[AAAAA]

An employee was hedging around Saturday saying she was sick. She went to the doctor (supposively) Saturday afternoon/evening. She called to say that she was unable to come into work on Sunday because she has whooping cough.

Sunday was horrible, the time change made people late for work, we had several call ins, along with three new people. Being short handed with three trainees is not fun. The computers did not like the time change, everything froze up, IT had to get involved, it was just a really rough day.

Imagine my surprise when she showed up for work today as if nothing had happened. Since she did not tell me specifically she had whopping cough, and she is not directly in my department I chalked it up to the rumor mill. I did say she picked a good day to stay home, Sunday was horrible. At that point she directly told me she had whooping cough! WHAT? Then what are you doing here? There is a five day quarantine for whooping cough (I thought it was 72 hours, but I've done some research and the co-worker that mentioned 5 days seems to be correct).

Turns out she returned to work on Monday! Does she really have whooping cough? Would a doctor really be that careless? One of my peers is freaking out. Her daughter recently gave birth to a baby with birth defects. The young family moved in with her for support while the infant is undergoing surgery to correct those defects. The baby is only a few months old, and has just had his second surgery. She cannot bring this home to her grandson!

I don't think she was really diagnosed with this, I think it was just a way to say "I was so sick, I really couldn't come into work." But why would you lie about something like this?

[Travelinglady]

Why? Because she wanted to come up with an excuse that would sound good for laying out of work! Whooping cough? That's a stretch!

[Maus5321]

Originally Posted by PAYNE1

Why? Because she wanted to come up with an excuse that would sound good for laying out of work! Whooping cough? That's a stretch!

Not to get her in trouble. But I would mention that to a higher up or something...but honestly only children get whooping cough mostly...Is she around kids all the time where she could have gotten it? Whooping cough mostly floats around schools.

[AAAAA]

Whooping cough is going around here. A third shift employee of our business has had a confirmed case. There is a possibility that she actually does have it. It's frustrating not knowing if she's lying about having the illness or if she's lying about what the illness was. I'm sick isn't enough? You have to generate sympathy and panic? At least half of the employees have small children in their home.

Her supervisor was off yesterday and today. Hippa laws being what they are, I don't know if she'll be able to do anything about it either. She said she went to the Dr. Saturday, he gave her meds and allowed her to return to work on Monday. That's not the proceedure for whooping cough. The thing that is so frustrating is not knowing, and being manipulated.

[Pikku Myy]

I also dislike liers Could never do this to myself or others I just would get caught immediately had your coworker asked for a day off... because this person needed a day off.... at least you and the other staff would have been prepared Hugs

[AAAAA]

The confirmed case from the third shift co-worker (aged 26) has been tracked to the day care that her daughter was attending.

All of upper management is at an out of town conference and will not return for another week. I did email her immediate supervisor and let her know what was going on so that when she returns tomorrow she can research it. I don't know if she can do anything either way. I suspect that she claimed to have whooping cough so that her absence would go undisputed, but what was her end game? This is not a 24 hour bug.

As I said, my peer from another department asked her flat out (illegally I might add ) if she had this. My peer told her flat out she could not risk bringing this home to her 3 month old grandson recovering from surgery. If she did in fact have this illness, my peer would have to make arrangments to stay outside her home. She stated that the doctor is treating her for whopping cough but told her she could return to work Monday if she felt up to it. That sounds pretty shady. I felt compelled to interject that there is a quarantine period (which I thought was 72 hours and have since learned it is 5 days), that no reputable doctor would send her back into the public while contagious. To be on the safe side, I let my daughter know that she cannot bring my granddaughter over for a while. She was a premie, and had a respiratory thing. She's 3 now. According to the Dr. she's outgrown it, but every single cold results in an ER visit.

[CastlesInTheAir]

So maybe she isn't lying

Doctors will send people back to work with strep throat, flu, etc......unless you ask for a note for a day or two.....

I dont see whooping cough as something that is common so logically I dont really see your co-worker using that to get out of work as opposed to flu, pneumonia, etc.

Does she have a history of calling out often with stuff like this or is this a rare occurance for her?

[AAAAA]

She calls in all of the time. I believe she pulled whooping cough out of the air (I think) because of our reaction to the other woman's situation. Perhaps she wanted to tap into that sympathy. I would like to say that she has enough common sense not to return to work putting so many people at risk, but she really doesn't. It's all about her. Ever hear the story of the boy who called wolf? That's her. She doesn't have a cold, she has lung cancer (well that's an exaggeration but you get the point).

[Sabrina]

Did the Doctor provide her with a sick certificate that stated Whooping Cough?

[jadzea]

I worked in management for a long time and have heard some of the most outlandish excuses for missing work. I learned to call people's bluff without calling them liars. Can you tell her she cannot work until she brings in a doctor's note saying she is not contagious? Do you have an employee health program where you can send her to a doctor for clearance to work? The least you can do is tell her you need a note from the doctor confirming her visit on Saturday. There probably isn't much you can do if she does not grant your request but at least you have let her know you know she is not telling you the truth.

[AAAAA]

A note was provided from a doctor. It simply stated that she was seen on Saturday and could return to work on Monday.