Here are 10 times when it’s OK to call out of work unexpectedly.

1. You’re Sick

It could be the sniffles, a lingering cough, or you just plain feel icky. But if you wake up feeling sick (or you’re at work and suddenly feel unwell), an illness is easily the top legitimate reason to call out of work.

Even if you feel OK and up to working, you’re better off taking the day and resting up so you can return to work healthy. If nothing else, you could be contagious and infect your coworkers!

The same goes if you have a legitimate work from home job. Just because you can work from home when you’re sick doesn’t mean you should. Instead, call out of work, eat some chicken soup, and take a nap, then return to work when you’ve recovered.

2. Someone Else Is Sick

While you may be feeling perfectly fine, someone that you’re the caregiver for isn’t. That means you’re on duty!

Even when you think you can balance work with patient care, you never know what the day will bring. It’s better to focus on caregiving instead of trying to fit in some work between taking a temperature and heating up soup.

3. A Doctor’s Appointment

While most medical (and other) appointments are scheduled in advance, giving you plenty of time to notify your supervisor, sometimes life happens. Perhaps you cracked a tooth and need to see the dentist right now. Or, you’ve been on the waitlist for a specialist, and an appointment opened today.

Last-minute appointments are always a perfectly legitimate excuse to call out of work.

4. A Family Emergency

Life can happen in unexpected ways. And when it throws a family emergency at you, you should definitely call out of work.

Similar to a family illness, it’s better to focus your attention on the emergency until it’s resolved instead of trying to split your attention between work and the emergency.

5. A Household Emergency

Another type of emergency that merits calling out of work is a household one.

A busted pipe, a broken window, or wind damage from last night’s storm can wreak havoc on your home. Calling out of work lets you deal with the immediate damage and schedule the rest of the repairs as soon as possible.

6. You Suffer a Loss

Taking the time to grieve a loss is important to your overall wellness and a very valid reason to call out of work.

Though you might find it helpful to work during this stressful time, unless you’re truly able to give work your all, taking some time away from the job is the best choice.

7. Bad Weather

The weather can interfere with work in expected and unexpected ways, and that interference is an acceptable reason to call off of work.

If you commute to a job, snowstorms, flooding, and even extreme wind can make it hard, if not dangerous, to get to work. Likewise, the weather and your internet connection may not always play nice. If you work remotely and can’t connect, calling out of work may be your only option.

8. The Commute Is Too Much 

When a commute is part of your daily routine and working from home isn’t an option, but you can’t get to the job, you have a valid excuse to call out of work.

For example, if your car dies, you may have no way to get to the office. Even when you have access to public transportation, it’s not always an option (your train is stuck). Sometimes it’s the roads being closed to a major accident that makes it impossible to get to work.

9. A Job Interview

While you likely won’t have a last-minute job interview, when you’re searching for a new job, taking random days off (or even a few hours here and there) can start to look suspicious. If you’re concerned that your job hunting could affect your current employment status, you can consider calling out of work to attend your job interview.

And though an interview is a valid reason to call out of work, do so carefully. Just like taking random days off can raise suspicion, so can calling out of work too frequently.

10. You Need a Mental Health Day

Finally, having a case of the Monday blahs is a very legitimate reason to call out of work.

Everyone needs to play hooky every now and then. It’s a chance to refresh and reset so you can return to work energized and engaged. But if you find that every Monday needs to be a mental health day, it may be time to look for a new job!

Take Your Time

Calling out of work at the last minute happens, and these 10 reasons are perfectly valid reasons to tell your boss you can’t work that day. Make sure you take enough time off to address your circumstances so you can return to work as focused as possible.

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The Job-Hunt Job Search and Career Experts

More than 50 experts share their expertise with Job-Hunt’s visitors, including well-known authors, speakers, contributors to other popular publications, and other well-respected experts in their fields.

Expert topics Include:

• Interviewing
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Resumes
• Job Search Networking
• Working with Recruiters
• Career Change
• Boomer Job Search
• Veterans Job Search
• Federal Government Job Search
• Information Technology Job Search
• Finance Industry Job search
• Personal Branding
• Personal Marketing
• Social Media & Job Search
• Lifestyle-Friendly Careers
• Mid-Life Careers
• Second-Act Careers

Choose the expert you need from Job-Hunt’s list of job search and career experts.  Contact information is provided on each of their Job-Hunt biography pages, linked from the experts list.  Or feel free to email us at info@job-hunt.org.

