Bosses outraged at union's World Cup 'sickie' advice

 

 

Will you be tempted to a pull a sickie?

 

 

Major employers have condemned a move by one of the country's buggest unions to offer its members advice on the risks of taking a sick day - or 'sickie' - to watch World Cup matches.

 

 

 

"So you want to watch the World Cup, but you are meant to be at work when it's on," reads guidance on the website of Amicus, one of Britain's largest trade unions.

"Can you play away or is the risk of permanent relegation from your job too high?"

The answer, according to the union's advice, is: "It is quite difficult to prove that someone is not really sick if they have one day off."

It suggests staff should not push their luck: "If you have a few days off which happen to be match days, your employer may well notice a pattern to your sickness."

Taking time off without permission can lead to dismissal on the spot for "gross misconduct", it warns.

But it said staff could argue that their unauthorised absence was "simply a form of misconduct which should be viewed in the light of your work record."

Stephen Alambritis of the Federation of Small Businesses told BBC radio the union should remove the advice from its site.

"It's grossly unfair also on staff who are not football fans when they see a union advising their other colleagues to take a sickie, so it's grossly unfair on all staff in the workplace.

Georgina Hirsh, director of legal services at Amicus, denied the union was encouraging employees to feign illness. "Unions exist to help advise people about issues at work and I'm afraid the reality is lots of people do take sickies, whether it's for the World Cup or not," she told the BBC.

:lol: *raises hand* GUILTY!!!!

:lol: *raises hand* GUILTY!!!!

 

You've pulled a "sickie" for some of the matches?:stunned:

How many times so far??:thinking:

well today will be my first official game I pulled a sickie for.... I also unintentionally pulled a sickie for a pre-world cup game about 3 weeks ago hehehehe

^How can you "unintentionally" pull a sickie?:confused:

I called out.. but I hadn't realized the game was on.. so it was a nice surprise... :P

I called out.. but I hadn't realized the game was on.. so it was a nice surprise... :P

 

"Called OUT"??:confused:

:stunned:

I should be at work right now :uhoh:

 

Oh fuck it, I wanna see who's gonna win :lol:

"Called OUT"??:confused:

 

 

uh yeah... called out sick... :rolleyes: :P

:stunned:

 

:wink3: I reconsidered...

uh yeah... called out sick... :rolleyes: :P

 

Is that the American equivalent of "called IN sick", then?:thinking:

yes... I suppose.. then again, no one her says 'sickie' either... lol

yes... I suppose.. then again' date=' no one her says 'sickie' either... lol[/quote']

 

Maybe - but "calling OUT" normally denotes shouting rather than informing.

no that would be shout out... :P

haha seeing as im in school and have no job, i can watch these games comfortably.

 

this is the ONLY reason that i'm glad that i have no job. :dozey:

Its the employers fault

 

We had big screen in work when Ireland was in the last world cup and watched them in the canteen

 

Its only 90 mins

 

Better to get 6.5 hours out of everybody than 0

 

Martin

^ that would be soooooo cool!! See... this is what I am talking about.... Americans don't have a sport like this... I'd say probably the only game people gather up like this in one place is the Super Bowl.. but thats on a Sunday!!! lol

^ that would be soooooo cool!! See... this is what I am talking about.... Americans don't have a sport like this... I'd say probably the only game people gather up like this in one place is the Super Bowl.. but thats on a Sunday!!! lol

 

And it's excruciatingly boring!!:P

It should be renamed the "SuperBORE"!!:P

I don't have a problem with it this year, but I was ill pretty often during the World Cup four years ago, and I wasn't the only one.

I don't have a problem with it this year' date=' but I was ill pretty often during the World Cup four years ago, and I wasn't the only one.[/quote']

 

Really ill - or pretend ill??:thinking:

Really ill - or pretend ill??:thinking:

 

pretending to be ill of course

pretending to be ill of course

 

So how many times were you "ill", and how many different excuses did you have to think of?

So how many times were you "ill"' date=' and how many different excuses did you have to think of?[/quote']

 

I didn't have to think of many excuses because you can be ill more than just one day... so just two excuses.

 

It didn't really matter anyway because this was before we had our exams, so we didn't do much at school anyway.

I didn't have to think of many excuses because you can be ill more than just one day... so just two excuses.

 

It didn't really matter anyway because this was before we had our exams, so we didn't do much at school anyway.

 

So how many days did you have to do it?