Yes! I had to call in last month. All our partners were getting sick, myself included. And although there were others before me and everyone seemed to understand for them - when I called in sick, I felt so much guilt and anxiety because I I left them high and dry.

When I came back everyone was super supportive and kind, but yea, during my “days off” I had a lot of anxiety. Unfortunately it might just be a side-effect of the job, but also shows you care about your coworkers :)

Yes! It sucks, but that is just how it is in this industry. Even though food service laws require us to stay home if we are sick, there is no sympathy for us when it actually happens because it tampers with the delicate balance of earned/paid labor. Starbucks only staffs *just* enough people for things to run as efficiently as possible in order to meet our sales goals. This results in chaos when a partner doesn’t show up for their shift.

I was sick last week and when I called in, my manager flipped out on me. She clearly did not believe me even though I was actually sick. It feels shitty enough having to call in, but then the anxiety is amplified when you feel like you let your whole team down and they’re angry with you. It is a toxic situation. I’ve gone to work sick multiple times and felt absolutely horrible the entire time (not to mention put customers’ health in danger), but at the time it seemed more ideal than having to call in and deal with the guilt. As I get older though, I try not to let it get to me too much because at the end of the day I am my highest priority, and while I feel bad for letting my coworkers down, I am not going to put my body through additional stress for a company that doesn’t really give a fuck about me and is prepared to replace me at the drop of a hat.

Edit: Reading this over again, that last part probably sounds a bit jaded. I like my job. I especially like my store and am grateful that I make as much as I do/have the benefits that I do for a job that doesn’t require much effort. What I don’t like is the profit > people mentality that seems to come with all corporations. I get that Starbucks doesn’t want to pay workers if they don’t have to, but does it really need to be so minimal that workers feel extreme anxiety just for putting their health before their company because of the potential backlash? Seems a bit cruel to me :/

Definitely, there's usually gossip going around or at least some presumptions when a person calls in sick(often). I'm employed in Europe so laws etc might be a bit different here. Employers here aren't allowed to ask/demand for an explanation as for why one is sick. A lot of times there's suspicion on faking being sick etc. On the end it doesn't really matter. When you're sick you're sick and even though we all feel a sense of guilt over this, it is really silly and unnecessary. There should also be some awareness about the fact that even though we're friendly with one another, we aren't a bunch of friends hanging out or helping each other, we're still working within a company which of course means that the company is responsible for covering shifts, and the sick caller is not. Some managers might want to make it seem like you're responsible, but you're definitely not. After all, sick partners aren't even allowed to be employed and when a SM or ssv tells you to do something like putting efforts on finding someone to cover your shift while you are being sick, means that you are working, and nobody can tell you to work off the clock.