200 Chicago jail officers call in sick on Mother's Day, authorities say
CHICAGO -- It seems correctional officers at the Chicago jail feel strongly about spending time with their moms.
The Cook County Sheriff's Department says more than 200 officers at the county jail called in sick or invoked the Family Medical Leave Act -- the federal law that requires employers provide leave for some medical reasons -- to explain their absence on Sunday, Mother's Day.
The department says another 154 informed the jail they won't be coming to work for the shift that starts later in the day.
"The extraordinary number of call offs puts additional pressure on the men and women of the Sheriff's office who come to work as scheduled," the department said in a statement to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Jail officials speculated that the nice weather and the fact that it's Mother's Day might explain the light attendance. Last year on Mother's Day, 420 officers didn't come to work, and nearly one month later, 520 officers called in sick on Father's Day, the Sun-Times reports. Nearly 640 officers called off work on May 2, 2015, the same day Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao faced off in the "The Fight of the Century."
Sunday's low staffing levels prompted officials to place the jail on lockdown, but according to the Sun-Times, the jail's visitation schedule was unaffected.