Have you ever called in "sick" to go skiing?

[Sheena]

Seriously, it looks like we are going to get quite the nice topping of fresh snow Wednesday night. Probably will be the last good dose of snow here in Logan before the end of the season at Beaver Mt.

Now I am a really bad liar and people can usually read me pretty well. (not entirely a bad thing). But I really want to take the day off work on Thursday. I do have to be at work on Friday because there are some deadlines we have to meet and if we don't get stuff in the mail, it could jeopardize some students opportunity to study abroad at their school of choice.

I don't work with skiers, so they really don't understand. Not sure if I could pull off being "sick" on Thursday and coming in to work on Friday with a miraculous recovery.

Tips?

 

[Jilly]

Friday is a holiday in Ontario. That said, I've only once not gone in and gone skiing. The advantage of being your own boss. Start coughing tomorrow morning, feel sick, whatever it takes. Not many days left this season!!

 

[SnowHot]

White Fever is a terrible plight. Only one cure! you know what you have to do!

 

[Native Vail Gal]

White Fever is a terrible plight. Only one cure! you know what you have to do!

....so go do it! :cheer:

 

[sibhusky]

Seriously, it looks like we are going to get quite the nice topping of fresh snow Wednesday night. Probably will be the last good dose of snow here in Logan before the end of the season at Beaver Mt.

Now I am a really bad liar and people can usually read me pretty well. (not entirely a bad thing). But I really want to take the day off work on Thursday. I do have to be at work on Friday because there are some deadlines we have to meet and if we don't get stuff in the mail, it could jeopardize some students opportunity to study abroad at their school of choice.

I don't work with skiers, so they really don't understand. Not sure if I could pull off being "sick" on Thursday and coming in to work on Friday with a miraculous recovery.

Tips?

People usually don't question a stomach flu with frequent trips to the bathroom. Those things usually only last a day. BUT, make sure you don't get caught by someone else who took the day off. Also, I'd "accidentally" knock the phone off the hook so no one can check on you. My mom has a phone that frequently doesn't set right in its cradle. You must have one of those as well. ;)

 

[alta_gal83]

Sheena -- do it! The best tip I have is calling when you very very first wake up (so your voice still sounds really groggy and icky). I did this a lot at one of my jobs when I was in college -- it kind of became a joke, but I always got away with it.

Luckily, I'm off Friday and I'm heading for Snowbasin. WooHOO!

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Tips?

Devious, perhaps, but female gynecological/cyclical issues have served me well in the past as unquestionable excuse that can have a 24 hour recovery time.

 

[Robyn]

My biggest tip, don't talk about it on the internet.

If you post here from work and don't know whether or not your company monitors internet usage it's possible you could get caught just by posting this.

 

[Sheena]

My biggest tip, don't talk about it on the internet.

If you post here from work and don't know whether or not your company monitors internet usage it's possible you could get caught just by posting this.

I am really pretty safe. There is only my boss and I, and three student workers who all hate the snow. THen in our shared space it is a bunch of older ladies (close to retirement) who think skiing is dangerous and silly.

 

[dloveski]

Tough call. I am the boss and am quite open about my ski addiction. Sometimes, when pressure is on and I must work, I have compromised by taking fist tracks until 11 or so and heading in for a long afternoon of work to kick out the work. As long as you carry your weight and don't abuse your co-workers, sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do. A snow day can make for a happier, more energetic co-worker. Maybe they'll think you're having an affair as you are humming on Monday---and they are right, just another kind of affair.

 

[Randi]

As a manager, I don't recommend it. There's nothing more frustrating than not knowing whether your employees are sick or skipping. It's hurt relationships with me and doesn't put me in a very happy mood come performance evaluation time.

I have a pretty open relationship with my boss. If I have a small workload I will take a day off short notice- and I say the same to the people who work under me. If there's too much to do- unlucky; there will always be more ski days when you don't have a deadline and someone's future isn't in jeopardy.

