Ear pain and colds: when do you actually call in sick?
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#1 Cold coming on, slightly blocked ears. Everyone says never fly with blocked ears but also everyone says don't take sick days in probation. Where is the line?
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#2 The line is your ears. A cold with clear ears, most people fly with decongestant and suffer. Blocked ears that do not clear when you swallow or valsalva: do not fly, you can rupture an eardrum on descent and be off for weeks. A sick day for a genuine ear issue is the correct call and every manager knows it. The probation problem is patterns next to days off, not one honest ear.
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#3 Colleague flew with blocked ears in probation to avoid the sick call. Ruptured eardrum, three weeks off. The sick day would have been one day.