They Made Me Work When......

[Akasa]

Pretty much ever since I hit puberty when "Aunt Flo came for a visit" I would be curled up in a ball crying for a couple days.(Until I finally had my women bits surgically removed.)
Working in tech support my managers were male and not very sympathetic. They would give me a lot of flack for calling in every month. So after they threaten my job I go to work on a day I would have normally called in.
To wind up curled in a ball under my desk crying unable to drive myself home. The manger was given so much shit by the HR woman he never made me come in at that time of month again.

[GingerBiscuit]

when I was AM at evil place I booked a weeks holiday for my 5 year anniversary. I booked it THREE MONTHS in advance to make sure I got it.

Someone walked out two days before it happened. Guess what happened.

Contributing factor to my leaving. Least they could have fucking done is get a manager in from another store.

[NightWatch]

Didn't happen to me, but here's the story anyway:

Used to work with a lady who at some point in her life jumped out a window and shattered both her ankles. There have been many reconstructive surgeries since then. She was forced to come into work the day after one of these surgeries. She couldn't take the pain killers she was prescribed because they made her fall asleep. She ended up working a 12 hour shift in agonizing pain... alone.. on a job that requires at LEAST 2 people.
That company was terrible, they never let anyone call out sick. They did it to me a few times, but I wasn't so ill that it was story worthy.

[Diablo]

Once had to light off a aircraft carrier engine room after spending the night chained to a pipe in medical. I guess I had gotten drunk fucked up my hand fighting with people. I remember coming to and wonder why three of my fingers were bent the wrong way. Well fast forward a few hours, my hand is still messed up, I am still in that magical zone between drunk and hardcore hungover, and basically a bunch of people from the department came to get me out as I was one of the only CMO's left after a FUBAR earlier in the day had disqualified a bunch of people. I literally could barely stand up straight and my hand was the size of a grape fruit. I was still slurring my words so badly, that my Upper Level watch had to wear the radio for comms. Navy Nuclear Power at its best baby!!!

[mandaliz8704]

I had to go in to work the other night and leave my very sick fiance (who had a 102.6 deg temp) with my very sick 5 year old who had a temp of 103.7, and a completely healthy 4 year old and 8 month old.

I'm surprised my fiance didn't leave me for that.

I had to call in yesterday because I spent 6 hours in the ER on IV antibiotics with a raging sinus infection after I caught the same virus that they had.

[daisychain]

At my old work we all managed to get some combo of horrible flu/glandular fever leaving us all feeling like we were dying and taking it in turns to do vomit/bathroom breaks throughout the day, but we all came in cos there was work needing to be done.

One day I was feeling particularly sick and tried to call in but was told I had to come in so I did... To discover that I was needed because my manager was feeling a little queasy and didn't want to come in... EVERY staff member came in even sicker than him but he was the only one allowed to take time off. Grr.

[Hanzoku]

Once had to light off a aircraft carrier engine room after spending the night chained to a pipe in medical. I guess I had gotten drunk fucked up my hand fighting with people. I remember coming to and wonder why three of my fingers were bent the wrong way. Well fast forward a few hours, my hand is still messed up, I am still in that magical zone between drunk and hardcore hungover, and basically a bunch of people from the department came to get me out as I was one of the only CMO's left after a FUBAR earlier in the day had disqualified a bunch of people. I literally could barely stand up straight and my hand was the size of a grape fruit. I was still slurring my words so badly, that my Upper Level watch had to wear the radio for comms. Navy Nuclear Power at its best baby!!!

So how exactly were you not also disqualified from operating? Also, how the heck did you avoid at least a reprimand for showing up on shift still drunk or too badly hungover to be able to communicate clearly?

Reminds me of a news article that two nuclear subs from France and Britain managed to collide.

[blas]

I was forced to go in to work at the gas station even though I'd been vomitting all morning.....because I was the designated person to cover for sick people, but no one was ever to be forced to cover for me or pay me back by letting me take a day off.

I was livid.

Similar to how recently I was dinged for my attendance at work due to a stint of illnesses......when I am held responsible for covering for people when they call in sick (because there is a huge attendance problem at work and there are people who honestly cannot go a week without calling in) and if I'm not there, there is no one to cover.

[Kiwi]

I have only been "forced" to work only once by a manager.
I have however come in sick when I needed the money.

I started at an upmarket gift store and in my contract I had fixed hours listed. 2 X 4 hour shifts for late night and 1 weekend day per weekend with ONE weekend a month as a double day weekend when I would work both Sat and Sun. Thats what it stated in writing in my contract.