Among Job-Hunt’s many awards:

• 2013 Forbes Top 100 Websites for Your Career
• Best of the Web/Top Site for Finding Work – Job-Hunt.org is a “Top” or “Best” site for job hunting and careers according respected sources like US News & World Report, Forbes, and PC Magazine.

Some of Job-Hunt’s visibility:

• AARP.org – The Best Way to Respond to Salary Questions During Your Job Search
• New York Times – Older Job Seekers Find Ways to Avoid Age Bias
• AARP.org – Live a Little: 5 Steps to Better Work-Life Balance
• What Color Is Your Parachute? classic best-selling career book by Richard N. Bolles
• FORTUNE/CNN Money, Ask Annie – Why the Holidays Are the Best Time to Find a New Job
• FORTUNE/CNN Money, Ask Annie – Does Your Boss Know You’re Job Hunting?
• Jobs.AOL – Hot Job Site: Job-Hunt.org
• Reader’s Digest and RD.com – Your Next Job
• TIME and time.com – Fake Jobs: Work-Search Scams on the Rise in Recession
• FORTUNE/CNN Money, Ask Annie – Leave now or risk getting laid off
• Newsweek – Job Woes, Health Blues?
• FORTUNE/CNN Money, Ask Annie – Job offer or identity-theft scam
• TIME and time.com – The New Rules of Web Hiring

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ALL resumes sent to this address will be discarded without reading. (Sorry!)

You can reach us:

E-Mail

info@job-hunt.org – For requests for information about Job-Hunt.org or for comments, questions, ideas, etc.

For our privacy policy, click here.

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Job-Hunt’s “Experts” help those visitors to improve their approach to different aspects of job search by writing solid, original content that explains an aspect of job search and how to succeed.

Purpose of Job-Hunt.org

Since 1998, the purpose of Job-Hunt is to help as many job seekers as possible with good, solid, up-to-date information provided to them at no cost.

We enable job seekers to understand and succeed in today’s job market and online world. Job-Hunt’s articles focus on answering either or both of these 2 essential questions:

1. Why something is necessary for success in today’s job market or why a particular strategy works for career success or career change.

2. How to successfully accomplish that goal or complete that task.

Repeating old generic advice, offered by thousands of writers on other websites is not helpful or accepted. Job-Hunt contributors must move beyond the obvious, and inform readers of something important and essential for their success.

• Original content is required.
  Do not submit an article you have published elsewhere, and do not copy content from another source for your article. You may reuse the article 30 days after it is published on Job-Hunt as long as you link back to the Job-Hunt original.

   

• New topics are preferred. Search Job-Hunt to see if the topic is already covered.
• An “old topic” may be covered again.IF your article updates the information provided and genuinely offers value to the reader — an update reflecting new technology, new understanding, or a new approach. A new solution or a new perspective on an old issue is also welcome IF the value to readers is genuine.
• Article length is typically between 800 to 1000 words or more. The focus is on quality contributions that provide solid information that helps job seekers understand how to understand or improve some aspect of their job search enabling them to be more successful.
• Links to articles on other websites. In general, we don’t link to content on other websites, unless the link goes to reputable research about a topic relevant to the article.

Articles will very likely be edited before they are published. You will see and approve the edited version before it goes “live” to Job-Hunt’s visitors.

Benefit to Contributors

Once you have been accepted into the program, there is no fee to be a Job-Hunt Expert.

The most popular articles are viewed over 75,000 times a month, or nearly one million page views a year, and since Job-Hunt has always practiced “white hat” SEO, visibility in Google for the Experts and their articles is usually very good (personal SEO).

This visibility supports professional credibility and more frequent appearances in Google search results.

