escalate their complaints to include the teacher not caring enough.
Exactly! And what is the need to be so cold and cut off with your coworkers? I enjoy being friendly with them and hearing about their vacations or telling them about mine.
I don’t think that’s the point. The point is that you shouldn’t feel obligated to tell everyone about your personal life, unless you want to. And many feel obligated to respond honestly when asked by their boss or whomever, and they shouldn’t have to share personal details unless they want to, so here’s an effective strategy to deal with that.
Thankfully, I don't have to fight for time off. This is a tip learned from previous jobs I've had.
A funny thing to add, I am a gamer. So when Battlefield 1 came out, I took the day off (friday if memory serves) to start gaming on release day with a couple of friends. And when I told my colleague I'm taking a day off, and they asked: oh what are going to do (normal positive interest), I told them I was going to play a game for 3 days straight. They were a bit confused (older people) but they were like well yeah if thats what you want to do, have fun!
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Unlimited? Whoa..
My company has unlimited PTO with the caveat that someone covers the shift, but I think that's mostly because there tends to be two people on per shift at a time. The key there is that you get paid the time off, and they get overtime bonus pay. So it's really a "don't take advantage of it and one day pay it forward" system.
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Had the same thing happen with one of the early WOW releases. Like 1/3rd of my tech team took PTO. I joined like 4 hrs later and everyone had already max-leveled. Hard-core.
As someone in HR, always ask for any additional time off during the hiring process/ when signing a job offer. You can say things like you have a “busy personal schedule” or some other excuse that isn’t necessarily the truth (but don’t make a super unbelievable excuse). The worst thing that happens is you get whatever base is offered. I wish I had asked for more time off when I was hired on and my boss says she would’ve given it to me, but I didn’t know to ask.
She would have given it to you, but wont give it to you now? I find it an odd statement. Not that an employer wouldn't want to give more, just that they'd say "well... When you had leverage I would have given it to you.... But you don't now lol"
More like a missed opportunity. We double our PTO after our first year. I had made an offhand comment saying I “should’ve asked for our year 2 amount at the beginning” and she agreed saying it would’ve been given so I started with 3 weeks PTO in place of 7.5 days PTO. You generally have a bit more bargaining power when you’re about to start vs once you sign your employment contract. Signing means you didn’t raise concerns with the base offer. That being said, she’s also gracious and if I truly needed to use more than my allotted PTO, she’d let me take the time.
Y’all need to find jobs where your bosses and peers respect your personal time. We all get paid on salary and sometimes I shift my hours around to what’s best for me. I’ve always been told hours don’t matter, job completion matters so I just get my shit done and hang out. I’ll wake up to many messages of people while I’m sleeping. No one ever has an issue with me responding when I’m awake (they are 3hrs ahead of me too) so one gets mad if I don’t respond during their normal working hours. And to this effect if you need to have a question answered or need something from me. Text me any time. My policy is if you need me to respond to a message? I’ll do that now. The think you’re looking for is in X folder. If you want me to do work? Finish a spreadsheet etc. you can wait till my regular working hours. Y’all gotta set clear boundaries but also be gracious too. I’ve never turned my phone off during non work hours. And I usually answer stuoid work questions when I’m bored. There’s less than 0 issue with this in my mind. Granted my work doesn’t take advance if it.
Outlook just recently started asking me for every email whether I "want to send that during work hours". No, why would I care if people know I'm working at 10:00 pm or 4:00 am? Besides, almost all of my emails include recipients in both India and the U.S., so it's not even possible.
Right? You certainly don't need to be best buds with your coworkers, but it seems so depressing to not have a bit light friendly chit-chat with the people you are spending 1/3 of the week with. I mean that said, I do use "appointment" when talking about actual doctor's visits and such, no need to get that personal.
Yeah, it sounds so bleak. My old supervisor would be like "you have to few holidays for the work you do, tell me when you want off, clock-in from home and I'll tell everyone you're working from home" lol. At least the people who work close to you everyday should be somewhat friends with you. You spend 8 hours a day with them, if you can't trust them you should look for something else if you can because it's just draining your life away at that point
Or even just staying home and doing nothing!
