I work at the mall too (Macys), and we just call out whenever we want as long as it’s not abused, of course. That whole mall in particular is kind of unorganized lol. It’s actually fun working there because it’s so relaxed.

Jobs that give you personal days and sick days. Like working for “The Town,” or if you’re in a union.

@Blackberry: I wonder if that’s because Macy’s is so much bigger than my store. Often, there will be only two or three people working at a time so if one person calls out, it’s the equivalent of a third or half of the staff calling out.

Jobs with benefits—mostly white collar and blue collar. Except entrepreneurs who are always on the job, even when dying in the ER.

“Calling out” is another way of saying you’re using one of your sick days or vacation days. Most jobs that offer benefits will have these options.

I think mostly white collar is right. If you’re in retail, you’re always on the front lines and it’s hard to miss a day. When I managed a bank lending department I let my lenders know they could set their own schedules as long as the work got done. They were amazing in the work they produced on their own schedules.

I can burn sick/vacation time whenever I want/need to, though if abused I could get in trouble. However, I have taken unpaid time because I was hungover or just didn’t feel like going in as well. Just not very often; those who have a habit of doing so will get changed from nearly any job except for those who are self-employed. In manufacturing, there is no need to cover (usually) though being understaffed screws up the day for everyone else.

You should be able to call in sick whenever you are sick.

For many years I worked for a large company as an engineer. We had unlimited sick days. BUT, we unless we were grossly infectious or dying, we would not take the time off. It was simply not professional or fair to our coworkers.
One guy’s teenage son was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer and was given months to live. We approached management and offered to donate our vacation time to the guy so he could spend the time with his son. Management refused. Instead they granted the guy time off, with full pay, indefinitely. His son died two month later.
The company gained quite a few loyal employees in the process.

I wish I could call out from my job, but my 13 month old absolutely refuses to take care of himself. (Just kidding.) Most of my past jobs ranging from part-time pharmacy tech to full-time Financial Counselor, I could call out sick; however, I only used it when I or my children were sick because otherwise I would have felt too guilty.

Small retail stores are a whole different animal. My first job was in a Hallmark store, and it was the same deal… only 2 employees were generally on at any given time, so you had to get someone to cover for you. However, when I got hit by a car, I didn’t have much of an opportunity to do that. In emergency cases like that, the store manager(s) or owner(s) have to come in to cover the shift(s).

Every other job I’ve ever had (other than mommy) allowed for sick days as a routine thing. The one day delay on non-critical work didn’t really have a negative impact, so no big deal. We had backup people who could perform our jobs in a pinch if it was, say, payday and I wasn’t there to pay people. Or, you’d just go in and perform your critical task and then go home.

Size definately makes a difference. Also,I was thinking back to my youth and there was one job you never could call out on: dairy farmer. Those cows never allowed a sick day. yuck

In my experiences, no place particularly enjoys a person “calling out”. Rightfully so, it’s like calling your date up an hour before and saying “Ah, don’t feel well… maybe tomorrow?”. Everywhere is going to have a different policy on when and when not you may call out without any infractions.

office jobs where you dont deal w customers. but if you have deadlines its going to fall to others to do yr work & they will resent if you take advantage.

is the expression ‘call out’ now? never heard that befor. it was always ‘call in sick’ where i livd on both coasts – but people didnt do it just for ‘not feeling like’ workg—i dont comprehend that atitud. peopl honestly feel entitled to shrug off a profesional comitment if thyre not in the mood?? what do they think if they go to dentist for a toothache & find out dentist didnt want to leave his video game right then?

someone who abuses sick leave should expect a bad performance review & be at the top of the cut list at layoff time.

@Jeruba I’d always heard “call in sick”, too, until a friend from the midwest used “call out” and “call off”. I thought it must be a regional thing, but maybe not.

I think a lot of people call off sick for a “mental health day” every once in a while. As @Jeruba said, if it’s abused there’s going to be trouble… one way or another.

Most restaurants don’t care if the cooks or wait staff call in as long as the cook/wait staff can talk a fellow employee into trading shifts with you or working your shift if it doesn’t put the employee replacement over 40 hours. You can also call out or leave early from a lot of residential construction jobs as long as you make up the missed days or hours by working 10, 12, or longer hours instead of 8 or working saturday or sunday to make up a missed day.