call in sick policy? how far ahead to call in?

I do private duty (RN level cases) through an agency. What is your "call in" policy? If you are calling in unable to work (sick, need a personal day, etc), how far ahead do you have to give notice? I realize that with private duty cases a patient and/or family is really counting on you. But, hey, everyone is occasionally going to need a sick day or personal day.


Earlier today I called in 5 hours before my shift starts. I work an odd shift (5pm to 10pm), so I called in about 11:30 am. Well, I was told that the policy is that you must call in 24 hours ahead of time. 24 hours ahead?!?! That means you have to call in the day BEFORE. That means I would have had to have called in yesterday afternoon to let them know I could not work at 5pm today! This makes no sense to me. Generally when you call in, it is going to be fairly last minute. You wake up feeling sick. Your child is suddenly sick. Or some other unexpected situation arises prohibiting you from working. Etc.

Also - just because someone feels sick the day BEFORE they have to work does not mean they will still feel sick the next day! Right? Or when a personal crisis or emergency develops, you don't have a 24-hour advance warning of it! "Hello, I am calling in for tomorrow because tomorrow I am going to get in a car accident! My psychic told me!"

Anyways...I guess I'm also annoyed about it because they really hassled me about calling in! And I very rarely call in...about twice a year is typical for me. Someone who almost never calls in should not be hassled about it when they do. I have also been a very flexible employee - I have switched/swapped shifts because they needed me to, worked extra shifts, etc. The respect only goes one way I guess. But this will begin another post topic....haha