Archived How many call-offs are alright?

[Sufficio]

edit: Sorry, missed the megathread about this stuff.

Hey, so I've been working at Target since September. I typically only work weekends. Unfortunately, I feel like I've had to call off quite often. I always call at least the night before, or earlier if I know I won't be able to make it in. I just had to call off tomorrow because I have an awful cold, but I feel terrible because I feel like they'll be understaffed because of the snow already.

How often is it generally 'okay' to call off? Every time has been a legitimate reason(tooth extraction, a cold, food poisoning, caring for a family member after a car accident) but I feel terrible for calling off so many times. Will they fire me for calling off a certain amount of times? I want to be a loyal team member, but I also don't want to spread illness or have to spend the entire day in the bathroom.

Also, is it better to just go in and see if they send me home instead of calling off? I have no doubt I'd be sent home in the condition I'm in, but I don't know if that would be the better option(not to mention it would cost me tons of gas).

Related to the above question, how would they handle paying me for that partial day?

 

[Kartman]

I'm coming up on two years...

No call offs, so far.

 

[Sufficio]

I'm coming up on two years...

No call offs, so far.

Do you eat 20 oranges a day to keep up that spotless immune system? Teach me your secrets.

 

[Kartman]

Don't touch anything other "Guests" touch.

Wash your hands, frequently.

 

[Kartman]

Wash your hands, frequently.

Did I mention this???

 

[The Dude Abides]

I don't think there is really set amount you can or can not call in. However, unless you have a documented medical issue you shouldn't be calling in very frequently. In my years at Spot I have probably averaged about 3-4 call ins per year.

 

[Sufficio]

Don't touch anything other "Guests" touch.

Wash your hands, frequently.

So don't take their money, don't touch the counter, or any of their items. Gotcha :^)

But for real, I do wash my hands at every opportunity and use hand sanitizer. I think I actually got the cold from my mom.

I don't think there is really set amount you can or can not call in. However, unless you have a documented medical issue you shouldn't be calling in very frequently. In my years at Spot I have probably averaged about 3-4 call ins per year.

I didn't figure there was a set amount, but I've had to call in about once every month or so since I've started. Would it be better just to come in when I'm sick and see what they do in future?
Also, stupid question but what is "Spot"? I see people talk about it here often, but I don't recall what it is.

 

[Kartman]

I remember being ill, back in the early 80's.

It was something like the flu...

It sucked, but I lived.

 

[brizzy93]

I've been at my store since Oct 2014, and I've called out maybe 6 or 7 times. Two of those times were back in Dec 2014 when we had a LOT of snow and there was no way I was going to be able to make it in. I called out one day this past Sept and it sucked because they called me and left a voicemail asking if I would like to extend my shift because they needed people on the floor. But I woke up super sick out of nowhere lol. Slept all day. Almost puked at the smell of food. Achey. It was miserable. Next day, I had to come in (still sick), one of my TLs pulled me into an office to tell me that almost all of HL called out and the holidays were coming so we need to be a team blah blah. He heard my voice and knew I was really sick and that talking to me was just because he had to talk to everyone. I had lost my voice for the full week following my call out too. That was the only time I was ever "talked to."

 

[antivibe]

It depends on your store and how consistent the TL and ETLs are about checking attendance. If I notice a pattern in tardiness or call offs I will coach the TM, but I haven't
had to put anyone on a CCA for it. When I first started as a TL, some of my TMs had 2-3 call offs every month, but the TL before me never talked to them. Shoot we even have a
TM who has called off 65+ times in the past year and I don't think he's had any coachings by their TL - which blew me away.

 

[Xanatos]

Once every few months is borderline. I've seen plenty of dedicated TMs call off once per year or less. They need to be legit reasons. Calling off for a cold is bullshit. I haven't even had a cold in almost 3 years and I attribute it to luck and washing my hands a lot more ever since I got promoted to SBTL.

Or it could be the antihistamines in the sleeping pills I started taking every night... obviously I take them for sleeping, but they have a side effect of eliminating anything that would tell me that I have a cold (sneezing, runny nose, etc.). I could have had tons of colds and not known it, I guess.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Spot will notice your attendance during review time. You may not get a lower score because of it.

 

[Sufficio]

I've been at my store since Oct 2014, and I've called out maybe 6 or 7 times. Two of those times were back in Dec 2014 when we had a LOT of snow and there was no way I was going to be able to make it in. I called out one day this past Sept and it sucked because they called me and left a voicemail asking if I would like to extend my shift because they needed people on the floor. But I woke up super sick out of nowhere lol. Slept all day. Almost puked at the smell of food. Achey. It was miserable. Next day, I had to come in (still sick), one of my TLs pulled me into an office to tell me that almost all of HL called out and the holidays were coming so we need to be a team blah blah. He heard my voice and knew I was really sick and that talking to me was just because he had to talk to everyone. I had lost my voice for the full week following my call out too. That was the only time I was ever "talked to."

I guess in future I'll just need to go in and see if they send me home then. If not, whatever, I get paid. If they do, then at least I tried.

It depends on your store and how consistent the TL and ETLs are about checking attendance. If I notice a pattern in tardiness or call offs I will coach the TM, but I haven't
had to put anyone on a CCA for it. When I first started as a TL, some of my TMs had 2-3 call offs every month, but the TL before me never talked to them. Shoot we even have a
TM who has called off 65+ times in the past year and I don't think he's had any coachings by their TL - which blew me away.

Good to know, thanks. I'm not sure how my store is for checking attendance, but I do know a fair amount of people tend to call off often(we had a day where 5 cashiers called off and we only had like 4-5 to last for the whole day. I heard that day was terrible).

