Too Risky?

May 9, 2008 12:56 AM

Will I risk losing a job offer?

I've been offered and have accepted a new job that I'm very excited about. During the phone conversation, which was on a Wednesday, I asked when they would like me to start. They stated that ideally they would like me to start that following Monday, but that they were flexible, and then proceeded to ask me what my schedule looked like. I told them I was also flexible, and that I would call them the following day with a definite answer.
The next day, I called and let them know that I would be able to start a week after that following Monday, so approximately 1 1/2 weeks. I was not working at the time, so I didn't say I needed 2 weeks or anything. Now I have come down with a really bad cold/flu, and I start on Monday. I have been sick for most of this week and have a feeling I will still be pretty sick when I start. Since I have been so sick, I have not been able to purchase any clothing I will be needing for this job, which is requiring me to purchase basically a completely different wardrobe than what I have.
My question is, would it be too risky to ask them if I can extend my start date to the following week...and does anyone have any good ideas on how I should go about it? I don't want to risk the job, but I don't want to be sick and unprepared either. Thanks!

posted by DoNotRefill to Work & Money (14 answers total)

You're ill! Don't be afraid of being ill. As an employer I'd much rather my team comes in healthy and ready to work (and not infect the rest of us). If you're worried that they'll think you're coming across the wrong way, offer to get a Doctor's note to back up your claim. Talk to them though, easiest not to second guess their attitude. People appreciate being kept informed - and being told the truth.

Illness happens, you shouldn't feel obligated to turn up to work when you're genuinely sick and incapacitated.
posted by unsliced at 2:05 AM on May 9, 2008

It's not much skin off their backs, these sound like sick days they don't need to pay you for. :P Your doctors office could fax them a note if they need it.
posted by jeffburdges at 2:55 AM on May 9, 2008

I would proactively have the doctor fax a note and also call and ask for a later start date.
posted by zia at 3:15 AM on May 9, 2008

you're fine as far as the sickness goes - anyone understands that. your wardrobe question on the other hand is not an excuse. you're an adult and can reasonably expected to figure that one out on your own time.
posted by krautland at 4:30 AM on May 9, 2008

I think it's risky to ask for an extra week. It sends the wrong message.
posted by gt2 at 4:50 AM on May 9, 2008

Just call them and tell them the score. Their response will tell you whether or not that's really somewhere you want to work.
posted by flabdablet at 5:05 AM on May 9, 2008

Are you sure you will too sick to go in monday? I'd head out to the mall today, grab a few things, get plenty of rest and go in on monday with the aid of some over the counter cold and flu stuff.

I think changing your start date for a sick day that is still three days away makes you look flakey, and if i hired you i'd be wondering if i made a mistake before you even walked through the door.

If monday morning rolls along, and you really are feeling lousy, I say you call them first thing, tell them you are sick as a dog, but more than willing to come in to at least for a couple hours to get some of the new hire paper work done. otherwise, take a couple cold pills, grab a hanky and get to work
posted by Mr_Chips at 5:24 AM on May 9, 2008 [4 favorites]

Although on paper, I'd agree that you can take the sick days, in practice, I cannot recommend missing your first day, even without the previous delay. It simply looks bad.

But that's me.

If monday morning rolls along, and you really are feeling lousy, I say you call them first thing, tell them you are sick as a dog, but more than willing to come in to at least for a couple hours to get some of the new hire paper work done. otherwise, take a couple cold pills, grab a hanky and get to work

This may be the best compromise solution available.
posted by John Kenneth Fisher at 6:19 AM on May 9, 2008

If you've already been sick for most of a week, and all you have is a cold, you should be better by Monday there's an old adage about colds lasting a week to a week and a half if treated and 7 to 10 days if not that should tell you you're about to come out of it. Maybe still coughing occasionally, but certainly well out of the please kill me phase of the illness.

Plan to buy a minimal amount of new clothing on the weekend -- enough to get you through a day or two at the new job -- and then buy the some more a little later in the week. You might need a whole new wardrobe eventually, but you're not going to need it on Monday.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:46 AM on May 9, 2008 [2 favorites]

If it was me, I'd pull myself together, take some advil, and go to work. Not saying it's right, but employers really don't like people who are sick often, or for extended periods of time, and calling off sick on your first day isn't going to get you started off on the right foot.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 8:21 AM on May 9, 2008

I think you have to make your best effort to report to work as planned. If you arrive and they take one look at you and say "What are you doing here, get some rest and come back in another week to get started" you will know you are working for an excellent company.

If they don't send you home, make a few subtle comments to those you are working with... "Sorry, I'm a bit under the weather, I will try to keep my germs over here, haha" so that people know you are committed to working although you aren't feeling 100%, and they will probably respect you more.
posted by prettymightyflighty at 8:34 AM on May 9, 2008

I think jacquilynne's answer is probably the most useful. I started my current job after a 4-day power outage in freezing weather. (Yeah, it was a great week.) I spent the night before I started in a hotel room so I could get a hot shower, and went shopping for just a couple of things to start off the week. (I too was going from a fairly casual environment to a much dressier one.) Then...in the first day or two, I caught a doozy of a cold, partially from 4 nights of sleeping in 20-degree weather.

Normally, I never go in to work sick. I think it's entirely disrespectful of my colleagues and I never get anything useful done anyway. But for those first couple of days, I just sucked it up, took all the OTC stuff I could handle, and muddled my way through. It's not like those first days are super-productive anyway.
posted by epersonae at 9:29 AM on May 9, 2008

Pull it together and show up on Monday. Don't be a whiner and hint around about how sick you are, hoping they'll send you home. Don't call and tell them how bad you're feeling and how achy and stuffyheaded you are. I would absolutely not put the decision in their hands. Nobody likes a complainer. Your mom cares but these people don't. They hired you to work for them. Make a good first impression. Just show up when you said you would and dive in. That's the right thing to do. I would be very put off by somebody who called in sick on their first day of work. Unless you're really and truly incapacitated, start on Monday and get through the week. As others have said, you can run to the mall, spend an hour and put together a few outfits to work in this week. It sucks that you've had to spend this week being sick instead of getting ready but now is the time to be tough and press ahead as planned.

Good luck with your new job, by the way.
posted by Kangaroo at 11:26 AM on May 9, 2008 [3 favorites]

None of the people who say you ought to suck it up and go are people I would even consider working for. Turning up sick is just dumb, and being required or expected to turn up sick is dumber.
posted by flabdablet at 3:08 AM on May 10, 2008