Mental health days are real sick days
Employers can't legally do anything to stop you from taking time off
this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2025
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They have to pay you for sick time if you have sick time available. They can still count it against your attendance and fire you for it, though.
It's bullshit, but it's true.
I have a union job and all I have to do is text my boss "I'm using PTO today." 30 minutes before my shift starts.
My kids have days they can call in just for mental health
I wish I had that
I mean, I run my own business, but still...
I just use sick days for that. Sick doesn't exclusively mean physical health and they're not obligated to know why you're taking time off — although thankfully most of my employers especially ones with younger management understood that sick = mental health too and it wasn't a taboo.
Some jobs do offer mental health days.
That's called sick
Exactly... No need to tell them any more than that.
I did yesterday was just honest said I feel fucking awful combo of therapy and ptsd meds has my head done in and I'm not coming in... there cool with it, mind you om in the uk so we have rites and stuff.
Like five years ago, I was a laborer, and I started having a panic attack in the morning before work. I called my boss who was also my friend.
He was sympathetic and told me to just come in to work anyway. I couldn't move.
Later that year, I quit and went back to school for four years, and now can't find a job.
Why is life like this?
Both my spouse and I paid to have our CVs professionally written, job coaching, and it paid for itself in the first couple of months. Not America though.
Because we've tied all value to capital and the only capital most people start with is their time. Aside from changing the system which I do support, the only thing you can do is play the game the best you can while minimizing the abuse of others.
In 1979, because homosexuality was listed as an illness in Sweden at the time, a few people called into work saying they "felt gay".
One person even got state benefits for being homosexual
As the article points out, that was only a very small part of the overall effort to change the classification, however it's still quite funny to think about.
So "I diagnose you with gay" was a real thing a doctor could legitimately say lmao.
A few times some relatives (English not being their native language), when I was younger, would ask me "are you of the gay?!"
I always use the phrase whenever I can. Just typing it is making me laugh.
Do you not get mental health days?
No
There's plenty days where I'm either burnt the fuck out or feel overwhelmingly constricted by my schedule, as lenient that it is I hate that I have a schedule at all. On those days I'll just sit back and watch a few space/post apocolyptic movies and maybe do a few minutes of work in between them.
I'm able to do that and don't even have to hide it, I tell my boss I'm having a movie day and he usually leaves me alone unless something big pops up. He started doing the same, he's just not as good at it yet.
I've wanted to find a new job for more money for a while, but these kind of benifits aren't listed in job posting and I don't think I'd last anywhere that wasn't as lenient.
as lenient that it is I hate that I have a schedule at all.
I feel this
Also, I'm too well to go into work. We called them "well days"
Most of the days I ignore them because I also have "feeling poor days".
Yes, salary/paid time off is a must for the luxury of well days.
Did someone tell you to "feel worse soon" if you took a well day?
(I say this in jest)
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not to be a dick but everyone has some thing they feel every day, relating that to your job is stupid, even though i know this is a meme but people try to relate to it anyhow so im just thinking...
No you're right. The obvious argument, if there is one, is that you get more allotted sick time. Which generally speaking Americans have shit benefits compared to other countries so I get why it would be a complaint. At the end of the day though 'sad day's would literally just be sick days. If you don't have enough sick days to cover your mental health well then obviously that's an employer related issue.
If you're caught crying outside the break room, that's a writeup. It's how Ash got canned.
In new zealand. You can
In Poland also, 4 times a year. But then everybody assumes, You just got drunk. Which is usually true.
Australia too, they're called mental health days.
I've got a pretty good manager so he's been very understanding when I've had to call of sick due to mental health.
My work, and many others in my area, have well being days. As well as sick days and annual leave.
You can take a well being day at any time for any reason. The main intent is that it's a mental health day essentially. So we can call in sad, but you don't have to say "I'm not coming in cause I'm sad".
My company has recharge days, basically a separate PTO budget you can use at any time for any reason. I use them so I can go to the beach because it's always fucking raining during the weekend in NL.
I definitely do. I just play sick
if you're struggling enough you can't force yourself to go into work, that aint playin sick that's a genuine mental health incident that needs to be treated with time off
managers don't need to know whether the illness is brain chemistry, respiratory, or digestive. nor should they care
if you're struggling enough you can't force yourself to go into work, that aint playin sick that's a genuine mental health incident that needs to be treated with time off
managers don't need to know whether the illness is brain chemistry, respiratory, or digestive. nor should they care
We basically can at my job, but despite our coworker/manager passing away over the weekend it still feels like we're all obligated to show up to our daily zoom check ins because everyone is trying to process and seeing faces every day probably helps. If it weren't for that I'd call in sad for the week.
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I feel like there used to be a time when calling in to work with melancholy was real. Except you didn't call, you sent a little orphan boy with a letter to your boss and then the orphan just did your job for you.
I do. It's called being sick. Just can't do it for 3 days in a row without raising flags. 4 days and you gotta get FMLA stuff filled out.
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