Once every few months is borderline. I've seen plenty of dedicated TMs call off once per year or less. They need to be legit reasons. Calling off for a cold is bullshit. I haven't even had a cold in almost 3 years and I attribute it to luck and washing my hands a lot more ever since I got promoted to SBTL.

Or it could be the antihistamines in the sleeping pills I started taking every night... obviously I take them for sleeping, but they have a side effect of eliminating anything that would tell me that I have a cold (sneezing, runny nose, etc.). I could have had tons of colds and not known it, I guess.

I don't see how calling off for a cold is bullshit? My voice is gone, I'm hacking up giant balls of mucus every few minutes, my nose is like a damn faucet, and I'm running a nonstop fever. How exactly am I supposed to work through that without stopping every minute to spit out mucus or blow my nose(which would be gross as hell- I wouldn't want a cashier getting mucus all over themselves and then touching my shit).
Believe me, if it was just a little bit of a runny nose and a headache, I'd be in.

Spot will notice your attendance during review time. You may not get a lower score because of it.

I asked earlier but I have no idea what "Spot" is. People talk about it like it's an omnipotent being.

 

[Produce Queen]

Spot is Target

 

[soyaxo]

If they are legitimate reasons, and it sounds like they are, (ASANTS) my store would not fire you. We have many people with things they deal with outside of work and if someone is able to come in and cover the shift, then it isn't a bad deal. I've not called out yet, but I've also not been at Spot long. On the other side, we had a guy call out and every time, he would say something like "My friend is in the hospital" and then go out and drink. He also did this during shifts to leave early if he didn't like his workload and wanted to dump it on someone else. After HR found out, he was gone, thankfully. We had another team member NCNS and never show up again for weeks and then show up for a shift saying "Oh, I'm sorry I thought I did call". Silly things like that, at my store, would be pretty valid reasons for someone to be let go. Being sick, having appointments, and genuinely taking care of someone in the hospital (not just using that as an excuse like example A did) should not be any problem. It really depends on the situation, though.

 

[Sufficio]

Spot is Target

So it's just another name then? Weird, I thought it was some kind of automated thing that judges performance. Thanks.

If they are legitimate reasons, and it sounds like they are, (ASANTS) my store would not fire you. We have many people with things they deal with outside of work and if someone is able to come in and cover the shift, then it isn't a bad deal. I've not called out yet, but I've also not been at Spot long. On the other side, we had a guy call out and every time, he would say something like "My friend is in the hospital" and then go out and drink. He also did this during shifts to leave early if he didn't like his workload and wanted to dump it on someone else. After HR found out, he was gone, thankfully. We had another team member NCNS and never show up again for weeks and then show up for a shift saying "Oh, I'm sorry I thought I did call". Silly things like that, at my store, would be pretty valid reasons for someone to be let go. Being sick, having appointments, and genuinely taking care of someone in the hospital (not just using that as an excuse like example A did) should not be any problem. It really depends on the situation, though.

I hope my store is like that. Also, those people sound absolutely ridiculous. Geez.

 

[Sacramento]

I was working Guest Service with our HR person on the next register when she received a call out phone call. I could see from her face the inconvenience this caused her. I told her if I were to be a no-show, it would be because I died. I worked last week unable to speak and feeling wiped out from my cold, but showed up, on time, each day. I'm 62 and "Old School".

 

[Kartman]

Or buy a bike.

 

[semantics]

Spot will notice your attendance during review time. You may not get a lower score because of it.

Oh no my 30 cents which will be bumped up more no matter what due to year end bump from seasonal! <-Any TM at my store who's been working more than 2 years knows this. Real reason to show up and work hard is to get the hours outside of BTS and Seasonal.

Once about every 3 months is pretty much negligible if you work really hard and get recognition often calling off more slides at my store, you wont be liked by management but you're too useful to let go. Once a week gets you fired, once a month just gets you lots of disapproval, this is for logistics, day side gets less slack. It's a job, if you're missing for more than a handful of times during a year your poor attendance will be an issue.

 

[Xanatos]

Oh no my 30 cents which will be bumped up more no matter what due to year end bump from seasonal! <-Any TM at my store who's been working more than 2 years knows this.

Sorry, I think I'm missing something. Can you explain what you're talking about here? It sounds like you're talking about two raises. Or one raise that gets changed.

 

[semantics]

Sorry, I think I'm missing something. Can you explain what you're talking about here? It sounds like you're talking about two raises. Or one raise that gets changed.

Most years at my store there is a review raise but at the end of the year to keep the pay "competitive" there are changes to the base pay of the paygrades which often leads to most TMs getting "raises", retention is hard in a college town so keeping the pay quite a bit above minimum is necessary just because we hire people constantly.

 

[Kartman]

Why isn't there a 'Never' option to this poll?

Surely I'm not the only one here who has never called out... right?

 

[queencat]

I've called off three times- twice because my grandmother died (the day after her death and the day of the funeral) and once because my dog died. My parents were the type to go to work even if they were sick so that's what I do too.

Why isn't there a 'Never' option to this poll?

Surely I'm not the only one here who has never called out... right?

No, but it's unreasonable to expect a TM to NEVER call off. Kids get sick. Friends and family pass away. It happens.

 

[Kartman]

Again I say...

Surely I'm not the only one here who has never called out... right?

 

[commiecorvus]

So it's just another name then? Weird, I thought it was some kind of automated thing that judges performance. Thanks.



I hope my store is like that. Also, those people sound absolutely ridiculous. Geez.

Spot tends to be used in reference to the top side of Target, the corporate folks, management, etc.