Benefits include:

• Author name at the top of each article. People won’t need to hunt for the name of the writer. Your name will be very visible at the top of the page, below the article’s headline. After 6 articles are published, that name is linked to the writer’s “Job-Hunt Expert” page so people can learn more about you.
• About the author paragraph at the bottom of each article. Each article contains an “About the author…” paragraph at the bottom which highlights the Expert’s field of expertise, links to the expert’s website or blog, and also mentions the writer’s Twitter and LinkedIn profiles, if available. Email addresses may also be included.
• Job-Hunt Expert page. A minimum of 6 articles are expected over a period of 6 months to 1 year to qualify as a “Job-Hunt Expert.” After the 6th article is published, an “Expert” bio page is established linking to all of the Expert’s articles and expanding on the information in the “About this author” paragraph providing more information about why the writer is an expert in the topic.
• Visibility in Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Job-Hunt’s newsletter. New articles are always tweeted on a daily basis from both of Job-Hunt’s Twitter accounts (over 70,000 followers). If you have an active Twitter account, it will be mentioned in the tweets. Articles are also shared on Job-Hunt’s Facebook page, in Job-Hunt’s weekly newsletter, on LinkedIn, including Job-Hunt’s LinkedIn Groups, and in Job-Hunt’s other online visibility.
• Opportunity to author a Job-Hunt Quick Guide ebook. A graphic designer turns your Word document into a PDF which is made available on Job-Hunt for free. You can distribute it too, free to clients and media via email or as a download on your website.

Experts are also encouraged to share their articles through their own newsletters and social media to increase the impact and benefit for all.

Other opportunities develop, too, including writing a “Job-Hunt Quick Guide” — short, focused, designer-created ebooks provided for FREE on Job-Hunt and distributed to whomever may be helped.

Occasionally, media referrals are made, too, when someone in the media reaches out to Job-Hunt looking for expert advice on a topic. These referrals have included NPR, PBS, CNN, CNBC, CBS News, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Chicago Times, Los Angeles Times, and many other media and print publications.

Job-Hunt Guides/Columns

Job-Hunt articles are presented in over 50 columns, called “Guides to …” specific topics. Traditional topics like resumes and job interviews are covered, and newer topics like LinkedIn, personal SEO, and personal online reputation management are added as new contributors come forward or important new topics are identified.

See all of the current Job-Hunt Guides on the Guide to Smarter Job Search page.

New Guides may be added any time. Old Guides are removed when no longer useful or maintained.

How to Become a Job-Hunt Expert

If you want to contribute to Job-Hunt on a regular basis and for a specific topic, send an email to me at webmaster at Job-Hunt.org. Include the following information:

• The topic you would like to contribute at least 6 articles over 6 to 9 months.
• Why you are an expert on the topic.
• Links to articles on that topic which you have written over the past 12 to 24 months. (Your name must be identified as the author of each article.)
• Where the topic would fit into Job-Hunt — continuing an existing Guide or adding a new one.
• Links to your LinkedIn Profile and/or Twitter account.

Thank you for your interest in writing for Job-Hunt.org. Send a message to Susan@Job-Hunt.org with this subject: Possible [your topic] Job-Hunt Contributor.

Job-Hunt Experts / Contributors

Job-Hunt contributors, known as “Job-Hunt Experts,” write monthly or quarterly articles on their topic of expertise.

Several have been active on Job-Hunt for many years and have contributed 40 articles or more, usually at the rate of one per month.

After thirty days from publication on Job-Hunt, the expert may use that article on his or her blog, newsletter, other website or publication, and also on other social media like a LinkedIn Pulse post, with a link back to the original article on Job-Hunt.

This benefits both the Expert and Job-Hunt since it helps Google see the connection between the two. Job-Hunt is a trusted site with a high Google PageRank.

The purpose of the Job-Hunt.Org website is to provide the best and most up-to-date advice from genuine job search and career experts to help job seekers be successful in the job search. Current Job-Hunt Experts include:

• Laura Smith-Proulx contributes regularly to the Guide to Using LinkedIn for Job Search column.
• Recruiter Biron Clark contributes to the Guide to Successful Interviews column.
• Recruiter Jeff Lipschultz writes the articles in the Guide to Working with Recruiters column.
• Hannah Morgan contributes to the Guide to Social Media and Job Search, Guide to Facebook for Job Search, and the Guide to Job Search Navigation columns.
• Nancy Collamer writes the Guide to Lifestyle Friendly Careers column.
• Recruiter Ed Han contributes to the Guide to Using LinkedIn for Job Search column.
• Job-Hunt’s editor Susan P. Joyce writes the Guide to Using Google for Job Search, Guide to Personal SEO, Guide to LinkedIn SEO, and Guide to Personal Online Reputation Management columns.
• Many, many more well-known names in their fields.

As you can see, many Job-Hunt contributors are well-known authors and consultants. But, they don’t overtly “sell” their books or other products and services in their articles.

