What if someone called in and said, “I just don’t feel responsible enough to show up for my job”, how is that any different that calling in with a hangover?
I can drink a few beers after work and be fine for work the next day. The reason I call it quits after a few beers instead of closing the bar down and heading to an after party is my sense of responsibility. I realize the chance of me getting a hangover is much greater if I close the bar down and head to an after party, so I don’t. That’s my sense of judgement.
If I walked out of the bar after three beers and got hit by a truck, that would be a reasonable excuse. Drinking to excess because you don’t give a shit about your responsibilities really doesn’t cut it.
Well, I’ve never had a hangover. But if I woke up with a killer headache and nausea I would probaby call in sick, for whatever reason. I don’t think it’s unacceptable, but I could see, if it happened a lot–say, every Monday, like a coworker I used to have–that it could move over into that category.
Fun fact: Once I got very ill with the flu, and it came on when I was at a New Year’s Eve party (which I left at 10:30 because I felt so awful). Of course I called in sick on Jan 2 (and I could barely talk) and my boss was so convinced it was a hangover (really, on January 2?) that he came over to my house to make sure I was really sick. He came really close to sending me to the hospital.
But if it had been a hangover I’d still have been really sick, right? Probably no fever though.
Having said that, it’s not untypical for me to feel shitty in the morning, so much so that I have not realized I was actually, you know, SICK, until I was already at work. And in that case I mostly decided to stick it out, because it’s more trouble to go home and I’m already there, except at least twice when I realized I just couldn’t. So, if a hangover is just a headache and a generally bluh feeling that’s normal, then I’d go in. I draw the line at gastrointestinal upsets.
Of course we’re going to rate a lapse in judgement as negative. It’s inherently a negative thing. You have done something that with better judgement you would not have done. A company can of course choose to let the incident pass without much noise based on a track record of otherwise sound judgement in the person, though. But I don’t see a benefit to being preemptively known as “The Company That Lets You Get Away With Anything”.
You could draw a semi-parallel line between this and the general act of making mistakes at work, and maybe that’s why you thought of this idea. Some workplaces come down hard on any mistake, no matter how innocent. And others recognize that we’re all human and will eventually make a mistake by accident, and it’s more important to fix the problem and try to modify it so it won’t happen again. I’d imagine most people would like turning up to the second workplace more. So I could see how you might want to expand that sort of idea to hangovers. But with a hangover you’re allowing something outside of work to interfere with work, and furthermore it’s something you presumably have complete control over. It’s not exactly a complex process where if one thing gets dropped then the whole project goes to hell. So it’s not the same as making a work-related mistake on the job.
And really, it’s called “sick days”. You’re sick, you call in sick. An extreme hangover is “sick”. I don’t see what’s so hard about simply saying “I feel too sick to come in today”. It’s the truth, and without details it passes for any other sickness such as a migraine. Then just slap yourself together and don’t let it become a regular thing.
I actually am the opposite to this. As a guitar teacher, I prefer it when people postpone and cite their reason, even though I’m fully aware they have no need explain. In return, if I ever have to rearrange, especially if it’s short notice, I will tell them why (obviously keeping details relevant). It’s also dependent on the relationship between me and the student, or in the thread scenario, boss and employee. If you get on well, or are friends, then honesty goes a long way in my opinion.
I do agree, there is no need to explain exactly why… although I’ve had managers who love to play doctor.
Me - ‘Hi, sorry, I’m unable to come to work today, I feel unwell’
Boss - ‘Ok, so what’s wrong?’
Me - ‘It’s just a stomach thing’
Boss - 'Food poisoning? A bug? Lost a sword fight?
Me - ‘I… don’t know… just cramps’
Boss - 'Ok, so do you think you’ll be ok for this afternoon, how about tomorrow? Have you made an appointment for the doctor? Is this terminal?
Me - ‘I have no idea… I’m just feeling unwell’
Boss - ‘Alright, so drink plenty of fluids, rest up, and let me know by 3pm if you can come in tomorrow…’
I find the best way to discourage inquiries as to the nature of my illness is to imply it’s something GI-related. Almost no one wants details of your bowel movements, so they will generally leave you alone.
It helps a lot if you actually end up puking while trying to call in sick. You can’t fake that noise and NO ONE wants a puker to come into work.
Most of the time I agree a hangover on a work morning is bad judgement, but I once got a horrible one from drinking just one glass of red wine at dinner. Me and certain kinds of red wine do not get along.
Held accountable is judged. Or I read ‘judged’ as meaning ‘forming an opinion based upon facts’. Or maybe, potential judgement is a better way of thinking.
But as I said earlier, every one of us makes mistakes on a daily basis.
However, the consensus you’re seeing here is that getting drunk enough to be seriously hung over on a work day (so hung over that you’re unable to work) is a “mistake” that’s somewhat bigger than an “oopsie” moment. It’s a sign of poor judgement, immaturity, and / or not taking your adult responsibilities seriously. (And, if it’s not a one-off event, it may also be a sign that the person has a drinking problem.)
Now, certainly, there are “mistakes” that would be signs of even poorer judgement – like getting in your car and driving home after having those drinks. But, what you’re seeing is a consensus that it’s a non-trivial mistake.
I once had an employee call me at 6 am to call off. Fine. She should have called the manager, who deals with that kind of stuff (it’s what she’s paid to do), but oh well.
She went on to explain to me that she couldn’t work because of an especially heavy menstrual flow. I heard a graphic, detailed description of her current difficulty, a synopsis of her previous menstrual problems, along with other related pathology (also of a gynecological nature). I had to reach down and lift my lower jaw back up into position.
No it is not a “mistake” it is a choice. You made the choice to have a hangover when you started and kept drinking. A mistake is when something you didn’t intend to do happens.
We’ve had friends drop by on ultrashort notice to tell us great news and celebrate a bit. Didn’t intend to get trashed, but couldn’t ignore a friend’s situation.
I’ve never called off due to a hangover, but I’ve taken my coffee breaks kneeling in front of the porcelain goddess many a time. Still do my job, though.
It’s also enabling the person’s behavior. If he knows someone will cover for him, he’ll think nothing of skipping work the next time he gets drunk, too, and not accepting the responsibility for his choices.
If there’s the slightest chance you’re contagious, I don’t want you working around me so I don’t need much convincing that you need a day off. Even though hangovers aren’t catchy, why take the risk?