today i..

[katie]

... called out to work when i wasn't really sick for the first time EVER. it feels great. back to bed.

i just hope my boss doesn't read this forum.

[Tracy]

It's okay, that's called a "mental health" day. It counts as a sick day. Really, it does.

[roach]

it starts with this. then next thing you know you're calling in drunk.

[sam]

it starts with this. then next thing you know you're calling in drunk.

This is still calling in sick. You really shouldn't tell them you're not coming to work because you're drunk.

[rockfan]

It's okay, that's called a "mental health" day. It counts as a sick day. Really, it does.

This is true, Katie. Everyone needs a break now and then.

I thought I started the trend in the '80s! Then, in the '90s, it became apparent that I needed more than a few after having kids (I took quite a few years off, including attending college). In the 2000s, every day is a mental health day.

[roach]

it starts with this. then next thing you know you're calling in drunk.

This is still calling in sick. You really shouldn't tell them you're not coming to work because you're drunk.

damn, that's why they look at me with pity.

[froggorino]

... called out to work when i wasn't really sick for the first time EVER. it feels great. back to bed.

i just hope my boss doesn't read this forum.

while everything everyone has said here has merit, you are still going to hell.

frog"sorry 'bout that, and i'll seeya there!"gy

[Irock]

One time when I was about 18, I called in sick when I wasn't. I don't even HAVE a boss right now and won't call in fake sick. I just can't do it, it feels dishonest. Does THAT make me sick?

One day maybe I'll do it again. Not real soon though, I don't want them to catch on.

i "Suuuure, every time a year ends in 6, she just HAPPENS to get sick..." rock

[Tracy]

Is there a difference if you are a salaried employee who gets paid for sick/mental health days or an hourly employee who doesn't get paid when they don't work (of course, you might leave your employer short-handed and that would be bad)? What if you accrue time specifically set aside as sick days?

[eebs]

it starts with this. then next thing you know you're calling in drunk.

This is still calling in sick. You really shouldn't tell them you're not coming to work because you're drunk.

damn, that's why they look at me with pity.

imagine being so drunk that you were at work phoning in sick because you thought you were still at home.... then sobering up to discover it's the weekend and there's no-one at work.

sounds like a challenge...

[katie]

i am so not going to hell for this. i've been in the work force for ten years and have never called out sick before, sick or not. the eighty hour weeks i've been working simply caught up to me and knocked me on my ass. there was no way i was getting out of bed this morning.

so this week i wound up with two full days off in a row. that has not happened since i got back to work after graduation. and it felt damn good. i feel like i can now get through the rest of the week. ahhhhh.

[monet2u]

I love my government job.

13 paid holidays a year, ample sick and vacation time....oh yes I love my government job.

[froggorino]

okay then you're going to heck.

[katie]

pssht. hell, heck, it's all the same. it's time for me to get out of corporate restaurants.

[Irock]

Is there a difference if you are a salaried employee who gets paid for sick/mental health days or an hourly employee who doesn't get paid when they don't work (of course, you might leave your employer short-handed and that would be bad)? What if you accrue time specifically set aside as sick days?

I donno. It seems different; like it's worse if you're getting paid (and also because salaried employees are usually held to higher standards). But I don't really think it's unethical to take a mental health day. I personally just can't call up and say, "I'm sick" when I'm not sick. In the traditional, "something is hurting my body" way.
But I've never consistantly worked 80 hour weeks, either. The story would probably be different if I had.

Here's a question in general, (not specifically for Katie) though:
When you have a stomach virus, do you tell your boss that's what it is (or give her some idea - i.e. 'I've been running a fever,')?
When take a mental health day, do you tell your boss that's what it is?

...and if the answer's different, is that unethical?