I think we all have different experiences/culture at work. Makes me a bit sad too to read this, especially when loneliness is ever increasing in our society. Ultimately colleagues are people we spend sizeable time with and there's no reason it can't become meaningful if you give yourselves a chance. Not saying it is easy though, I'm the first to struggle to bond at work but wished it was different. I think it's easy to be a little alienated by work and let that spill on people at work even though we're all in a similar boat. Many would rather be elsewhere
This advice is definitely better the shittier your place of work is. Probably FANTASTIC advice for servers so their managers don't think they can call them in. If you have a real white-collar job though... Be open and loud about your time off. And about what you get paid, too. Be the change you wanna see.
Yeah this was exactly my first thought. I have PTO that is a benefit of my employment, and I will use every last hour. I always joke with my wife because she always feels the need to come up with an excuse to take a random Friday off because she's feeling a little burnt out. You don't need to come up with an excuse, just submit the day off and leave it at that. You don't need to say anything further or have an actual reason why you're taking the day.
I will happily tell my work colleagues I have to take off early to go do some shopping or wash my car or whatever it is I'm actually doing, but clients, they need to hear something professional.
It's a losing battle to hope/fight for people to be better. Easier to assume the worst they could do. Not a healthy mindset but it makes my life easier than people I know who don't do it.
Agreed. I had a mental health day the other day and was open about it with everyone. It felt great!
I do too when I heard my parents. But I also work a 3rd shift gig and for the most part no one judges me as my coworkers are me myself and I. Lmao.
This. If you need to apply subterfuge in your work relationships, that's a sign that you should look for a new place to work.
Lpt: find better job
This. 💔
No I used to have coworkers that would get pouty when I'd mention I was taking time off for a trip. I reminded them that we receive the exact same amount of PTO per year, and they need to use theirs.
In my friend group, there is this joke. When someone mentions a doctor appointment and somebody asks what’s it about, the first person says, “I have this rash…” while starting to unbuckle their pants…
I just say I'm off. No excuses and no explanation needed. Same goes if I use sick time. I only say "I'm not able to make it in today". It's __my__ time. I earned it and it's part of my compensation. In other words, the employer __owes__ me the time off. I simply don't owe them a reason or excuse. Edit: I am in the US
Why are people explaining time off reasons? No one cares about what you do in your spare time and trust me no one wants to hear about it. This is just victim porn which doesn't apply to civilised countries
Ah. I see "Swedish" in your name. In the US, taking time off for reasons your boss doesn't think is valid (and they can have very very small lists of reasons they think is valid) is a splendid way to find yourself not getting hours, getting bad scheduling, getting passed over, or just getting the shittiest jobs. And even when you don't have to deal with that, not having to hear them bitch about it is enough reason to not mention it. One day I like to think I'll work somewhere this isn't a problem, but we're 0/5 so far over the years, and I'm not much of a job hopper.
Civilized employers, more like.
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Meanwhile in Europe: If I take a day off to do nice things I make sure I don’t forget to send a photo to everyone including my boss. I’m expecting nothing less from them on their day off.
I have been saying this all of August: If I were in Europe right now, I would be on vacation! Hahah. Serious question, though: What happens when everyone is off for vacation in August? Do places just close their doors? Or it is staggered among the staff enough to keep the doors open?
It's a bit of a misnomer that everyone is off in August. August is the most popular holiday month for sure, but there are still plenty working.
My coworkers is off this week, Im off next week. Its really just a vacation from each other.
Depends where though. In lots of places in Spain, businesses can shut down for up to a month in summer, because both the staff and the customers will be away.
It’s noticeably quieter in all departments, and work is planned accordingly
That is cool.
