Sick Day Email and Message Templates
Jovana Avramovic
Published
Nine messages you can copy and send in under a minute: a text for one day, an email for a formal workplace, a Slack line, the awkward second day, the day your child is ill, and the one that tells your manager you are back. Under them, the three things a message has to do and the two it should not.
Topic
Topic: the message you have to send before nine.
Sick day messages
One day off, text or phone
Text
Hi [manager], I'm unwell and won't be able to work today. I'll keep an eye on anything urgent and expect to be back tomorrow. [colleague] has the [project] handover.
You do not know how long yet
Text
Hi [manager], I'm ill and can't work today. I don't know yet whether I'll be back tomorrow, so I'll message you before [time] in the morning either way.
Email, more formal workplace
Subject: Sick leave today Hi [manager], I'm unwell and won't be able to work today, [date]. I've moved my [meeting] and [colleague] can cover anything urgent on [project]. I'll let you know by the end of the day if I need tomorrow as well. Best, [name]
Email, several days with a doctor's note
Subject: Sick leave, [first date] to [last date] Hi [manager], I saw a doctor this morning and have been signed off until [date]. I've attached the note. [colleague] has what they need for [project]; the only thing outstanding is [item], which can wait until I'm back. I'll confirm my return the day before. Best, [name]
Slack or Teams
Chat
Morning [manager], I'm sick today and taking the day off. Standup is covered, [colleague] can pick up anything urgent. Back tomorrow unless I say otherwise.
Second or third day
Text
Hi [manager], still not well enough to work, so I'll be out today too. I've got a doctor's appointment at [time] and will update you after it.
Your child or a family member is ill
Text
Hi [manager], [child] is ill and can't go to [school or nursery], so I need to stay home today. I can be reached if something is urgent and I'll pick up [task] tomorrow.
Going home part-way through the day
Chat
Hi [manager], I've been feeling worse through the morning and need to head home. I've finished [task] and left notes on [item]. I'll let you know tonight about tomorrow.
Letting them know you are back
Chat
Morning [manager], I'm back today and feeling much better. Thanks for covering. I'll catch up on [project] first and come to you with anything that slipped.
Replace anything in square brackets before you send. Check your handbook for the reporting channel and deadline your employer requires: following it is usually the condition for the absence being treated as properly notified.
What do you write in a sick day email?
Three things, in this order: that you are unwell and will not be working, the date or dates you expect to be out, and what happens to anything urgent. That is a complete message in two sentences. You do not need to name your illness, describe your symptoms, or apologize. Send it through whatever channel your handbook names, usually a call or a message to your direct manager before a stated time, because following the reporting procedure is normally what makes the absence properly notified. If you do not know how long you will be out, say so and give a time when you will next update them, which is more useful to a manager than an optimistic guess. If the absence will run past the point where your employer or your statutory scheme requires evidence, say that you are seeing a doctor and will send the note. Keep the whole thing short: a long sick message reads as a justification, and nobody is asking for one.
How to use these templates
Pick the one that matches your situation, press Copy, and replace anything in square brackets. Most of them are two sentences, which is deliberate: the manager needs to know you are out and who is covering, and anything else is for when you are back.
Two checks before you send. First, the channel: if your handbook says call the absence line, call it, and send the message as well rather than instead. Second, the deadline: many employers set a time, often an hour before your shift or 9am, and an absence reported after it can be treated as unnotified even when the illness is real.
What a sick day message has to do
A manager reading your message at 7:40am is answering three questions, and a good message answers all three before they have to ask.
| What the manager needs | Why | The line that does it |
|---|---|---|
| That you are out, stated plainly | Ambiguity costs them a reply and you a second message | I'm unwell and won't be able to work today |
| How long, or when you will know | It decides whether they reassign your work or wait | I expect to be back tomorrow, or: I'll message you before 9 tomorrow either way |
| What happens to anything urgent | It is the only part that affects the rest of the team today | [colleague] has the [project] handover |
What to leave out
A diagnosis. You are generally not required to give one, and offering it invites follow-up questions you do not owe answers to. Unwell, ill, or not well enough to work is a complete statement of the position. The exception is a workplace where a specific condition triggers a policy, for example a reporting duty for an infectious illness in a healthcare or food-handling setting.
An apology. Sick leave is a term of your employment, not a favor, and a message that opens with sorry sets a tone that makes the second day harder to report. Thanks for covering, when you return, is a different thing and worth saying.
An offer to work anyway. Promising to be on email while ill tends to become an expectation, and it undermines the claim that you were unable to work if the absence is ever questioned. If something genuinely cannot wait, name the one item and the one person who can reach you about it.
When you need a doctor's note
The rule depends on where you work and which scheme is paying. In the United States, no federal law requires a note for an ordinary sick day, and employers set their own threshold; many use three consecutive days, mirroring the FMLA's incapacity test, though they may require one from the first day as long as the rule is applied consistently. Several state and city paid sick leave laws forbid asking for a note before the third or fourth consecutive day.
In the United Kingdom you can self-certify for the first seven calendar days, including non-working days, and a fit note is needed from the eighth. In Germany the employer may ask for an Arbeitsunfaehigkeitsbescheinigung from the fourth calendar day, and many ask from the first, which the law permits.
If you expect to cross the threshold, say so in the message rather than waiting to be asked. The multi-day email template does this in one line.
Who to send it to
Your direct manager, always, and the absence line or HR mailbox as well if the handbook names one. Copying the whole team is unnecessary and tells people more about your health than they need to know; a single line in the team channel saying you are out today, with no reason, does the same job.
If your manager is away, send it to whoever is covering for them and copy the manager so the record is complete when they return. If you report to two people, tell both: the one you did not tell is the one who will reassign your work.
Editorial templates, not legal advice. Notice deadlines, reporting channels, and medical evidence rules are set by your employer's policy and by local law: UK self-certification runs to seven calendar days (SSP rules), Germany permits a certificate request from the fourth calendar day (Entgeltfortzahlungsgesetz section 5), and US requirements vary by state, city, and employer. Checked October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
- What do I say in a sick day email?
- That you are unwell and will not be working, the dates you expect to be out, and who can pick up anything urgent. Two sentences is enough. You do not need to give a diagnosis, describe symptoms, or apologize.
- Should I call or email when I am sick?
- Whatever your handbook requires, and if it requires a call, call and then follow up in writing. A written message creates the record of when you reported the absence, which is the thing that matters if the absence is ever questioned.
- Do I have to say why I am sick?
- Generally no. Unwell or ill is a complete answer. Some roles have reporting duties for specific infectious illnesses, and a protected leave request will eventually need medical certification, but an ordinary sick day does not require a reason.
- What do I write on the second day of being sick?
- Send an update rather than a new excuse: still not well enough to work, out today as well, and when you will next know. If you are approaching the point where a note will be required, mention the appointment in the same message.
- Can I text my boss that I am sick?
- Yes, where the employer's procedure allows it, and a text is the normal channel in most teams now. Check the handbook: if it names a phone call or an absence line, a text on its own may not count as having reported the absence.
- How do I call in sick when my child is ill?
- Say that your child is ill and cannot go to school or nursery and that you need to stay home, rather than implying you are ill yourself. Depending on where you work this may draw on paid sick leave, family or carer's leave, or FMLA leave if the child has a serious health condition.
About the author
Jovana Avramovic
Product Excellence, Time-Out Zone
Jovana writes hands-on guides to time-off workflows, calendar tooling, and the rules behind vacation, sick leave, and payouts.
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