Is this really fair or should I file a complaint?

Question

I go to a massage therapy trade school. We have a student clinic which functions as our internship and we sign up for hours to come in and work. So far, I've never missed a day and I hardly ever miss class. I have a high GPA and I get more requests in the clinic than a lot of other students. The school makes a lot of money off of us working, we only earn tips which are usually no more than $5 for an hours work.

Today I woke up with a fever and a cold. I feel terrible and I called the school to tell them I wasn't going to make it today. I was half asleep when I called and the receptionist could hardly understand me when I said my name because I sounded so sick.

I got a call back a little while later from a school administrator, telling me that I needed to try and find someone to cover my intern shift. My class was in the building and wasn't supposed to even have their phones with them, but I texted almost everyone asking if they could come and cover for me, I couldn't find anyone.

So later I called back the administrator to tell her that I couldn't find a replacement, but that there were at least 6 other students working in the clinic that day. (That's a lot and I've never seen it book up with 6 people working- they will probably be sitting around studying). She told me it didn't matter how many students were working, just that I had been requested by clients and it was unprofessional for me to not come in when I was scheduled.

I really don't think this is fair. I also work as a receptionist at a massage business and when a therapist calls in sick, I find them a replacement and I call any clients who requested them and ask if they'd like to reschedule and most of the time the clients are just fine with working with someone else and ask me to tell the therapist to feel better soon.

I didn't know I was going to be this sick today, I felt off yesterday, but not so much that I thought I would need to miss class and my hours for today. I only realized how sick I was this morning and I called to let the school know as soon as I could.

Also, I'm bothered most by this because the administrator who was trying to convince me she was "teaching me a valuable lesson" started to make me angry and I got a little short with her, but I'm also getting 2 unexcused absences because I don't have a doctors note. I can't afford to go to the doctor, and why should I? I have a cold and there's nothing they can really do for me anyway.

What should I do about these absences and the rudeness I really don't deserve?

Answer 1

any future boss will tell you the exact same thing..... welcome to adulthood.



seems that you want to put all the blame on other people..... you are responsible for having someone cover your shift, and you could not complete that task, you did not have a doctors note to even prove you were sick (which is probably WHY they wanted it since you were fine the day before) so yes you SHOULD go to the doctor... there are reasons for asking for a doctor note..



what you should do about these absences and rudeness is to simply forget it you technically were in the wrong here and they have the right to give you the absences since they WERE unexcused.



edit: yes it is fair for them to call you unprofessional... im sorry to say but by not being able to call someone to cover for you, by copping an attitude (which you admit yourself) and by not having an excusable reason to not be there (by not having a doctors note) yes you were being unprofessional. your work history doesnt matter, it just takes ONE time for you to screw up..

Answer 2

You only have cause for complaint if other students are being treated more favorably under these same circumstances and you believe they are holding you to a different set of standards. It is not uncommon for businesses to have policies making staff who are unable to work, for any reason, responsible for finding a substitute. It's not that they don't sympathize with your illness -- we all get sick -- but they have a business to run. Being short one person may not be a huge deal but without these rules they would likely have frequent staffing shortages because people would abuse more lenient policies.



The same goes for the unexcused absences. Again I am sure she understands that you are sick and respects your reasoning for not going to the doctor, but an absence without a documented excuse is, by definition, "unexcused."



I would say you have, in fact, learned three very valuable lessons here. First, life isn't always fair. Sometimes we are faced with no-win situations and must decide which option sucks the least. In your case, do you go to the doctor and spend money you can't afford, or do you accept the unexcused absences? Second, people are not always nice. My guess is that being nice and telling students what they want to hear is not in this woman's job description. Unless she called you names or was in some other way highly unprofessional toward you then I doubt her superiors would even bat an eyelash about her conduct toward you. If you are like most people, you will have bosses, customers and complete strangers at some points in your life treat you like complete sh*t and there will be nothing you can do about it. Third and final lesson is that you must learn to pick and choose your battles. If I were you, I would focus on getting better and moving on to your next challenge.



Not trying to be harsh. I've been through all these same experiences and am just sharing the lessons I've learned.



Best of luck.



EDIT: My guess is that she offended you on purpose. She is betting that you will think twice about not covering your shift the next time you're sick, knowing that you will have to speak to her again and endure being called unprofessional.

Answer 3

The town is liable since they made the hearth warring parties perform the parade. As you mentioned they have been instructed to my their Superior. They have been naturally collaborating within the parade and no longer supplying any kind of detailed obligation, once more making town liable. They have been proper in following the order given to them. If they volunteered to paintings a few detailed obligation they usually acquired harasses, that used to be their determination to paintings it and town could no longer be liable at that factor. I believe their lawsuit. As for the opposite posters who say town isn't liable, however the ones who have been taunting the hearth warring parties, you're mistaken. The firefighters didn't volunteer to be within the parade, they have been instructed to do it by means of a manager. The order given isn't illegal, so that they had to conform. Now, in the event that they CHOSE to be within the parade, then th town could no longer be liable for the harassment. Also, consider approximately this. A cop will get right into a automobile pursuit with one other automobile. The different automobile chooses to not quit at a quit signal and runs the intersection, hitting and killing one other motorist. Why does the sufferers loved ones sue the police division and no longer the driving force? It's no longer the police departments fault the driving force made up our minds to run from the police and no longer quit, why are the police officers being sued?