'Anything unplanned is unexcused': Employer instates policy promising disciplinary action for sick leave

It's really hard to plan when you're going to be sick; as such, seldom does the use of sick leave eventuate from any sort of planned absence. It's not as if you can sit down and make up a roster of when everyone is going to be ill.

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Posted by Brad Dickson

“Alright, John, you're going to have the flu on Thursday. Becky — that leaves you free to need an emergency medical procedure the following week. If all goes well there, Tony should be able to sprain his ankle somewhere around the 3rd. I myself am planning on tripping down some stairs on the 5th — so Tony will need to have his ankle sorted before then.”

Accidents, illnesses, and other unfortunate events just happen. They're one of those less sunny parts of life and can provide a big interruption at work; that's why there's sick leave, so you can take unplanned absences from work when the worst happens.

The idea of unplanned sickness equating to an “unexcused” absence is absurd, which is why the internet reacted so viscerally when this exchange was posted to Reddit's r/antiwork subreddit. The original poster shared screenshots of a text exchange between them and their employer, in which the original poster is informed that their sick leave is counting towards their impending disciplinary action for unexcused absences.

Keep reading for a comment from the original poster, along with the screenshots and Reddit's reactions. For more workplace stories like this, check out this paramedic who quit when they learned they were the lowest paid despite having the most experience.