The SM then started scheduling me for every single weekend, I worked about 8 in a row (I needed the money when I first started so it was to okay to start with) but then the next months schedule came out and bam, 4 weekends of 2 days straight.
I pulled her aside and asked about why I had all these double day weekends and she said "well the last girl worked whenever we needed her, why? are you going to be difficult?

my reply was something like, well Im not a girl number one, I have a name and you know what it is Ann, and number two in my contract it states in black and white that I am to work only ONE weekend day per week and both weekend days only one weekend per month . Now you can go back through this schedule and decide which day that is going to be, but I will only be turning up for one of them.

she was livid with me (and perhaps I was a little cheeky, but I had been very clear when I applied for the job that I could only work ONE weekend day as I spent the other at university studying or working on projects etc) and they hired me knowing that. They were very happy that I would be working as many hours as they could give me during school breaks and summer holidays (which was the only way the full time staff could have time off)

she removed three of the double weekend days but claimed she had no one to work that one extra day, we had another discussion about that but in the end I conceded that I would NOT be covering more than one double weekend a month from that day forward, and I didnt.

To those who have had managers force you to come in while sick, dont!
When you call in, state you sick, wont be coming in and then HANG UP THE PHONE.
you shouldnt have to find someone for your shift, its not your problem, thats your managers problem.
for crappy wages why are you putting yourself and the public in danger! Be kind to yourself when your sick!

[Diablo]

So how exactly were you not also disqualified from operating? Also, how the heck did you avoid at least a reprimand for showing up on shift still drunk or too badly hungover to be able to communicate clearly?

Reminds me of a news article that two nuclear subs from France and Britain managed to collide.

I didn't show up drunk, I was dragged to work. BIG difference. Plus, boats collide all the time.

[Emmeileia]

This past summer I was moving into my new house and I fell down a flight of stairs, badly messing up my ankle. It was the size of a grape fruit and I could not put any weight on it.
I was schedules to guide a tour that day at work, which involved carrying a heavy backpack, hiking up steep hills, and climbing on a tiny suspension bridge.

I called my work and told them I was on my way to the hospital to have my ankle checked out, that I could not walk and that I was unable to come in. I was told that it was too bad, they needed me to work. Never mind that I could not walk, they wanted me to carry that pack!

So, I went to work. Luckily, my co guide carried the pack, but I still had to limp up those damn hills. I can't imagine what the clients thought about it.

[Hyndis]

Pneumonia, a fever of 104, and I badly sprained my ankle due to being rather out of it and tripping while pushing carts.

Yeah, fun times.

[KellyHabersham]

This one didn't happen to me (heard it second-hand from the co-worker involved), but ........without going into gory details, "Deena" had been having a really heavy/difficult period that month, she'd asked the "manager in charge" that night about going home early, and apparently was given a very hard time about needing to stay.

[MapGirl]

Remember SARS? I was exposed by being at that hospital at the same time, in the same common areas (ER, etc.) And then I developed Bronchitis.

After the in-hospital quarantine, where they ruled out that it really just was Bronchitis, they sent me home. Rules were that you HAD to be in-home quarantined for 10 or 14 days, and the health department did call and check.

• Sick with Bronchitis, with prescription inhalers? Check.
• Legitimately exposed to SARS? Check.
• Being monitored by the health department? Check.
• $5000 fine for being out of the house? "Well, the ASM at otherstore is under quarantine too, but she's working today!"

[KorporateKitty]

Recently I had to call out of my job, on Monday. I had worked a 13 hour shift on Sunday, to boot and I think I got sick right there and then since I started coughing, etc. around the end of the shift. I volunteered to stay after my regular shift (was only scheduled to work 7 hours) since there were a bunch of no calls/no shows and we had to complete an important floorset. Sunday night I can barely sleep due to all the coughing and decided I had to call out even though I didn't want to...I called at 10 and I was supposed to come in at 1. My legs hurt so much due to not only the body aches but also sore muscles from working so long. I always thought that as long as you called out at least 3 hours in advance you were okay, but since I could not find someone to cover my shift I was told it would be counted as an unexcused absence. I called the two numbers they provided me with to try to find a replacement (this store has over 60 employees) and the first one went directly to voicemail, the second number was out of service. So basically I am being treated as if I were a no call no show...I though I'd shown that I was a hard worker on Sunday, probably got sick because of it and to boot I only had a half hour break (so illegal) for over 13 hours of work.