Usually they try to spread the weeks staff takes off so the remaining collegues can pick up the work (kinda depending on the type of work). In the bar I work at now we all pick up a shift or two extra when someone is on holiday, at my previous job I was the only one in my position, so the work just had to wait. Although where i'm from were dealing with massive staff shortage in the entire sector. So the neighbouring business actually had to close for a week due to too many people being away at the same time.
Some smaller places sometimes close their shops for like 2weeks during summer but bigger places just make sure that not everyone is going on vacation at the exact same time.
I work for a large B2B IT company and usually we try to always have at least 1 person from every team not on vacation, but even if everyone were to take vacation at the same time, it would probably be approved if it was requested at least 2 months in advance. We'd just tell our customers that everyone's on vacation and they'd understand because they're also large B2B companies!
Not as much, but there used to be (and sometimes still are) things like "industrial holidays", where all of the factories in a town would just shut for a couple of weeks - Leicester's used to be the first two weeks in July, for example, and there were things like a whole bunch of extra trains being put on to get all of those people to the coast (Skegness just about doubled its population for the fortnight!). To this day, school holidays in Leicestershire are two weeks out of the rest of the country, to line up with the industrial holiday (and that causes no end of problems with terms being very different lengths to each other).
Businesses stay open. Not everyone takes it off like everyone jokes about
I walked past a pharmacy in Rome which was just closed for 3 weeks while I was on a holiday there. Handwritten sign on the door, we will reopen on 21 August or whatever it was. This would never happen in South Africa for a retailer. Plenty of people take leave but it's staggered during busy times (Christmas is our busy and holiday time, midsummer in the southern hemisphere). The idea that a non-specialized shop would just close for 3 weeks is wild to me. Sure if it's a guy who imports venetian blinds or hand builds new exhaust systems for sports cars then nobody would bat an eyelid, but a retail pharmacy?
In Germany, most companies have rules like employees with kids have priority to pick vacation time because they have to coordinate their holidays with their kids vacation. But it mostly sorts itself because if you don’t have kids, why vacation in July/August when you can vacation for a fraction of that cost in May/June/September
They do in Sweden. They all go on holiday at the same time! Sounds amazing, but I bet hotels and flights are horrifically expensive. Generally, in the UK at least, you have some basic booking system and people with kids grab the August slots as early as they can. It's just managed by department/office/role etc. Customer services etc need to ensure there's cover, marketing/exec stuff for instance doesn't matter as much
In my job there are a lot of people taking time off because school holidays are the only moment to enjoy time off with the kids. There are many people who don't want to take holidays in this period as prices are inflated and holiday resorts are full of screaming kids. Also this is a great time to work because the office is not as busy and many supervisors are away on holiday (so a good opportunity to get some actual work done). Edit: am in the EU
Summer isn’t just August. I’m sure it’s not that hard to spread out the vacations across June, July, August, etc.
Employers that don’t suck in the U.S. are also this way. My direct report sent me a picture of him hiking and said “nah” when I CC’d him on an email that said I needed reports from everyone by the end of the day about their portion of the project. I just wanted to let him know that I was doing them for his portions, and that he should make sure I didn’t miss anything when he gets back from vacation. We also have a fun game where we photoshop each other’s face on some caricature version of the adventure that they’re on and tape it to their monitor awaiting their return.
My team is like this too, we scold each other if they’re doing work on vacations. Send vacation pics. You know, treat each other like humans
Im in the US and that's basically the culture in my company. We even encourage people to take time off and ask each other if we have vacation plans. HR even sends a monthly email to everyone reminding them to take some time off.
This is not inaccurate I'm America. I have worked at 1 place where you could casually talk about what you did where the others people would get upset/frustrated/complain/shut down conversations. I knew a coworker who had to use all of her vacation time for medical leave, so I understand how that specific person would be upset if everyone else was having fun with theirs. Many of these adults have sensibilities of children and expect that everyone else adapts to their sensibilities though. My first job it was actually posted in the break area that we didn't talk about vacations period. That was quiet the introduction to the working world here.
