How ill do you have to be to pull a contractor sickie?

[DaveB]

Turned up for my first day on site at client A with a streaming cold and dosed to the eyballs on cold remedies. Spent most of the first week blowing my nose and chugging lemsips.

Client co. Manager caught it after two days

[FatLazyContractor]

Depends if a few hundred quid for a day in bed seem like good value at the time, or not.

Depends on the context, innit?!

[tarbera]

I've witnessed - fat contractor (not me) stretchered off to hospital in the morning (just passed out at his desk, we thought he was dead, we stole his biscuit tin - and scoffed the lot) imagine our horror when he was back in work in the afternoon to make up his time - saying where is my biscuits !!!

But it gets better

Client had a next of kin contact sheet called his wife, wife turns up at hospital, husband was gone, she could not contact him as he left mobile phone behind on his desk, she is in a panic, drives to client site, she is with HR (they had no idea he was back) he is at his desk looking for chocolate

HR escort her to his desk, to pick up his bag/coat/phone etc

And he is sitting there chopping a twix

I can still hear the slap he got to this day

[SlipTheJab]

I have a long commute in and if not well then its WFH, if really not well then I inform clientco I wont be working, no point taking the p!ss if I honestly feel that I can't justify a days billing as they are pretty good re flexible working and WFH etc.

[suityou01]

Sick?

Never!

[Euler]

To answer the question in the title of the thread:

Dead.

HTH

[pauldee]

With flu, sometimes a sickie at the right time can get you back on your feet and help you avoid getting really ill and having to take three off. Could be worth it in the long run.

[DimPrawn]

Turned up for my first day on site at client A with a streaming cold and dosed to the eyballs on cold remedies. Spent most of the first week blowing my nose and chugging lemsips.

Client co. Manager caught it after two days

If I were a client co manager and some sickly contractor gave me a lurgie, and said lurgie passed onto my family etc, said contractor would have zero chance of a renewal.

Where I work it's made very clear, got a bad cold or even worse the flu, fook off and stay at home, otherwise a team of 20+ costly IT staff are going to be missing deadlines worth 10's of millions in lost business.

[psychocandy]

If I were a client co manager and some sickly contractor gave me a lurgie, and said lurgie passed onto my family etc, said contractor would have zero chance of a renewal.

Where I work it's made very clear, got a bad cold or even worse the flu, fook off and stay at home, otherwise a team of 20+ costly IT staff are going to be missing deadlines worth 10's of millions in lost business.

And said manager could prove it was you how?

Used to work with a guy like this - someone even sneezed or coughed in the office and he'd have a major strop. If he got a cold he was convinced it was someone in the offices fault. Get a life.

I can see what your saying but I've worked places where permies cough once and take a week off and managers are glad the contractors dont pull this one all the time.

[TestMangler]

Once took a half day off for a broken ankle, but that was mostly spent waiting for a car hire company to deliver me an auto so I could drive.