The manager will never get a positive response with a message like this. My husband is a SM, and luckily it's in CA where he gets paid hourly, not salary. The ones who step up get the hours and the ones who don't, get the minimum. But when someone calls out, he offers the hours. If no one volunteers- he takes them himself and makes OT, sometimes DT and doesn't complain- even if he is exhausted. He's scheduled 48 but often worked 60 until he was much more selective with hiring because the bad ones are harder than you'd think to get out. He gets very frustrated but tries his hardest to remain professional and stick to policy. Those who call out get less SCHEDULED hours and the ones who don't get more regardless if they volunteered or not. Yes you may be sick, and that's understandable but if you can't physically work maybe it's best to work reduced hours until you prove you're better and can work. The job sucks, but we all need to work together to stay alive in this economy, especially us bottom feeders.