To go off sick in December?

And the rest of staff okay to do likewise?
Quite many NHS workers (and other 24/7 jobs) don't have sick days around the year so they can pull them too at Christmas and it's just fine?!

Yeah, as long as you're independently wealthy and can afford to support your kids without your job, crack on and do what you like. But please don't expect the taxpayer to pick up the bill when you eventually get fired for your shitty attitude to work.

You won’t get that time back with your kids. If you’ve not been sick for years then do it, do you by chance work for the inflexible don’t give a shit about employees nhs?

No.
Find another job that works better for you.

This type of post is also why some employers don't want to hire mothers. I hate to say it, but it is.

So my answer is part yes part no! It’s shitty that one person always gets Xmas off - I think that needs to be addressed with work.
but yes, it’s shitty to get a sick note to take a month off and (as an employer) the 2nd week of December as opposed to the 3rd makes little difference - I’d still question the convenience.

If it's that important to you to get that time off get a job that enables you to book that period off, there are plenty out there. I think you're being a bit precious considering you have the BHs off, but Christmas leave is one of the things I consider when taking jobs. Don't be selfish and cause someone else to cover you or be put out because you're unable to either assert yourself, or position yourself into the appropriate role.

I’m a team manager in a sector that staff have to work all over the Christmas period, I had one staff who did exactly like you, went off sick for the whole period when she found out that she had to work Boxing Day, the rest of the staff had to pick up her shifts and she was never trusted and liked again by them, I’m very fair and I will make sure that if you worked that shift last year, you won’t do it this year; I find this fake illness and lack of work ethic very selfish because everyone wants to be off and you took the job knowing that you may need to work those days so it shouldn’t be a surprise that you may have to, to be honest, after that, I never trusted her when she took sick days again, at the end she left and the team and I were actually relieved about it

@KTheGrey do you not think employers look on social media or to basic checks on the people they hire?

The other thing is they'll do is just stop hiring women of childbearing age altogether to avoid the problem entirely 🤷‍♀️

It happens, let's not pretend it doesn't, and people who think it's okay to skip work for a month because they want Christmas with their kids are 100% part of the problem.

I don't know what your business does or what your role is, but in most workplace where Christmas cover is required then YABU.

We had someone in a place where I worked who always went sick over Christmas and played the "I'm a single parent it's not fair I have to work any of it" card. Got caught out by her Facebook in the end. So if you are going to fake a sickie, be very careful if you have any colleagues living close by, on your social media, etc. When you work in an industry that requires 365 day cover, everyone should do their fair share. People who do what you're suggesting leave others to pick up the slack for them, and your colleagues aren't daft. It's rubbish that there's someone else who does it every year, but that doesn't mean it's ok if everyone else starts doing it either.

You're talking as if every other family in the world will be celebrating and doing nice things at Christmas except yours. You're getting the public holidays off! You don't even get those if you work in any essential services, emergency services, etc. Some of those people are even single parents. Hopefully you won't expect to go to A&E and be seen if one of your children falls ill on one of those days since it's soooooo unfair that parents have to work at Christmas?

If you have no child care, the honest thing to do is speak with your manager, talk to colleagues if you need to swap a working day or two, or see if you can take parental leave.

I'd also speak to them about the potential unfairness of using a draw names out of a hat system. Whoever took the most leave last year at my place has the lowest priority for the following year, and if you worked the last year you should be first in line. We went away for Christmas last year, so I accept this year I am working and doing a fair amount of on call risk/escalation cover, as there is a 24/7 mental health helpline and all managers with a core clinical profession are required to chip in so that the workload is shared between more people and everyone does get some time off with their families or whatever they do at Christmas.

I’d be more concerned about routinely having to work over Christmas and that burden not being shared among the whole team- it sounds as if you never get time off over Christmas? That said, is it not possible to book holiday over the period, say at the start of the holiday year?

Does your manager know your childcare situation? As nurseries will be shut what are you going to do? I think I would be looking for alternative work rather than planning an extended sickie because this is going to be an issue every year, all other things being fair and equal.

Ok I see you point about names out of a hat but that isn’t quite what the OP said which was: I'll only been granted one day off over the Xmas and year new period (I mean besides the official public holidays). Names drawn out of a hat about who on the team can have which days off over the Xmas season.

So everyone gets a day and it is chance as to which day. 24th and 27th are going to be most popular this year. What would be the fair way to decide who gets those?

Do you honestly think no one will twig what you're doing?

Do you care?

Is there an option to use your annual holiday or take unpaid leave?

I appreciate how you feel but it shows a poor work ethic and it will be very obvious what you're doing.

If you stay off work more than a few days you won't you need a dr's note?

Wouldn't be worth doing. But why would it come up at interview? Must be illegal to ask whether somebody is, so nobody should be worried about giving a non-answer - "Oh, not an issue for me" or "I am not in that situation."

Most 24/7 NHS workers will split from their partner 3-4 a year and enjoy the right of being a single parent. Why should non single parents or childless people cover alm the sh*tty days... It's bonkers to think it could work.

I wouldn’t risk it.

depending on what your chronic illness is would you even be able to go out and about if you had a “normal” flare up?

if yes then in my view you risk actually becoming sick for real in January and needing more time off.

if no then you can’t really do it when you’re off

also if you go sick second week of dec then depending on how old your kids are won’t they be at school until at least 20th?

Exactly this!

And of course, if op did get seen out, then noone at work could question or complain as some conditions don't need to be confined to the house and getting out can do some good so shes had her lovely holiday time with her kids question and guilt free...stuff everyone else.

They have the bank holidays off though, so it's just the days in between. Very normal days to be at work.

And again, OP doesn't need a reasonable adjustment for a chronic illness. She's never been off sick with it before and hasn't been off sick with anything for 4 years. Faking being off with a chronic illness is even lower than claiming food poisoning or the likes - people with chronic illness and disability struggle enough to keep their jobs as it is.

I guess you care if your house burns down because firemen took the day off or your child dies because no doctor showed up at hospital as they called in sick to enjoy the festivitas with their young childen.

We could all sign off sick from 20.12 to 6.1. Why not?

That would be illegal as well as unlikely.

Lots of things are illegal, that doesn't mean they don't happen.

You'd also have to work really hard to prove that the only reason you weren't hired is because you were a single parent or had young children.

A lottery is chance, not fair. Fair is when everybody has the same amount of time off - so either everybody gets the same number of hours leave over Xmas week, or it is done on a yearly rota - this year it's A and B, next year it's C and D, year after it's E and F. And yes, I expect new starters can expect to go into slots E and F.

It is a bit shit having to work over the Christmas period, but couldn’t you just plan lots of lovely Christmassy events for your days off? Presumably you don’t work 7 days a week. You could even do stuff on the days you are working, e.g. quick tea after work then wrap up warm and go for a walk to see all the local Christmas lights followed by a fancy hot chocolate. There is lots you could still do to make the time with your children special, and when they’re older they will look back an appreciate it so much more knowing how hard you were working and that you still made the time to make Christmas special for them.

Which won't go unnoticed.... And then the OP will be back in January complaining that her colleagues attitudes to her is unkind.

OP, see if someone will swap.

I was going to be sympathetic thinking you just wanted a full week off, but a month? Please, that's ridiculous. I don't know anyone who works and get that. I have small children too, I am happy with a full week. Anything beyond that is unrealistic.