Each month we feature a question from our friends at Business Management Daily’s Admin Pro Forum. Please enjoy engaging in a conversation over this month’s question.
Question: “Once or twice a year, I wake up and just really, really don’t feel like going to work. But it feels like the system is set up to make us lie about our absences if they’re not illness-related or scheduled well in advance. Does anyone work in a place where you feel free to tell your boss, ‘Not today, sorry, it’s been rough recently and I need a mental health break?’ How often do other admins escape for a day, and do they feel the need to be less than honest about it?” – Jane, Departmental Aide
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My manager knows I need a mental health day (vacation), about once every 30 days and I try to schedule them a few days in advance, usually running into the weekend. I’ve never called in an unscheduled mental health day, but don’t think it would be an issue as my manager knows I wouldn’t do it unless it was manageable for the rest of the team.
Yes! Not only where I work, but the person I work for (very important) makes it easy to simply call and say, ‘I’m taking an annual leave day today’, without having to give any explanation or details. As a matter of fact, I really don’t have to call my supervisor, she has requested that we (her team) simply send her a text message. Next day, there’s no inquiry or need for documentation.
I think taking a mental health day is important and necessary when needed. We should not be made to feel guilty since this will help you be more energetic the day you return. If the company makes you give reasons, then make something up because your health (physical or mental) are most important.
Our workplace provides six Personal Leave days annually to use at our discretion in addition to vacation. These can be used for sick days or just a “looks like good golfing weather” day. So yes, we are permitted to wake up one morning and call in “well,” or we can schedule a well day. I do use these days as such; however, I make sure I have evaluated my workload and my executive’s schedule to minimize the impact. I recommend being open and honest with your executive so you never have to worry about your memory failing you or your reputation being tarnished, if you were found to be less than honest.
Wow, what an intriguing question. I’ve been working full time as an admin for about 35 years and I can honestly say it’s never occurred to me one morning to just not go in because I didn’t feel like it. Maybe it’s my generation or my family’s work ethic, but I’ve never even considered the option unless I was sick, the weather was awful, or I had some kind of crisis. If I did wake up one day and I decided I didn’t want to face a day of work, I could take a last-minute vacation day as long as I wasn’t missing anything critical that day. I understand it’s better to plan those ahead of time. My company also offers two “floating holidays” that we can take anytime we want – I suppose mental health would be a good reason to use on of those. I know I’d never call in sick if I wasn’t sick. Ever.
Lynda! You and I are on the same page on this one! I’ve worked in this field for 34 years and unless it’s a medical/family emergency I’ve always scheduled days off ahead of time. It is my job to be at work whether I feel like it or not. We have all gotten up and not felt like going in to work at some point in time. Mentally breaks are important but you also work for a company that needs you to be there too. The one and ONLY time I called in when I wasn’t really sick was on 9-11-2001. I’ve never done that again.
Absolutely. In fact, I just took one of these days about two months ago. And because of the relationship I have with my boss and my preference in being straightforward and honest, I told him it was a mental health day I was taking. As long as you don’t abuse these type of days and end up having a shortage of paid days when you really need them for genuine sick reasons, I think it’s perfectly normal to need a day like this now and then. Honestly, I wish someone that could enact a change like this would start a serious conversation on moving America’s business workforce to a four-day workweek where it could be feasibly done. Obviously some operations could probably not sustain this, but there’s enough evidence out there to prove this would have very positive consequences on productivity and employee engagement, not to mention higher tax bases because people would have one more ‘weekend’ day to shop, eat out, buy supplies, etc.
Yes, all our staff are given 3 personal days per year. These are for whatever you want them to be like just not feeling like working today or just have a lot happening in our personal lives at the moment. We are not required to say why we are away, just that we are taking a personal day. They do expire at the end of the year and do not carry over to the next year, but I know most staff use them.
I would never do that – call in at the last minute to say I’m not coming in. And I wouldn’t call in sick if I’m not sick (I just wouldn’t). To me it’s a commitment like any other – if I say I’m going to be there I will be there. If it really came down to it, I would come in & ask for the next day off.
I’ve had different answers at different times of my career. There have been times when I felt comfortable enough with the culture and environment at work and with my level of connection with my manager that I could say I need a well day. There have been other times that the culture was very distrustful and leadership did not value balancing work and life, and those times I did not feel comfortable being honest about just needing a day off.
I think the correct thing to do IS call in on sick days and plan ahead for personal, it only leaves the office unprepared and short staffed. but if fo rsome reason I DO feel the need to out of the blue take a personal/I need a break today right now day-my employer is awesome and wouldn’t have a problem with it-as long as it isn’t a every other day, week or month thing…be responsible, think responsible, take your fellow employees in to consideration when doing this though!!
I have never done this. I have other staff in my department that have done it and are less than honest about it to their supervisor. I very seldom take a sick day or even a full week of vacation because I know what a train wreck I will be coming back to if I miss work. Our department went from four admins to just me and it keeps me scrambling daily.
I think it is essential for your health and well being so I am comfortable calling it a sick day. I do not go anywhere that day unless it is a brief jaunt out for something essential.
My comfort level is totally determined by what is on my directors’ calendars. I am very comfortable calling in sick but I would not characterize a mental health day as a mental health day. I feel more comfortable just calling it a sick day. One of my New Year resolutions is to actually use this sick time, because I don’t get sick very often and it accumulates far faster than my vacation time.
Yes!
Yes, I need and will take 1-2 mental health days a year. Yes, I am honest about it with my boss. The best part? My boss encourages me to take mental health days when needed.
I don’t think it is good to ever lie. I simply ask my boss if they don’t mind if I take the day off. They have been very supportive of that. I haven’t done it very often and there wasn’t anything critical that needed to be handled.