If you're a manager, what do you honestly think of staff going off on mental health sickness?

If they are unwell then they are unwell. Mental health is just as important. Work survives, the cogs keep turning no matter what. Managers don't really care so much as they don't own the business, the people that will look at the costs to the business overall such as FDs and the owners will take a view but it won't be personal, it will be based on their impact to the bottom line.
Although some managers are not kind people so it depends on if your manager is a decent human and if the business is allowing them to find suitable cover while you are off so everyone else isnt overworked and ends up with their own mental health problems.

It depends. Someone with a diagnosis and who declared their disability, I wouldn't have any issue with - like with any other type of illness. We recruited them knowing what that would potentially entail, or if they disclosed it when they joined, so I would ensure there is sufficient handover notes and that the rest of my team could cover critical daily tasks.

Someone who is signed off by their GP 2-3 weeks as a one-off due to MH, related to work or not, I wouldn't have any issue with either. It happened to me once, it could happen to anyone. Personally, I used my Annual Leave, but I guess i could have used sick leave instead.

But someone who calls in sick 2, 3 days a month here and there, with no warning, no medical notes or diagnosis, and do that repeatedly over months/years - that I would have a problem with.

It is irrelevant whether the employee has physical or mental health issues. Both deserve the same supportive and lawful treatment...

As a manager you just need to follow the correct procedures. You are not a healthcare professional and it is not up to you to assess who is ''worthy'' or not...

I am a senior manager and all I care about is that the employee correctly reports that they are off sick and provides the right fit note from their GP.

Then we can do a back to work meeting on their return and look at reasonable adjustments and/or referral to Occupational Health.

If the absence is long term again I need to make sure I follow the right process if there is no sign of the employee being able to go back to work.

Anything else and you are putting your organisation at risk of an employment tribunal claim...

I always find it so bizarre that people think it is OK to suggest that staff who struggle with their mental health are by definition not genuine or not ''resilient'' enough.

Depression, bipolar disorder, PTSD are conditions like any other and the person who experiences them can just magically wish them away.

Also so many work places are toxic and push people to the point of burn out due to inappropriate staffing, bullying and so on that they only have themselves to blame if their employees are suffering.

So sad that in 2025 so much stigma and ignorance remain around mental health.

The problem with anything MH-related is that so many people use it as an excuse now if they CBA to go to work or do just, yes, lack resilience for the normal ups and downs of life.

There's a huge difference between someone who is seriously mentally unwell and someone who feels a bit down, bored or fed up, but it all gets lumped under the same umbrella now, which I think is unhelpful, particularly for those with serious MH conditions.

I used to have a very low opinion of people who called in sick due to mental health issues (going back a good 15 or so years now)...then it happened to me. It certainly allowed me to empathize and be a better manager to people in that situation. I treat time off for mental health issues no different than any other illness.

It really depends on lots of things: the nature of the job itself, the reason for the mental health decline, the person’s attitude and performance up until then. If overall you’ve been a dedicated employee, genuinely hitting targets and pulling your weight then you’d have unwavering understanding from me - I often encourage staff to put their own needs first and am mindful of work/life balance. However less so for the person who becomes overwhelmed at the most basic aspects of the role and takes off multiple periods of time which causes more work for everyone else. I’m talking across a span of years here. If a situation like that goes on for too long and someone is essentially blocking a job while also saying it’s making them unwell, and doing very little to earn their pay, then I begin to lose sympathy. My job is also to make sure we’re meeting our contractual obligations so there needs to be a balance and a level of respect and realism from both parties.

This is true, but it's not a pass to stay away from work indefinitely. As with any illness, if you're unlikely to be fit to work within a reasonable time frame, employers need to follow the process to dismissal.

