Why do I feel so guilty for taking a sick day?
Taking time off triggers overwhelming anxiety about leaving behind classroom disruptions, uncompleted student work, and extra burdens on colleagues. This constant worry prevents teachers from resting and recovering, leaving them haunted by the thought of what is going wrong while they are away.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- People have been saying this in most months since September 2026.
- This comes up 25.0× more often in r/humanresources than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Using days because they roll over or get lost ('use them or lose them')Did this help you?
- 2Turning unexpected life events during time off into personal staycations without guiltDid this help you?
- 3Empowering oneself to throw away incomplete student work and start fresh upon returnDid this help you?
- 4Telling oneself that it is physically impossible to work and that sick days are provided for a reasonDid this help you?
- 5Taking days off freely for mental health or general breaks regardless of guiltDid this help you?
- 6Limiting time off to the standard 2-3 weeks yearlyDid this help you?
- 7Deliberately deciding to just start taking more days off despite hesitationDid this help you?
- 8taking dayquil to temporarily lower temperatureDid this help you?
- 9staying in bed to fully recoverDid this help you?
- 10taking unpaid leave daysDid this help you?
- 11taking half days to avoid missing a full dayDid this help you?
- 12saving days to avoid running out before the end of the yearDid this help you?
- 13banking days to roll over into the next yearDid this help you?
- 14Using personal leave days anyway, assuming colleagues are not tracking long weekend calculations closely if coverage is arranged.Did this help you?
- 15considering returning to work early in a wheelchairDid this help you?
- 16taking out a short term disability policyDid this help you?
- 17Using earned PTO or sick daysDid this help you?
- 18Minimizing details shared with supervisors about personal strugglesDid this help you?
- 19Relying on understanding colleagues to cover caseloadsDid this help you?
- 20working late into the evening to front-load grading and reportsDid this help you?
- 21relying on low-effort emergency sub plans like coloring pages and logic puzzlesDid this help you?
- 22Putting off the leave until it escalates into an unavoidable medical emergency.Did this help you?
- 23Providing a generic doctor's note to secure the leave without disclosing the specific diagnosis.Did this help you?
- 24Working with a manager beforehand to hire a consultant or outline an exit strategy to cover sole-person duties.Did this help you?
- 25Not taking days off and trying to 'power through' being sickDid this help you?
- 26Keeping time off requests short and sweet to hide the guiltDid this help you?
- 27Taking days off for mental health after getting severely fatigued from working while sickDid this help you?
- 28Finding an online or remote job insteadDid this help you?
- 29Requesting intermittent medical leave or an extended leave of absenceDid this help you?
- 30Speaking with union representatives or HR for formal workplace accommodationsDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Crazy thing is I was in and out of consciousness in the ambulance and my sister told me I kept waking up telling her to call my boss about FMLA🤦🏾♀️”source ↗
“I am the only one who knows how to do payroll, we have a PEO so they’ll figure it out, but I have a ton of guilt around requesting it.”source ↗
“For some reason the things we offer to others, for some reason feels like we’re not also entitled to it?”source ↗
“Because I kept feeling like I couldn't take the time I needed, I kept putting it off, and ended up having to take emergency leave for almost the full 12 weeks.”source ↗
“Yet, my body and brain couldn’t keep up. It was FMLA or my husband staring at me in my coffin.”source ↗
“Curious to know how many personal days off is too many where it would be considered a problem? Do you feel like you get enough PTO days?”source ↗
“Had to call out the past three Mondays, feel like a total jerk”source ↗
“My issue is, last year I struggled a LOT.”source ↗
“I guess I’m just wondering if anyone has ever felt similarly, or if I truly am being a baby and should just suck it up.”source ↗
“Today is my second week at work and I feel guilty about being sick and missing a day at work.”source ↗
“First year I was fighting my immune system and questioning whether or not I actually wanted to stick with the career. I'm glad my boss didn't fire me!”source ↗
“Should I use my second no-tell day, or is this a bad look?”source ↗
“But I am just getting started in this career, and plan to be at this school site a long time. I don’t want this to negatively impact my image on campus.”source ↗
“Guilt is part of this job. Don’t worry too much, ur students will live to see another day.”source ↗
“I can’t help but feel guilty about it because the last two days I’ve already been out for curriculum training my admins signed my whole plc up for, but this morning at training I just had this overwhelming dread of going in to work tomorrow.”source ↗
“The thought of trying to not focus on what could possibly be going wrong while I’m gone now feels impossible.”source ↗
“I feel so guilty missing part of the day last week and now a full day so soon.”source ↗
“Does this guilt feeling get better when it comes to calling out?”source ↗
“I don’t want to be afraid to call out but also I just feel so bad that it’s so soon from my last call out.”source ↗
“And with the exception of when my child died and I felt nothing but grief, I ALWAYS feel some level of guilt for being out.”source ↗
“I feel guilty because it’s my second week working and I am a late hire which means there is a lot of work that needs to be done and I am behind obviously because I am a late hire.”source ↗
“I am considering just staying out for 4 more weeks (8-9 weeks in total) until I can walk in a boot, but I’m feeling guilty about taking this much time off.”source ↗
“I am just getting in my head about all of it.”source ↗
“I’m really nervous to the mess I’ll be coming back to on Tuesday and how everything was a wash. I’m now behind on tempo with my team and I’m missing like three important meetings today.”source ↗
“This is my first year teaching and I feel that I am messing everything up. I’m at urgent care waiting for a doctor and I can only think about how terrible my classroom is right now.”source ↗
“I was suppost to have a day of students doing a prelab, but I instead used my shitty emergency sub plans of a coloring page based on science vocab and a logic puzzle.”source ↗
“i have an amazing group of students this year. this is my third year at my school, second teaching KG. my admin have always been very supportive and don’t ever make me feel bad for taking off but i just can’t help internalizing it!”source ↗
“i have already missed a few days this year and i feel so bad.”source ↗
“when did you (if you ever did) get over the anxiety and guilt around needing a substitute?”source ↗
“I laying in bed, in pain however, I feel extremely guilty about the amount of time I have already missed.”source ↗
“I want to take care of my physical health but I feel as if my coworkers are going to judge me and my bosses are going to think low of me.”source ↗
“It also doesn’t feel fair to the kids. I feel so guilty but I want to take care of me.”source ↗
“Most people are generally afraid to appear as if they're abusing it, and vast majority don't take more than the 2-3 weeks yearly they would've had anyway, if that.”source ↗
“why do i feel so guilty about taking sick time off?”source ↗
“I have no actual reason to feel so guilty either. My supervisor is always very nice when I need time off and has never argued”source ↗
“How do I get through this guilt that I’m seemingly putting on myself?”source ↗
“It’s just me making myself feel guilty for no legitimate reason. My coworkers take extensive vacations and sick time all the time, pretty sure my OCD just convinces me that I don’t deserve time off like everyone else does.”source ↗
“I used to feel the same way and once I’d take the day off, I’d feel like maybe I’m not sick enough to warrant this.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2Can you get fired for using sick days for mental health?
- 12Why do I feel guilty on slow work days?
- 3Why can't coworkers donate sick days to each other?
- 4Why do I feel so guilty taking time for myself?
- 5Is it normal to feel guilty about leaving your wedding early?
- 4Should I take medical leave for my mental health?