 

[SkiNurse]

No, I never have...but I've encouraged others too so I would have someone to ski with!

But, my schedule allow me to ski 4 days during the week if I want...nursing perks!

 

[mollmeister]

I have always been lucky enough to have great bosses and was a boss myself, so I knew the value of and had the ability to be open and honest. You don't want to start abusing the work relationship. Although a very occasional bit of dishonesty about what you're doing isn't likely to harm things-- it just shouldn't become a habit, if you kwim. Bosses always know what's going on if the *sick* days become to frequent or too regularly Fri/Mon, that sort of thing.

Back when I was working, lo those many years ago, if there was a day when I needed to do something for myself (ski, hike, just be outside), I would simply say that I needed a mental health day, and given that we were all grown-ups and I worked hard, that was enough. If I needed time to do something for me, then they trusted my judgment to make good decisions about what I was doing on the company time, and that my work would get done anyway and get done well and on time.

I also did some *trading* of work days. Say I wanted to backpack on a holiday weekend, but I wanted to skip crowds. If the holiday was on a Monday (Labor Day, for instance), I would say I was taking Friday, but working Monday. And I would go into the office when it was nice & quiet and get TONS done on Monday. . . after making myself whole and happy and healthy by being outdoors on Friday.

Hard to know what your workplace is like, but if it's a bunch of grown-ups who trust each other and get along, I would say that you ask for a mental health day. There's no need to justify your skiing to them. You just need a day to do something that makes you happy and recharges you to come back in and work really hard. I would have had no problem granting this to trustworthy employees, as long as there wasn't a huge deadline the next day.

 

[Gina23]

A duh, I've missed a good 5 days of work this winter to ski.

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

No, I'd be afraid I would end up getting hurt skiing the day I called in sick (as payback for lying) and then to top it off, everyone would figure out I'd lied to go skiing. I'm lucky in that my vacation days can be taken at pretty short notice--1 or 2 days in advance so I just take a vacation day if I want to ski during the week.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Having been self-employed for some time makes this a moot question. If I don't work, I don't earn $. Simple as that. But a lot of employers are now offering "personal days" instead of calling them sick days. It's a block of days to use as needed, whether illness, medical, personal, family. Seems like a good idea to me.

I had a generous employer once years ago who encouraged "mental health" days occasionally. Mine got used in the winter

 

[MaryLou]

Been tempted, but I am a contractor and wouldn't get paid...which makes me think twice.

And...with 3 kids...as soon as I fake something like that, it's bound to happen IRL to either me or one of them...bad karma.

But...when I do end up taking a day "off", I make 100% certain that I can - my work is caught up, I haven't scheduled meetings for the day, I won't leave anyone in the lurch etc...and then noone really notices. I also am very reliable (more so than the folks that don't have young kids), so noone has an inkling I'm 'faking'...some people are suspect no matter if it's legit or not lol. But it's been a year since I've done something like this. And the snow hasn't been timed well enough for me this year to take advantage.

 

[snowbunny1976]

Tips?

The key is to not use a sickness as your excuse. It's fishy if you come back very healthy (or, how do you explain a ski injury??). I always use something like an emergency Dr. appointment ("they won't write me a prescription without a visit, and they will only fit me in at 1pm and they are on the other side of town so I can't come in the office before/after") or something related to my car, or a personal issue - lawyer, or some other service that needs to be done today.

This way, if it's evident you've been skiing on that day (bruises, aches, heaven forbid broken bones) you can simply say you got done earlier than anticipated and went skiing. And, if you DO catch a cold days/week later, it's not fishy, and you don't have to keep up a lie

Bwahahahaha!

 

[Gina23]

yah, tell me about it. one day i took a personal day and came back with a ski goggle burn. whoopsay.

 

[SnowHot]

Two things:
First, I run a business and I'd rather have employees take a day here or there to rejuvenate than to be fatigued and cause disaster at work.

Second: Waiting for the TR!!!! How was the snow?