How many sick days are you allowed to take?

The workplace martyrs who come in sick or whilst still infectious always spread their stomach bugs and flu around for everyone else to enjoy 🤢

You just can’t win it seems. The last government wanted to get people off disability benefits and back into work but there appears to be absolutely no sympathy for anyone who isn’t able to charge through life at 110%. No wonder people can’t get back into the workplace.

@Abigail47 yes I think you would like it over here! I am public sector (LG) and I remind myself how lucky I am frequently. 29 days AL with the option to buy more, 5 months full sick pay, flexi time and flexible working as standard, option to compress/stretch hours, go to the office according to business need but lots of exclusive WFH roles, if I have an appointment I just put it in my calendar as a “private appointment” and am trusted to make up the time when I see fit or not take a lunch break, manage my own diary and basically do whatever I think is necessary whenever I think it is necessary to get the job done. It’s how all employers should be - our staff retention rate is excellent!

Sickness entitlement builds at an extra week per year of service up to 12 weeks worth, 3 absences in a rolling 12 month period would trigger a sickness meeting, but they are pretty good with people who have genuine health issues and do a lot of stuff to support people back to work after absence

Also in probation period you only get 2 days sick leave before your probation could be refused.

Abigail47, that's another reason why I go in when sick, not just because of the warnings I've had.
The dread of ringing in daily and being grilled, interogated when you are geniunely sick.

I’m nhs….we just call an automated sick line the day we go off sick….and call in again the day we resume to work….no requirement to speak to a manager

I’m in the civil service and a back to work interview is mandatory, we would only be told sickness can lead to dismissal if it was an official sickness meeting if you’ve breached your trigger point. Which is 3 absences, or 6 days in a 12 month period. That can be adjusted for disability up to double. That’s not a lot, as a bad flu could knock you out for more than 6 days. But a warning isn’t mandatory and a discretion could be given if meets the rules. For a long term absence you can get to around 6-9 months before it starts to get more serious about potential dismissal.

We can self certify for 5 working days, after that you need a fit note from your GP. I think that’s pretty standard.

Yeah that's your workplace being ridiculous about things.

People get sick. And people who are constantly stressed (for example about whether they'll get fired over having a cold) get sick more often.

Wow, some companies and organisations seem to have very strict rules around sickness absences.

@Abigail47 I wouldn't consider 4 days sick leave in 7 months particularly high. I might have a manager call in because their child has brought home a vomiting bug and it's going through the family. They might be unlucky enough to get a horrible cold, or Covid or some other virus. They might need a mental health day because they are anxious or stressed.

I look at my team's wellbeing as important as their output. I think that's one of the reasons why I have low turnover and high productivity in my teams. If you treat people respectfully, it pays back in dividends.

I assume everyone that I've hired is competent and capable as a starting point. If they prove me wrong, then I'll deal with it but people are certainly capable of judging if they are well enough to work. I also have no patience with people spreading germs and viruses around communal spaces for the sake of presenteeism.

As much as I need. The British system is utterly ridiculous, and you're not permitted to be ill. Despite having legitimate reasons, you'll be out on staged warning, because your body hasn't complied with staying well. My sister had a stage 1 for Covid and wisdom teeth removal. I now live in Australia, and have 'saved' 1104 hours of sick leave I could start to take whenever I needed. The fear in the UK to call in sick when legitimately unwell is disgusting

But in retail, you ARE expected to just get on with it.. after all, we are with the public all the time,..it's never ending bugs and germs.. No one would EVER be off for a cold for eg. My manager actually boasts about all the fevers she comes in with. It's a horrible culture of almost competitiveness..but we are bullied if we are off sick, and penalised for it, as even if doc signs off, we'll still get put on disciplinary if say in my case 6 days in five years..it's not worth it so we just grit teeth and carry on . I've been in other retail jobs not as bad as this one! This one
does pay living wage rather than minimum, but !

But is there a point to it if you had one day off because of a D&V bug, which was mostly over the weekend?

I once had one because of that and my manager was not impressed that all I could say was "well I'm not longer throwing up...." Because what else is there to say?

We have RTWs if we've been off a while with something bad. But if it's just been COVID and we say we're fine now, that's it.

I was public sector. 10 days self certified sick leave per year. Depending on the illness, any more than four consecutive weeks certified sick leave would trigger referral to HR, who would make contact to enquire about a return to work.

No offence taken, it is a discussion board after all. I think my point is that I haven't taken time off for spurious reasons. If a person has long term, significant health problems, then they are likely to be registered with the HR / occupational health department and would also likely be certificated when time off is taken.

As an employer, the objective is to prevent 'duvet days' and general 'I can't be arsed to go in today as the weather is nice' days.

I mentioned it also, as the OP thought four days times in seven months wasn't much. I think it is.

The other thing that it brings to my mind is the kids. Like I said earlier I was not sick till I had kids, and am quick to blame parents sending them into school, but jeez it looks like it's everywhere. The adults seem to be worse than the kids.

why a waste of time? It’s to ensure the employee is fit to return to work and to see if any reasonable adjustments need putting into place or phased returns …..I really appreaciate a RTW ….after my last long period of time off work ( 8 months) my RTW sorted about my ( fully paid ) 2 month phased return ….and was an opportunity to put a well being plan in place for me ….which sets out some reasonable adjustments and an access to work referral…..I have found RTW interviews invaluable

I suppose all the RTW meetings and admin is making a job for someone and giving them something to do…?!