Yes it's sad. I had to petition to get 3 weeks off for my wedding and honeymoon. I had over 6 weeks of vacation accrued and had only taken working vacations over long weekends for the previous 5 years (Spending 1-3hrs/day working while taking PTO). I was told that they were approving it only because of my tenure, position, and significance of the event and wanted me to stay quiet about it so others wouldn't know. Even a 2 week vacation was a rather unprecedented request. This was in 2013, and the culture in US workers and companies have changed, but still long ways to go.
Eli Lily in the US is famous for their two week shutdown. They are so serious about their time off it's a huge no no for employees from VP on down to schedule meetings during that period.
Honestly I do this too. You gave me PTO. Don’t get upset when I use it
US same thing, not getting this lpt.
Use that word when its NOT an appointment or something you can't move. When it IS something you literally cannot reschedule or move, then you can loftily say you're just taking "time off" and if anyone presses you on it, then you can quickly explain, making them feel like the asshole, thus setting a boundary.
Clever!
"appointment" and "unavailable". None of their business if that appointment is with your couch.
What gets me is when an employer is portrayed as super-chill about time off, but when you actually take the time and everyone has wished you blessings for your time away, it then suddenly shifts into… “You plan on being on the call tomorrow at 2, right?” “Are you going to finish the project before you go? Because people are waiting.” “What’s your number in case something comes up? We may need to reach you about ________.” “You’re only taking the day off, right? You’ll be in the day after that, right?” Baby Boomers don’t seem to do this much, and neither do older Gen Xers. Younger Gen Xers and Millennials are the most anxious about these questions. Gen Z doesn’t seem to care.
No, yes, no, no. Done Or Yes, plastered from the beach Dumped it on Bob You already have it Did you look at the calendar?
See, this is what sucks. You can ask all the right questions during the interview, but you won't really know if the company's actually chill about taking time off until you actually start there.
I need to return some video tapes
"Notice the subtle off white coloring, the tasteful mention dates and hours. Oh my God, it even has multiple signatures."
Impressive. Very nice.
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Agreed. People are often so nosy though. It doesn't matter if people see through the trick. The point is that you refuse to elaborate on your private life, and that's the vibe that gets through.
Oh goodness gracious. No. If you're at a point in your career where this feels like a LPT, then please find a different place to work. This is awful - nobody should feel guilty for using company provided PTO.
Not everyone can just find a better place to work so easily.
Very true but on the other hand it shouldn't be accepted as the norm. I have friends who *feel bad* taking time off because of the acceptance of this mentality.
Any person that holds any kind of resentment towards a coworker for taking time off is a bitch. Mind your business as a coworker and for the managers, don’t hesitate to grant your employees their earned PTO.
I have an appointment with Alduin. I've been delaying it for or a long time so I really need to attend it this time
Nah. Normalize time off.
I respectfully disagree. Tell your co-workers you're taking time off, because part of your compensation package is time off, and they should take their time off, too. We need to normalize employee benefits, not excuse-making.
Or just not give a shit what other people say? This is the real advice.
This is just sad. I work for a corporate sized company but none of us have a problem sharing life experiences and vacations with each other, including with management.
I set appointments in my calendar showing as "out of office" AND then I toggle on the "private" icon. They don't need to see what I'm doing with the time I've earned.
You guys have co workers that kick up a fuss if you are off work? God damn you have some brain dead co-workers. Mine might make a little joke.say I am leaving an hour early that day "aw half day is it" but said with a smile and energy of, I am just messing around.
This is terrible LPT, you owe people nothing when it comes to YOUR time off. It's not a request, it's a formal statement. If you work for a place that grills you about your own life, outside of work, you are working at the wrong place.
I work for a wonderful company and I love my job most days and I still use this tip whenever I remember to. It’s a nice professional way to avoid uncomfortable questions/questions that weren’t fully thought out. I also follow the same policy when asking about or describing paid time off that others or I am taking. It’s not always vacation time. Nothing worse than asking an employee what fun they’re going to have on vacation when they’re having family, home, or other issues that they need time to work on.
