Phone in Sick Day

(Also known as Call in Sick Day, World Phone in Sick Day)

Phone in Sick Day is observed next on Thursday, May 1st, 2025 (182 days from today).

How many days until Phone in Sick Day?

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Phone in Sick Day or Call in Sick Day and World Phone in Sick Day are the one. At first, it was celebrated on April 6th in 1998 and 1999. However, this day changed to be on May 1st since 2000.

History of Phone in Sick Day

Phone in Sick Day organization is as easy as it sounds, but the reasoning behind it is more complicated. The day when people call sick as a form of protest against longer working hours, less leisure time, lower quality of life and expressing their dissatisfaction with modern life. This day is especially geared towards the working class, as a way for them to come together and show their economic power, as they do not have much power individually, as they do some paid work.

The day was started by Decadent Action, a now-defunct British group that called itself a "consumer terrorist organization". In 1997, they called for "a day of rest" in the UK; they later announced that 2,000 British Airways employees had fallen ill. Similarly, following an investigation the following year, they claimed that an overwhelming proportion of Irish police and London guards were away from work that day.

Phone in Sick Day arrived in the US in 1998, when it was announced there by Rtmark, an anti-corporate group based in California. For the first few years of this holiday in Europe and America, it was celebrated on April 6th. In 2000, Phone in Sick Day was changed into May 1st in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, and May 2nd in many other countries.

One reason for the switch was to place it near May Day, also known as International Workers' Day. It is celebrated on the same day as International Workers' Day in the United States because that holiday is not celebrated much there, although it is rooted in events that happened there: the eight-hour day war and the events of the Haymarket deal. As many other countries around the world celebrate International Workers' Day, Phone in Sick Day is celebrated the day after. Observers in those countries joined the day in solidarity with Americans who had marked the day before and to express their own concerns.

Another reason for switching to May is because it is closer to summer. Phone in Sick Day is partly centered around entertainment, and by this point, it's been so long since summer that many people have forgotten what certain types of entertainment are like. Thankfully, summer is just around the corner and many of the activities done during that time can be done as early as May.

Tips for calling in sick to work

  • Call as soon as possible. Tell your boss about your illness as soon as possible. If you feel very sick the night before and know you won't be able to work, you can send your boss a text that evening. If not, tell your boss first thing in the morning.
  • Keep it brief. Don't go into too much detail about your illness. No one wants to hear the details of your flu or stomach virus. Your message needs to be short and to the point.
  • Let your team know. Consider sending another message to your department or team to let them know that you will be absent, which is very important if you are working in a team or have a deadline. Make sure they know you won't be available that day.
  • Explain your availability. Let your employer (and possibly your team members) know if you can answer emails or do any other work while you're sick at home. If you're too sick to check your email, say so.
  • Mention any important information. Likewise, let your boss and team know if there's any information they need to know for that day. For example, you might say to your boss, "I'm sorry I'm absent from the 2 p.m. staff meeting, but Ellen should have all the data from our department." This kind of information will save others the trouble of your absence.
  • Follow up. Make sure you know if your company requires you to complete any kind of follow-up documentation. For example, some companies require employees to bring a doctor's note to prove that they are sick.

What do you do to phone in Sick Day when you need a day off?

What if you don't feel sick, but you just need a day to relax and recharge? Your best option is to spend a personal day. However, not all employers offer these. For example, many other retail and hourly jobs do not provide individual dates.

In that case, one option is to call the sick person. If you do, you'll still want to follow all of the same steps and you should keep in mind.

  • Think about your time. It's easy to convince your boss that you're really sick by picking a random workday. However, if you choose Monday or Friday (or the day immediately before or after the holiday), your boss may suspect that you're just trying to extend your weekend. If you don't care what day you're off, you can try a day from Tuesday to Thursday.
  • Avoid a phone call. Unless you're confident you can lie to your boss over the phone, you may want to avoid talking to them in person. Instead, send an email or text (whatever is right for your employer). If your boss is more likely to be on the phone, try calling early in the morning –– that will increase your chances of leaving a voicemail instead of talking to your boss in person.
  • Keep it short. You always want to be brief about your absence, but in this case, keep it brief. The more you talk, the more you lie and the more likely you are to get caught. Simply say you are sick. If your boss asks more questions, answer them, but keep the answers short. There are some reasons that are more effective than others when you need a day off from work, or when you need to get to work early.
  • Don't tell anyone that you lied. Don't tell any of your coworkers that you're not really sick. Even if they are your friends, you run the risk that one of them might tell your boss (intentionally or even accidentally).
  • Be careful with social media. Many employees have been caught faking illness due to social media. They say they're sick, then they post a picture of their day at the beach, and their boss finds out. Avoid posting anything about your happy day off on social media. This will prevent any information from being sent back to your boss.
  • Work hard then. After a day off from work, you always want to work hard to catch up on any project. This is especially the case if you've had a secret date. Show your boss that you're still a dedicated team member who can work hard and get things done.

How to celebrate Phone in Sick Day

Celebrate the day by calling sick at work! In fact, there is nothing to be planned for the day; you can do whatever you please. As the day is about to move away from modern life, you can spend some time in nature or do one of your favorite leisure activities. You can also refuse to buy anything today. Another idea might be to read a book about corporations or corporate power.

Observed

Phone in Sick Day has been observed annually on May 1st.

Dates

Monday, May 1st, 2023

Wednesday, May 1st, 2024

Thursday, May 1st, 2025

Friday, May 1st, 2026

Saturday, May 1st, 2027

Founded by

Decadent Action in 1997

Also on Thursday, May 1st, 2025

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