How to Call In Sick Without Jeopardizing Your Job

How to call in sick
Don’t feel guilty if you decide to stay home. If you’re miserable, you’ll be doing your boss, coworkers, and yourself a favor by skipping an unproductive, germ-spreading day in the workplace.

Plus, you’re probably not using all your allotted sick days anyway. According to a 2007 report by Mercer Human Resources Consulting, the average employee took about five sick days in 2006, even though most companies offered eight or nine, on average.

If you're worried that your boss or coworkers will think you're faking, here's what to do:

• Speak with a boss or supervisor on the phone—don’t send an email—as early in the day as possible.
• Make sure to apologize for the inconvenience.
• Keep the call short and to the point; your manager doesn't need to know all the gory details.
• Don’t resort to fake coughs or talking while bent over the toilet; there’s no need to oversell it.
• Keep in mind that the more often you're absent on Mondays and Fridays, the more suspicious it will seem.

The fakers
Regardless of how conscientious you are, be prepared for a healthy dose of skepticism from your manager. He or she has probably heard every excuse in the book. One-third of workers have taken a day off when they weren't really sick, according to a survey of more than 6,800 employees conducted by CareerBuilder.com.

And the survey showed there's some lame excuses out there: "I donated too much blood." "My psychic said I should stay home." "A soda can fell out of the fridge and injured my toe."

Of the surveyed workers asked to explain their excuse for playing hooky, 30% said they simply needed to relax, 22% wanted to catch up on sleep, 14% wanted to take care of some personal errands, and 9% wanted to miss a meeting or finagle some extra time for an overdue project. A good chunk of them—34%—just didn’t feel like going in.

Most of the time, your manager probably won't ask about the details. Of the 3,300 employers in the survey, the majority didn’t question why an employee was out for the day. However, 31% said they have checked up on employees who called in sick.

To avoid getting caught in a job-jeopardizing lie, your best bet is to call in sick only when you are truly ill; avoid lame excuses if you're not. If your psychic tells you to stay home, best not share that tidbit with your boss.