I'm not a manager, but at bullseye here is how it seems to work.

-if you call in you MUST tell the manager why you are not coming in. they will write it down and if they don't like your answer they can ask for a doctor's note or other verification.
-If you are doing this NOT with in the 3 hour window you had better be on your way to the emergency room or to catch a flight to see your dying grandma (or any other emergency situation).

option 2, go in sick.
-this is what 99% of people do. and the managers don't seem to care. I have come to work hungover, dizzy, vomiting. -- but i clean the bathrooms anyway so no one notices. One time i pulled a muscle in my hip so bad i was limping for my next 3 shifts. -- no one cared.----- managers would rather you come in and work slowly then not come in at all.

option 3
leave if you feel too sick.

this is a hard one. the only time i ever had to leave was when i cut my hand open on the curved part of the palm, so the cut was ripping wider and wider with every passing second. so by the time i asked the manager "what is the process for letting me go to the emergency room?" it was clear WHY i could not finish my shift.

that is the issue "WHY" with 99% of people just powering through the sickness (as i said in option 2) managers want a reason THEY CAN SEE. So if you are trying to decide between

A- call in
or B-go in sick

call, and ask who is the manager today. is it someone reasonable who would let you go home if you need to?

I actually got sent home yesterday, second time ever, I had a stomach problem and I my lovely boss kept saying go home, but it was just him and I really didn't want to leave him on his tod. In the end he came out and told me the next person was coming in early and to sod off.

I know I'm lucky with him, mainly because the last time I was sent home was with a different company and another manager and she was a nightmare. I was so ill I couldn't see, my eyes were streaming and I was sneezing and sniffing and scaring the customers. We were all shocked when she told me to go home, she'd never sent ANYone home before. She is one of those people who don't give a damn about how ill you are unless you can sue the company. Maybe she was worried about a customer suing?

My point being; it's down to management, if they are reasonable they will send you home, if they are unreasonable you have to tell them you are going home. Going in often proves that you are willing to work, just unable.

Good luck.

The problem with you asking us what we would prefer in your situation if we were managers is that most of us (if not all of us) are reasonable people. We would behave in an appropriate and intelligent manner as a manager. The people who are actually managers hardly ever act as if they have a functioning brain. Most of the time what a real manager would want is the most unreasonable thing you could imagine.