A manager’s shocking response to an employee calling in sick has gone viral, with thousands of workers blasting the attitude as ‘disrespectful’ and ‘a terrible look for any business’.
The drama unfolded in a TikTok video shared by entrepreneur Ben Askins, who re-enacted a workplace exchange that struck a nerve with workers around the world.
A manager asked: ‘What on earth is going on with James? I’ve been messaging him all morning and I can’t get hold of him.’
Another employee replied: ‘Hey, James is off sick today, he said he has a pretty bad case of flu so I told him to take the day off and rest up. Is there anything I can help with?’
But the boss refused to let it go.
‘That is pretty disastrous tbh [sic]. We’ve had a client reschedule for this afternoon and I need James to be on the call. How bad is he? Can we just get him to join for just that call?’
When the colleague offered to handle it, the boss insisted: ‘Can we ask him first before we go ahead with that? It is fairly technical and we can’t afford mistakes. If he is feeling up to it then I would say worth just asking him to do it if he can.’
Mr Askins condemned the approach, saying it exposed deeper problems in the workplace.
A manager’s shocking response to an employee calling in sick has gone viral, with thousands of workers blasting the attitude as ‘disrespectful’ and ‘a terrible look for any business’
‘If he’s too sick to be at work, he’s too sick to be asked on a call. So straight away, you shouldn’t be doing that,’ he said.
‘And second, you should set your business up in a better way. You can’t be so dependent on just a few different people to always be available, because that’s how you cause a lot of issues in your business.’
The clip struck a chord with workers, many of whom said they’d faced similar pressure when taking sick leave.
‘As a client, if a business forced an obviously ill employee to front up to a meeting with me simply because they’re the only one who can deal with it, it just demonstrates poor management. It wouldn’t fill me with confidence,’ one person wrote.
Others agreed: ‘Also as a leader, do you know how bad it looks to a client when your employee is sneezing, coughing and unable to string a sentence together because, you know, they are SICK!?’
Some were quick to point out the unfairness of ignoring the colleague who had already offered to step in. ‘Furthermore ‘please ask him’ when you clearly have someone ready to do the work is dismissive and disrespectful,’ one commenter said.
Another joked: ‘It sounds like James needs a pay rise and promotion.’
Under Australian workplace laws, employees are entitled to paid sick leave if they are unwell or caring for a family member.
The clip struck a chord with workers, many of whom said they’d faced similar pressure when taking sick leave
Crucially, if a worker calls in sick, employers cannot demand they continue working or attend meetings – doing so risks breaching Fair Work protections.
Most workplaces also encourage staff to switch off when unwell.
As one commenter put it: ‘I turn off all my work notifications when I’m off sick anyway.’
Experts say forcing sick employees to attend meetings can harm morale, cause burnout and even damage the company’s reputation.
‘I’ve worked with companies where it got so bad we were raising concerns for their employees’ welfare,’ one person revealed.
‘It is not a good look for the business and I will avoid those companies whenever possible.’
The viral exchange has ignited a broader debate about workplace culture – and whether Australian businesses are doing enough to protect employees’ health.
For many, the message is simple: if someone calls in sick, let them rest.
As one commenter summed up: ‘Hope it works out – but if I got this kind of pressure when I was unwell, I’d be out the door.’
