I call in sick about once every 2 weeks (mental health, right?), but I only took 8 hours of sick leave (PTO) last year. You know why? Because I work from home on my sick days. My boss won't even approve PTO for me because I get so many emails, IMs, and phone calls. I feel guilty not working because my employer has created a culture of “we are understaffed”. I take so many sick days because I don't legitimately get one. I have almost 50 hours of PTO (Let's not get into my unused vacation).
I had covid last May, really bad, and my boss called me so many times. I didn't answer, but I did attend all the meetings and actually work through the entire time I was sick. He told me that if I just drank enough coffee I'd be fine. That wasn't the only time he said that, but… saying it when someone is suffering from covid is really bad.
So this week I legit have the flu. 101.6 fever, body aches to bad it's miserable just sitting or laying down. Then it turns into a stomach flu. I took 2.5 days off and worked THE ENTIRE TIME. I worked even more than if I went into the office.
So now I'm feeling fine and my boss is expecting me to come into the office tomorrow. But I'm so mad that I had to work when I had the flu. I know part of it is me not saying no, but there's this horrible guilt I feel for calling in sick or going on vacation that my company has ingrained in me. I spent part of my day today, while sick, revising my resume and looking for a new job. I'm so done. I don't want to go to work tomorrow. I was robbed of recovering from my illness and I want to rob them of my presence tomorrow.