Hundreds of Chicago Jail Guards Called in Sick Sunday for Mother's Day

More than 200 jail officers in Cook County, IL, called in sick Sunday, forcing the facility to be placed on lockdown, officials said. 

The Cook County Sheriff's office said that 32% of the officers scheduled to work the 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift did not appear. The office said that 86 of the officers said they were sick. Another 126 cited the federal Family Medical Leave Act, which protects employees' absences due to personal and family illnesses and pregnancy, among other reasons. 

"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 office said in a statement. 

This is not the first time the jail has had issues with absences on holidays. Last year, 420 officers called in sick on Mother's Day, with more than 520 doing so on Father's Day and the following Monday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times .