In a recent Reddit post on the r/AmItheA-hole thread titled, “AITA for not “communicating” with my employer,” user u/The_Ghost_Dragon, asked the forum if they were wrong for not showing up at work after they had already called in sick. They go on to explain that a medical condition required them to take some time off work to get follow up blood tests ordered by their doctor.  They didn’t think they would be able to make it to work after the tests, because of the distance between where they would need to go get tested and where they worked.  When a supervisor asked would they be coming in to work after the test, they responded it’s not likely that I will come in, yet they were written up at work the next day for a no call no show.  In the Reddit forum they explain:  

“Last week I got a call that my recent blood work showed some concerning things. They wanted me to come to Big City the next day for more testing. I was at work when I got the call, so I let my manager know what was going on but told her that if she couldn’t find anyone to cover my shift, to please let me know and I would try to reschedule my appointment.

It’s important to note that my work requires a minimum of 3 hours before your shift to call out.

Later that evening, my manager lets me know that she found someone to cover half of my shift. She asked if I could be back by 6 the next day I told her that I highly doubt it, but that in the event I was back in time, that I would come to work, but it was unlikely that I would be back in time. She said ok, hopefully I was back, but if not they’d make it work.

I go to my appointment, get sent to 2 more labs to do testing, go home to take the dog for a walk, and go back out to do a glucose test. I get home for good around 8:30ish, but I’m exhausted at this point, and I feel sick from the glucose test, so I vomit and then go to bed with a raging headache. I was honestly in no state to work around food and people, or I would have gone in.

I go in to work the next day only to be informed that I’m being written up because of a “no call no show” the day before. I’m confused, I tell my GM that I told everyone I likely wouldn’t be back in time, but he says that wasn’t good communication and that I should have just said a firm “no I won’t be there”. He said they tried to call me the night before (at 6, when I was still in the back of the lab without my phone) and because I didn’t answer, they didn’t know for sure that I wasn’t coming. My phone had died by the time I got home and I didn’t think anything about charging it to see if I had gotten any missed calls, I was more concerned with my stupid headache.

This is the first time this has happened and I’m confused. I was just trying to be honest with them about what was going on, but somewhere along the line I screwed up. Now all managers except the one I originally talked to are being shitty with me. Was my communication really that awful? I know I screwed up, but at the same time it also seems like they should have prepared better since I said I likely wouldn’t be back in time.”

At the time of this writing the post only had 8 upvotes and 22 comments, but this is a common situation of miscommunication with a supervisor at work.  Most commenters agreed that the employee was not the A-hole.  In fact, some of of the commenters thought that the supervisor was the A-hole.  Commenter, girlandagun said, “Your employers are being huge assholes.” Commenter  Admirable_Frog_3748 agreed saying, “You told them it was unlikely you’d be back. Anyone with half sense would realize they needed to plan for you not being there.”

Other commenters offered solutions for the next time something like this happens. Commenter shadow-fox suggested, “Next time just tell them I can’t be in for next shift. It’s on THEM to get it covered. Don’t offer to try and get back in time or otherwise they will pull this stunt again. Obviously if they couldn’t contact you then KNEW you weren’t on your way in.”  Another commenter, koliolik, offered even more detailed advice on how to deal with miscommunication in the workplace. They suggested, “If you’ve got a union at your job, start looking into signing up for it if you’re not already. Document everything – your previous schedule for at least a month, take screenshots of texts, if you’re in a one-party recording state, start recording conversations with management, etc. If they start cutting your hours or talking shit, you can use anything you’ve gathered to prove either a hostile working environment or even wrongful termination of it goes that far.”

Most commenters agreed that this person was not the A-hole, but commenter This_Grab_452, thought that they may slightly be the A-hole saying, “I likely won’t make it” is something you say to an invitation to a group hangout, not to your employer.” The_Ghost_Dragon agreed saying they felt that way themself and regretted how they had phrased saying they wouldn’t come in to work because it sounded so informal.

This could easily happen to anyone. Do you think they were too informal and should have phrased it differently or do you think they said enough when they called and said it wasn’t likely they would come in to work? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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