Non-American slam boss for response to sick day request

An employee proudly posted her boss’s response to her sick day request — and the non-American people of the internet had a lot to say about it.

Ley Sabandal lives and works in the Philippines but has an American boss.

After feeling under the weather and asking to take a sick day, her boss responded with an answer that satisfied her: “Sorry you’re not feeling well. No problem taking the day to rest. Yes, you’re welcome to flex your time to make up hours anytime during the month. No hurry catching back up. Thanks.”

As one often does in this digital age, Sabandal, who goes by the username @pixelleyted, posted her boss’s response on Instagram threads: “This is how my American boss responds to my sick leave request” alongside a teary eye emoji, but was shockingly met with a ton of backlash from commenters who clearly don’t understand how sick days vary in different countries.

The Post reached out to Sabandal for comment.

“Seeing this as a German is like.. what the f–k. catching up work time because I was sick? Hilarious,” wrote one confused person.

“Poland here: A normal sick day. Paid 80%. No need to make up anything. No limits in sick days / year,” quipped someone else.

A Sweden resident chimed in, too: “So sick days and vacation days come from the same budget? Swede here – that sounds terrible. Really. In Sweden, if you are on a planned holiday and get sick, you can actually call in sick and get ‘new’ vacation days. Probably unheard of in the US.”

Meanwhile, some Americans in the comments thought the boss gave an empathetic, kind response.

“Lmao at us Americans here like ‘Aww what a kind, understanding response’ meanwhile the rest of the world is like “MAKE UP TIME LOST?!” joked an American commenter.

“I don’t get it. It seems quite empathic to me. What am I missing here?” another confused soul wrote.

Aside from those few comments, thousands of others joined in on what turned into a bigger conversation: how different countries handle employee sick days and PTO.

“Norwegian here: I had to take a mental health day last month. I’ve got a lot going on in my life and had a lot of unforeseen things happening at once. Told my boss and he said it was okay and told me to take care of myself,” read a comment.

“This was on a Thursday. Came back Friday, was met with a hug and he told me that I didn’t have to fight my battles alone. He was there for me whenever I needed to talk. Even after work hours. That promise still stands and I’m so happy for the support I’ve got at work,” the Norwegian resident continued.

“New Zealander here. My boss would prob respond with. Hey anything I can get for you? 24 days paid sick leave, mental health days, two paid union days off plus 4-5 weeks annual leave. America is weird. Oh and free healthcare,” someone else wrote.