The Ethics of Calling in

There is definitely an ethic involved in calling in sick, or going in sick, or any of the above. Unfortunately, like most ethical dilemnas, it’s not an easy situation to ascertain.

Sure, if you’re vomiting, it’s easy to determine that you shouldn’t go in to work. If you’ve been diagnosed with an infectious disease, you shouldn’t go in to work.

But what about the more obscure cases? What about when you have a headache that isn’t responding to painkillers but is making you painfully slow? The headache isn’t catching. You’re still capable of doing the job. It’s just that every step hurts, every noise is amplified, and the normal levels of light in the kitchen have you squinting.

What about when you’re dizzy and reeling–probably from postnasal drip caused by allergies? You’re not contagious–unless the post-nasal drip is infected and finds some way of making it to others through poor personal hygiene. But you’re certainly not performing your job as you should.

What about when you have an incredibly sore throat, can barely talk, and are running what TO YOU is a remarkably high temperature? In foodservice, sore throat with fever means exclusion from working with food. But what happens if your normal body temperature ranges from 95-96 and suddenly it’s 98? If my normal body temperature were NORMAL (98.6) and it suddenly jumped to above 100, I’d have a fever. But despite my severe jump, I’m still below “normal”.

It’s not ethical to call in sick when you feel fine. It’s not ethical to call in sick because you’re “sick of working”. It’s not ethical to call in sick because you have too many accrued sick hours. But what about when you truly don’t feel well–but just aren’t sure whether you’re sick enough to truly be considered SICK?