Job-Hunt Experts do build their brand, reputation, and audience on Job-Hunt by demonstrating their knowledge and expertise on their topics.

See all the current Guides and Experts on the Job-Hunt Job Search Experts on Job-Hunt.org page.

About the author…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. A veteran of the United States Marine Corps and a recent Visiting Scholar at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. Since 1998, Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt.org. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg and on Facebook, LinkedIn.
More about this author…

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Job-Hunt.org was originally established in 1993 as a list of online job search resources. The founder was a Stanford graduate student, Dane Spearing, who originally set up Job-Hunt on the Stanford University Residential Computers servers — the same servers where Yahoo.com was originally established.

Job-Hunt’s Mission

At Job-Hunt, we feel that we have a mission — to provide our visitors with the best information about topics important for a short and successful job search.

We want you to be successful in your job search and to know how to safely create and maintain your online visibility (and reputation) necessary so you will never need to search for a job again.

We want your next job to find you!

Job-Hunt Is Dedicated to Helping Job Seekers

Job-Hunt is dedicated to the millions of people who have had their personal lives disrupted by the loss of a job.

Job loss still happens to good employees, and the rate of unemployment typically increases and decreases based on what is happening with the employers in your location and also what is happening in the world’s economy. Of course, global pandemics also wreak absolute havoc on the employment market and have devastating unemployment consequences.

Whether you are unemployed or entering/re-entering the job market, finding a job can be a complex process. And regardless of your reason for unemployment (fired, laid off, quit, or new to the job market), we understand that finding a new job and regaining an income stream is your main goal.

A job loss can be a new beginning as well as an ending. A career is a journey, not a destination! Don’t give up!

Susan Joyce, who ran Job-Hunt for over 20 years, had been laid off twice and both times resulted in a change of direction of her career that made her both happier with her work and also increased her income. That result has been achieved by many MANY people who became unemployed. If you are currently unemployed, we wish the same result for you!

Purpose

The purpose of  Job-Hunt is to provide the best and most up-to-date advice from genuine job search and career experts to help job seekers be successful in their job search.

Through our “Online Job Search Guides” (all FREE for you to use for your job search), we give you the information and advice to help you conduct a smarter and safer job search that will be shorter, too.

From the the Guide to Successful Job Interviews and the Guide to Using LinkedIn for Job Search, to the Guide to Personal SEO, the Guide to Effective Resumes and Cover Letter, and many more Guides, we want you to have the best tools and information available. Check them all out!

Today’s job seekers face a wide array of opportunities and hazards based on the technology, the economy, and the needs and practices of employers and recruiters. This is a fast-changing environment with many benefits to all involved and new dangers.

From the beginning, Job-Hunt’s focus has been on helping job seekers succeed while avoiding scams and protecting their privacy.

From 1998-2021, Job-Hunt was owned and edited by online job search expert Susan P. Joyce, with many experts also having contributed their knowledge, writing excellent articles in their areas of expertise. Check them out in the Job-Hunt Experts page. In 2021, Job-Hunt joined the FlexJobs family of sites. Learn more about Job-Hunt for press or contributors here.

Job-Hunt Awards and Recognition

Among the many awards, recognition, and quotes about Job-Hunt over the years:

• What Color Is Your Parachute? – the famous book by Richard N. Bolles
• AARP.org – The Best Way to Respond to Salary Questions During Your Job Search
• New York Times – Older Job Seekers Find Ways to Avoid Age Bias
• Forbes Best of the Web – Forbes 2013 Top 100 Websites for Your Career
• FORTUNE/CNN Money, Ask Annie – Why the Holidays Are the Best Time to Find a New Job
• FORTUNE/CNN Money, Ask Annie – Does Your Boss Know You’re Job Hunting?
• Jobs.AOL – Hot Job Site: Job-Hunt.org
• TIME – Fake Jobs: Work-Search Scams on the Rise in Recession
• FORTUNE/CNN Money, Ask Annie – Leave now or risk getting laid off
• FORTUNE/CNN Money, Ask Annie – Job offer or identity-theft scam
• JibberJobber Blog – Job-Hunt.org: A Website You Can Trust
• SearchEngineWatch – Job-Hunt.org: An Old-Fashioned Success Story

Job-Hunt is owned by:

FlexJobs Corporation

4845 Pearl East Circle Suite 101 #23790, Boulder, CO, 80301-6113

(866) 991-9222

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