Sometimes people aren’t a good addition to the work place if they aren’t in a good place. I’ve been relieved when someone who is clearly struggling finally goes off sick to try to get better but people often leave it too late and I’ve seen it tear apart working relationships. A woman I work with has clearly been struggling for months and been acting very badly towards everyone and it’s only when her working relationships have all collapsed she has taken time off so people are finding it hard to feel sympathy. I think we feel empathy but we have all been on the mood and emotion rollercoaster with this person a long while. Obviously we want the best for them but also it’s been nicer here without them!
Manager tried to get them to recognise it was not acceptable behaviour and even sent them for counselling, it did improve but it didn’t last long

This.

Mental health absence shouldn’t be seen as any different to a physical health absence. Employers have legal duty to protect mental health of employees as well as physical safety. Anyone who thinks otherwise shouldn’t be a manager.

Also - it’s not your colleagues business why you’re signed off. If you want to be open about it, fair enough, but I wouldn’t be telling the team the details of someone’s physical or mental health condition!

I’m a manager who has had several staff signed off over the years and I’ve also had a period signed off myself due to burnout seven years ago.
it depends. You develop a sense of who is at it, and that can be very frustrating and lengthy to deal with. They’re often pretty work shy when they are at work too. One of my best team members just now struggles with her mental health - when she’s well she’s fantastic, when she’s not I know and trust that she’s genuinely unwell and doing all she can to support herself.

I’m sure your colleagues find you irritating

I hope you’re not a manager..

If someone needs to be off for poor mental health then so be it. Anyone who wants to moan or be judgemental about it should count themselves lucky that they can function enough to be in work!

Short term and you are working on it with therapies, GP appointments etc - absolutely fine and no different to a physical health complaint.

Long term or constantly on and off or if you are doing nothing to address the issue? Taking the piss or the job isn't right for you to be honest. Again, no different to how I'd feel if you had a recurring physical health complaint that you refused to attend/seek treatment for or that clearly made the job unsuitable for you.

The problem I found a lot of people can’t differentiate between genuine MH issues and just being pissed off at not getting there own way and having to do as there told and pull the stress card

I’m in social work, burn out and stress related absence are par for the course to be honest. I have a lot of concern and sympathy, because I know the job isn’t going to change any time soon and teams are hugely under resourced.

Depends on the trigger and severity. Most issues I've dealt with as a manager have signalled low resilience. A couple have been more deep rooted.

Unfortunately the only people I know who have suffered with anxiety/depression are ones that totally take the piss. Its definitely skewed my vision when it comes to someone saying they have it.

Seriously? Are you ignoring all mental illnesses as valid illness?
I had 4 months off work for mental health reasons. For 3 of those months I was in hospital under section. No bereavements. Are you telling me that's a lack of resilience??

Outwardly, obviously im very supportive and follow all policies regarding OH support and helping a successful return to work.

My personal view depends on what they're doing to help themselves. If it's a few weeks after a shocking series of bad luck and they're engaging with doctors and other support I think very highly of them. The ones who want to stay at home for as long as possible and want to "prove" just how ill they are, I struggle with.

I know depression makes you feel that way, but just as with any other illness, if you're too ill to reliably do your job, you need to leave and the policies are there to achieve that.

It's not something I've experienced but if I had member of staff taking leave due to their mental health i would seriously look at how much workload I waa placing on my team.

Depends, when its someone who is struggling but taking active steps to address it, absolutely fine and fully support, but when its the workshy, lazy, self confessing that they just want more money than benefits but has worked out that saying its mental health makes them untouchable, they are loathed by everyone.

I am really supportive of my team’s mental health. It can take over everything and they will end up needing more time off if they don’t take it seriously as soon as possible. I encourage them to be open, to prioritise their wellbeing and if they need time off they get it. It doesn’t affect my opinion of how well they perform in their job - truly.

The only time I’ve ever had time off for mental health reasons was ironically due to being burnt out due to 3 years of persistent staff shortages. If an organisation culls a large proportion of the staff and expects the remaining ones to pick up the slack they can’t be surprised when there are consequences.