To go off sick in December?

YABU.

You shouldn't be taking sick leave just because you haven't arranged any childcare. It's not fair on your colleagues who will have to pick up the slack.

You might also need sick leave later if you have a chronic illness which you'll have used up and I can't see how you'll get signed off without lying.

Whilst kids might ideally come first, an employment contract is an agreement which, if broken, can lead to dismissal. Taking a month off as a dodgy sickie would be gross misconduct for most employees.

How are you planning on getting your GP to sign you off for a month, if your symptoms are presenting no differently ?

Your bosses will see what you are doing a mile off so expect an interesting year end review and hope they aren’t looking at a restructure / redundancies as a far number of places are at the moment

Why didn't you book leave? Christmas is not a surprise to anyone

I don't understand how you've only just found out - have they changed policy? How long have you been working there?

As long as it's not going to affect your job security I'd do it. Life's too short to miss the important stuff.

But if you have a chronic illness, you're going to need time off for real at some points, surely? What if you get ill in Jan/Feb time but all your sick pay is gone? I get it's stresful not to have childcare but this seems like a really bad idea. Is there nobody at all who can help you with childcare? If not, is it worth talking to your employer or HR? Maybe your child can come in with you, depending on what the job is?

At least you get Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year's Day off. Loads of people have to work those.

MN is also full of people with money problems cluelessly wondering why their career’s seem a bit shit and they can’t earn more… but in the real world people who get on in life generally have integrity and don’t cheat their employer 😉

In most jobs if you're off for more than 4 days in a row you have to have to be signed off by your Doctor. Then you'll probably only be paid Statutory Sick Pay which isn't a huge amount. I don't think it would be wise to do this.

Yeah, fuck it. Do it.
In 4 billions years the sun will expand and swallow the earth and absolutely nothing on Earth will exist, so enjoy your Christmas’s now with your family.

You want 3 weeks off? That’s ridiculous and why people who are actually off with a genuine chronic illness get a hard time, and are disbelieved.

Sick leave is for sickness, not for when you fancy the time off. If you think leave is allocated unfairly take it up with your employer or look for another job.

Can you afford to only get SSP, and potentially lose your job if you have subsequent illness and a Bradford score puts you in line for being sacked?

And if they find that you've faked it you'll be sacked

Same way as every other chancer does who claims “anxiety” and “stress” because they fancy some time off. If you tell your doctor you feel too sick to go to work they can’t really say “no you don’t “‘.

OP I would not condone this usually but the person who does it every year would piss me off big time and I don’t blame you for thinking if she can get away with it, why not.

With kids that age I’d get a new job. Sounds awful.

To not make it look too plan I, I'd probably go off in the second week of December, rather than on Xmas eve. Maybe return second week of Jan

Don't kid yourself. It'll be glaringly obvious you're at it. How are you going to con your doctor into signing you off? Presumably the plan is to lie to him/her too

You're in a job you know needs cover over Christmas sounds like you need a new job. What's going to happen next year & the year after

The alternative is to start looking for a different job?

I am guessing you get decent sick pay?

Isn't the doctor going to want to do investigations if your condition has flared that much?

Do it. In the nicest posiible way if you went under a bus tmrw you'd soon be replaced.

I couldn’t do it but I can understand why you would think about it in your situation. Is your chronic illness something that qualifies as a protected characteristic? Could you start looking for a job with more family friendly hours and holidays? It seems unfair how your employer currently manages this holiday period.

MN will be horrified at the suggestion, but in the real world just go off sick

Sick leave is for when you're actually sick... so, obviously you would be being unreasonable. It's also just a dick move to your colleagues (as you know from your colleague's sickies being poorly managed). Why is your need to spend time with your young children more important than their need to spend time doing whatever they do at Christmas that is important to them?

Even if you're just looking at it from a selfish perspective, would you actually enjoy time off in these circumstances? Presumably you would be confined to the house as wouldn't want to be seen out and about when you're meant to be working. As a PP has pointed out, you will be using up any goodwill you have, which puts you in a tricky position if your illness flares up.

Yes just do it, it seems very unfair you have only one day off and somebody else is sick every year.

How are you planning on conning your doctor into conspiring to commit this fraud?