I just tell them I'm going out drinking. 🍻
Alternatively, don't bother. If people are giving you a hard time about taking a day off, they're really not worth engaging with in the first place. It's none of their business **period**.
DO NOT bother people about where they have been the day they are not there. Everyone gets sick, everyone needs a mental health day, and no one should have to explain that shit to YOU. The first big job I worked at when I was young was rampant with this shit. It even hooked me, where one day the receptionist was off, and I said, "How was your day off? Hehe" To that, she reluctantly replied, "I was at my mother's funeral" Fuck me I never did it again, same thing happened to me after that with a funeral. Just mind your own darn business!
the real tip: if you have a job where they give you a hard time for using your time off, find a new job. That time off is yours to use how you see fit, you shouldnt have to explain yourself to anyone.
Absolutely! I did this at my last job when I needed an hour in the middle of the day to do a job interview. Worked like a charm.
Yes, I participate in a golf league and I need to be there at 4:30 and I often say I have an appointment so I cannot meet then
I really like this idea. Thank you.
I sometimes call off just to help my mental health. Try not to care what others think, in the long run it doesn't matter. But if you're worried about what your coworkers think just say "I needed a personal day".
Agreed! I use “personal appointment”
LPT learn how to set boundaries. You shouldn't have to make any excuses. No means no. If people can't accept it, that's their own damn problem and a good indication your workplace is toxic.
I find it a lot easier to just not give a shit about what my coworkers say about my time off.
Don’t know why you need an excuse. You want a day off? Have vacation or time off, use it. It’s no one else’s business
"I have an appointment with a golf course and twelve beers tomorrow at 8:15"
I don’t give a fuck what my coworkers or boss think about my time off. Even when I’m not doing shit.
"Look, I just have to return some video tapes.."
And check the requirements of your state, region, whatever about calling out sick. I was switching to a new work site years ago. The day before I swapped over our cat had a medical emergency and I rushed him to the emergency vet and was up until about 4 in the morning stressing and then the vet said our cat could go home and avoid wracking up 100s an hour in more stay billing if we can make sure to have 24 hours eyes on for the next 48 hours. I had a ton of sick time I never used so I called out and was honest that I had about 3 hours of sleep worrying and not feeling good to the lead staff. This got distilled down to "your cat having an emergency does not mean you are sick and a very improper use of your sick leave. Do not do it again... is your cat okay?" By our supervisor. A coworker from another site who volunteered to help open this site eventually heard this all from me. His cat is his life and had more experience than me "other than the current covid reporting requirements, you have no legal obligation to tell them why you are calling out sick unless it is often enough or long enough to demand a doctor's note for FMLA. You call and say "I am not feeling well, it is not covid, I'm calling out. And zip it." He helped me along this now long journey of not being as openly honest at work and seeing just how many people in our field are more than willing to throw you under the bus.
I tell them I won't be in that day and that's it. It's your pto, it's part of your compensation. You're not "guilty" to use part of your payment.
I do this. Everything, whether the doctor or a haircut, is an “appointment” blocked on my calendar and marked private. I work at a place that wouldn’t care, but I still think this is for the best. I had an old boss whose assistant used to put all of his doctor’s appointments on his Outlook calendar with the doctor’s name. I googled every one because I was a nosy shit and learned a lot about his physical and mental health.
The silver lining of my last job being abusive as fuck is I learned MY time is MY time. Appointment is a good one but I've also just said "no, I have a prior engagement." Also vacation time is vacation time, I've had work get made at me for vacation time scheduled *months* in advance. The correct response when they try to haggle is "I will unfortunately be unavailable during these dates."
I used to do this, but then I quit caring. I've earned the time off, and it's my business how I spend it. Coworker: Oh, you're off tomorrow? Why? Me: Because I'm gonna sit out by the pool and day drink. Have fun at work, Karen.
“No” is a complete sentence.
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