Employee forced to come into work despite being sick just because manager can’t find coverage: ‘I’ve never had a job do this before!’

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  • i work in a chain retail store (in california, in case that's relevant) and i messaged my manager today about 6 hours before my shift letting her know i wasn't feeling well, and couldn't come in
  • to work. she told me i need to find coverage, or come in. i asked everyone available if they could cover for me, and not a single person responded. i let my
  • manager know about the situation, and her only response was "sorry, we need the coverage so you'll need to come in". so now im on my way to work, with a blinding migraine.
  • A white ceramic mug with tea next to a tissue box, used tissues, and a pair of glasses.
  • is this..allowed? i've never had a job do this before, i've always just been able to call out if i need to. this is the second time this exact thing has happened, the last time
  • it happened i had c and was still told to come in for the day, again because we "need the coverage".
  • the whole thing just doesn't sit well with me. i understand lack of coverage can be difficult, but as an employee (meaning not in any manager/supervisory role) that isn't something i should have to feel responsible for.
  • EDIT: thank yall for ur responses, even the ones calling me stupid. since this was brought up in a comment, i do have various medical conditions that do qualify me as a person with a dis У,
  • but the only "paperwork" i have is some MyChart forms filled out by a previous dr, and accommodation paperwork i had to submit to my college. i don't
  • have any accommodations at work, and dont even quite know how to go about it. EDIT 2: for those concerned, i don't drive. i take public transit. i stopped driving a few months ago because i realized it wasn't safe for me to be doing so, due to the decline in my physical health.
  • and if u guys are shook by this story, someday i'll tell the story of when i got fired because i was seriously sick (had mono), and my job (again, another corporation) said they "don't accept doctors notes" for absences, after telling me point blank i needed drs notes for missing work.
  • A sick woman wearing a yellow sweater sits on the couch with.a blanket, holding her hand to her forehead.
  • Mean-Eggplant1008. 20 hr. ago "I am sick and will not be coming in. Coverage? You're the manager, you get paid more than I do, you figure it out. Not my job."
  • If I'm sick enough to be calling in, I'm not going in, end of story. Fire me if you want, too sick to care anyway, and you just proved I was gonna have to quit sooner or later because you and your job. Better sooner.
  • g3shy OP 19 hr. ago this job is incredibly temporary for me. i started in july, and am leaving CA in feb when i graduate college, but that
  • being said if i lost this job id be it took me 6 months to get hired (i have a really good resume, but even with emailing/calling/appl ying to 20+ places a week, not a single person even replied to me until this job)
  • xdaemonisx 21 hr. ago . edited 21 hr. ago The next time they ask you to cover your own shift, tell them that fixing scheduling issues aren't part of your job description.
  • They can say no to you calling out, but they can't force you to come in. You can be fired for not going in, though, and it would be legal.
  • Legion1117 - 20 hr. ago "Making sure the store has coverage when I am unable to work is not my job responsibilities as I am not a manager. I am not physically capable of working today and will not be doing so."
  • That's your response. This continues to happen because we allow it to happen. If more of us would tell these "managers" to, this would not be happening as often as it does.

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