Friend and Continued Work Absence

I don't particularly think it is because it's deliberate and planned, as opposed to ill health which isn't. Ill health can't be helped. Pregnancy can. But it is legal, so by that token your friend isn't doing anything wrong. Plenty of people here will hold the view that repeated maternity is perfectly ethical, so I wonder what their opinion is on this, and whether, and how, it differs.

You hadn't mentioned any of that
Still not convinced

It absolutely can and does if you have multiple children in close succession, as many people do. Plenty of women get jobs, get pregnant, take their full maternity allowance, go back to work, get pregnant again within months, take another full maternity allowance... and so on and so forth.

If that isn't unethical, then neither is working with ill health.

You still haven't said how you support your friend.
The now I read the more obvious it is that this is a colleague you're pissed off with

Surely OP can look at her friend's behaviour and think it may be unethical to pursue job after job knowing how limited her ability to fulfil the terms of her employment is, without it meaning she's wishing bad things upon her, or have that mean she is a bad friend?

Your use of the word 'unethical' is interesting. I don't think it's any more unethical than when women deliberately start a new job knowing they're several months pregnant then immediately go off on maternity soon after starting, or take their full maternity leave entitlement knowing they have no intention of going back to work afterwards. That I think is avoidable because it's a certainty that it's going to happen, where as becoming ill, or becoming ill again, is not.

Sick and disabled people have employment rights too, and it's not unethical for them to do something as normal as get a job.

awaits chorus of THIS POSTER MUST BE A MAN!!!"* For the avoidance of doubt: not.

Surely OP can look at her friend's behaviour and think it may be unethical to pursue job after job knowing how limited her ability to fulfil the terms of her employment is, without it meaning she's wishing bad things upon her, or have that mean she is a bad friend? Teaching is possibly not the right career for her as there is an expectation that for fixed weeks of the year you are expected to be fulfilling the duty of educating children. I have a family member much like the OP's friend, and whilst lovely, I honestly think she likes the idea of being a teacher more than the reality. She has had a lot of absence. The children she teaches have had a lot of supply teachers. Obviously I have no idea how this has affected their learning but I can't imagine it's great. She won't think about a career change, even though job clearly isn't really for her. I'm not sure what the answer is, as we should all be able to take time off for illness and recuperation, without fear of losing our jobs, but surely there comes a point where you can't just have the right to stay in a job that you can't actually do indefinitely?

If I was her I would get a zero hours, very flexible job where I can cancel my shifts on a regular basis without penalisation. Obviously I wouldn't get paid for the days I'm off. Otherwise I'd consider medically retiring. It's true teaching is a very poor choice for someone that unwell. I mean no salaried job would accept fifty percent attendance.

Such as towards the end of the year when children are moving on or up. Then she starts taking weeks off for mental health related conditions and this is often on top of odd days as she feels she is "immunocompromised" and has "severe IBS".

As she feels she is immunocompromised? I'm sorry, I must have missed the part where you said that you're her doctor as well as her friend.

What you're getting at is that you think she's blagging or overplaying these conditions, and her mental health, in order to get time off work. What a lovely friend you must be. Why would you keep in contact with someone you clearly feel is a lazy scrounger...unless you just like having someone to look down on?

She's perfectly entitled to take employment in the field she's trained and qualified for, despite any health conditions. Her employer has legal duties towards any employee with certain health issues, and it is their responsibility - and their's only - to ensure that the children she is teaching aren't disadvantaged.

If multiple employers have let her go as a result of her health issues, an she's she's been successful in bringing tribunal cases against them, that means two things.

1- Her medical records will have been fully scrutinized, her doctors will have confirmed her conditions to be legitimate and serious enough for her to miss work, and multiple tribunals will have agreed with these assessments.

2 - Multiple employers have failed in their duty of care to you 'friend', and dismissed her illegally.

I don't know about you, but my first instinct in a situation like that would be to support my 'friend', not insist that she does a job that you feel is menial enough not to matter.

There are people like this though.

When I was a governor a head teacher did that “re-setting the clock” thing continuously. Apparently you are not able to view a candidate’s previous sickness record, and of course a reference wouldn’t mention it. The only way is to “informally” do a background check.

Anyone can fall ill with whatever complaint. Doing it time and again in different settings - especially if using the clock method - is not really playing fair.

Yep. It’s a classic “sick person gets something I don’t, waaaaaaah, it’s not faaaaaaaaair” post, the OP picks the hot topic of children’s education so a whole forum of parents with a vested interest in that are onside with her.
Didn’t quite work out that way though, did it.

Couldn’t agree more.

I actually wonder if this person exists at all, or if this thread is just a thinly disguised dig at people with mental or physical health issues. Some of the things this woman has said about her “friend” are vague and generic, she won’t answer specific questions, and some of her answers are so ludicrous as to be laughable.

This is probably someone who has a beef about a completely different colleague being “on the sick” and getting something (time off, sick pay) that she doesn’t. Either way, the OP is a thoroughly nasty and unpleasant individual.

I see the OP has been back and answered a few points but still hasn't answered my question as to what support she gives her friend when she is struggling.

Is she really a friend OP? Or a colleague that you're covering for?

I'm surprised that the employers aren't capable of reading her Cv or job application and seeing that she's got a poor job history. if they still offer her the job so be it.

If she's had her employment terminated before 2 years are up there's no legal basis to settlement surely. ?

Do her a favour and cut the friendship. Imagine bitching about a ‘friend’ on the internet like this.

I’ve experienced this too. One school I worked at, both the head and deputy played this game for 3 years. Finally the governors ousted them. One would go off sick late September / early October and return late June. One year she went on a touring holiday of Canada in August. The following year, the Galápagos Islands. Miraculous recoveries each time.
Meanwhile, the rest of us covered extra duties, assemblies etc in her absence and the absolute piss take was when the SIP (school improvement partner) praised her for the school’s SATs results when she hadn’t even been there. The staff and parents lost all confidence in her and the governors (until they finally sorted her some sort of early retirement package at god knows what price) and the pupils were only not affected due to the huge efforts and high competence of the staff left behind and the fact they’d never really known them be there!

None of which has anything to do with the way mental health can be affected by work stress.