To go off sick in December?

OP has weeks to arrange suitable child care, but we all know she won’t because she’s already made up her mind about what she’s going to do.

You have no childcare anyway so you can't go in? I'd explain to the manager that unfortunately this year you have no form of childcare so can't go in. Maybe they could add a few days as holiday pay instead of another time.

And now you’re making negative assumptions and applying prejudice to the wider community of disabled people, based on one post - the OP’s. I’ve spent the majority of my working life advocating the opposite so it saddens me to see things haven’t changed much.

I think 1600 votes is enough to give a broad and balanced crossection. Within those 1600 votes there is likely to be proportionate levels of disabled and able-bodied voters.

37% of people voted in favour of lying. A proportionate amount are likely to have disabilities.

Why is it the wise thing to say ? Unless you know how many of those supporting her are disabled themselves it says absolutely nothing about the motivation of disabled people in the workplace. You’re skirting dangerously close to ableism now.

Many of those who don’t support her have disabilities themselves and are aware how few and far between good employers, prepared to support disabled employees, are. And many of the people who agree with OP haven’t declared an actual disability themselves, so they are unlikely to share the same point of view. The percentages don’t say anything about the motivation of disabled people unless you know whether the people commenting are disabled or not.

37% of people feel it's OK for a single mum with a chronic health condition to pull a sickie fir the best part of a month.

That's not a small minority. That's aa worryingly high number for any employer.

<shakes head> oh dear....
Plenty of ways to build and advance a brilliant career in nursing and midwifery! I'm going to wager that none of the people at the top of this field engage in general deception and are liars in order to defraud their employer by deciding it would be nicer for them personally to just have some unplanned time off for themselves and sod what it means to others in their career field...

What a dick answer! Some career are just not that well oaid look at nursing and midwifery…..hopefully all the nurses and midwives don’t suddenly decide to “ get on in life “ and leave….. those bloody clueless nurses 🙄 maybe they should go into a profession like banking ? Full of genuine people brimming with integrity……I take you are in a “well paid profession”? Or your husband/wife is…. 🙄

This is the difference between those who rise up and those who remain at a lower level job for all their working life and then moan that it's not fair.

Do you repay your employer if you have more than a week off sick ? Because by that logic, you should.

It’s the kind of reaction l expected. I would have reported it as ableist but l think it’s better to let it stand because it does illustrate what the response of many employers would be on reading the OP.

It’s hard enough getting disabled people into work now, but with the overhaul of the benefits system planned by the government, things are going to get much tougher for the sick and disabled. The emphasis is on reducing the benefits budget but no thought has been put into educating employers as to how they can support disabled people to be valuable and productive employees, or as to the help available from government in order to do that. And in that setting, this thread is less than helpful.

Nope. If they’re reluctant to hire disabled people in the future it will be because OP has reinforced every single prejudice employers have about disabled people in the workplace - which people like me have spent years trying to dispel.

Yep, agree.

Best to not take the risk though. The OP found an employer willing to give her a chance. Look how she repays them.

I did say upthread that any employers reading this thread would get that impression, but I’m still sorry you feel that way because it’s my experience that OP is in the minority. Most disabled people I’ve supported into work are only too aware of the prejudices and given the chance they’ve worked hard to prove themselves. OP’s attitude isn’t typical.

Do it, but only if you do not plan to stay at your job / don't care about your job
as it will look super obvious. There is nothing you can say or do that will stop it looking super obvious

Your colleagues will probably have to pick up the slack, so be prepared for them to treat you differently - especially if someone else will have to cover.

Your Managers will loose respect / you will have permanently tarnished your brand / look unreliable / have fucked any career prospects at this job

It is up to you, but if you value this job and the people you work with, do not as it is a shitty thing to do

Let's hope she isn't a surgeon and your operation is cancelled
Let's hope she isn't a delivery driver and your Christmas presents don't arrive
Let's hope she's nnot a mechanic and your car isn't fixed in time for Christmas
let's hope she's not a train driver and your train is cancelled
Let's hope she's not a nursery worker and you have to take your child home early
Let's hope she isn't a solicitor and your legal business/house purchase isn't delayed
Let's hope she's not a police officer and your call isn't answered in timely fashion
Let's hope she's not a hairdresser and your perm is cancelled

And so on.

OP wants to take time off from mid December to mid January so it won't look suspicious. I hope she is not expecting them to pay her for her dishonesty.

And if you need two weeks of sick one year will you repay them the difference?

its probably not about the salary but the number of staff to employ and the salary budget needs to go round.

your attitude is awful

And this here is a demonstration of why the few Cheeky fuckers ruin everything for the genuine. @Sarahbd3 don't be a CF.

if you genuinely have no childcare then I’d just go to HR and ask for unpaid parental leave due to childcare.

I think YABU, not because it’s not completely cr*p having to work so much with so little flexibility over Christmas but because of the reasons you give to excuse going off. Really anyone else (kids or none, health condition or not) would think this sucks. If that’s the deal with your job then you need a new job. Going off sick is a cop out and makes it worse for your colleagues and employer. I very much doubt that nobody has any issues with the other employee/colleague who always goes off sick for Christmas. Put your big girl pants on and address the issue here: the employment terms.

It's this attitude that screwed up WFH for the many people who did it properly.

The op is only suggesting it because her crappy employer lets others do it, so if they get reluctant to hire it’s because they can’t do management and that’s on them.

But she isn't actually off sick.

She's lying in order to enjoy herself and in the process will make life harder for those she works with.

They'd be lacking in self-respect if they didn't resent her.

And that attitude is exactly why there are employers who are hesitant to hire the younger generation. Fortunately not all young people share your views.

Incidentally, as one of the older generation to me a job is just a job and I never worked to live - but neither did I take the piss the way OP is suggesting.