What would you do? Resign or sick leave?

[UserThenLotsOfNumbers]

I have posted about this before, in a nutshell - bullying and incompetent manager has now bullied 5 colleagues out of jobs in 6 months, only me left. I'm now looking for jobs and faced with the following choices as I can't cope anymore:

Resign next month:
Have one month's notice
Potentially be unemployable because I've left a job without one to go to
Have to work with manager for a month

Go off sick with stress for a time whilst continuing job search, so...
Have some much needed time off to recover
Don't need to work with manager
Continue to be employed
However, am very worried stress or anxiety will be held against me by future employers. I had 3 weeks off this year for an operation and 2 weeks off with gastroenteritis, so my overall sick record is bad this year (it isn't normally).

I'm unable to book annual leave as it's only me left and the manager hates ppl taking leave. Don't know what to do. Please help me Mumsnet.

Oh op sorry you are in this situation
What industry are you in- will you be a me to find another job within 4-6weeks?
Do you have savings should you not find a mew job to cover bills?
Have you applied to any to date?

Your mental health will inprove massivemy once your out of there!!

When i was in a simmilar situation around 6 years ago i did start looking while still enployed at place A. Tbh it was like light at the end of the tunnel!! And got a job and left after my notice period. I had no savings so couldn't afford to not be in work.

Hope you find something soon x

Thank you! Money not much of an issue, but would need to find work within say 6 months.
Wouldn't like to give too many details, but I'm a general Senior Administrator.

What your hr dept like? And your managers manager, because I'd be complaining rather than blemish your record or put yourself out of work. The management must know there's a problem if so many staff are leaving?

Cause a fuss! That's what I'd do. And I've worked with a bully, verbally abusive, nasty man who everyone was afraid of. I just kept complaining. Eventually (but not on the back of my complaints) he was suspended for gross misconduct. I've since left and don't know what happened next.

Resign and job hunt at the same time. Having left a job won’t make you unemployable. If you have annual leave remaining take it as part of your notice period if your job contract allows you to do that.

Ok good you have a buffer

What i would do is
Set myself a timeline to "stick it out" with the knowledge im going to leave- 4 weeks

Start job search IMMEDIATELY and really focus on that

Tbh id probably phone in sick in the next day or so with a sickness bug and spend a couple days cracking on with the search!!

If i didnt get an interview or an offer in the next 4 weeks then i would leave and job search whist doing some self care- reading eating well excercise etc get back to being "me" again.

When anyone asks why you left your old place i would probably lie and say you wanted a new challenge and the opportunity came up for you to do some travelling for a while or whatever and so decided to grab this opportunity

Is there anyone above your manager you can talk to.
I presume you wouldn't want to stay even if there was but you could book your holiday through them. I am not sure of the legal side but I am fairly sure as long as you give enough notice bosses can not repeatedly refuse hoilday.
Can you take unpaid leave ?
If the above is not possible I would walk out now, jobs are not very easy to come by but if you don't get to picky you can get a temp job / agency / part time.
One if the best jobs I have had I took because I wanted a physically easy part time temp job .( after a accident ) I started by been a table clearer, 15 years later I had worked up to bar manager and band co-coordinator for a large university students union.

Can you speak to HR? There's obviously a bullying problem in your workplace, why should you have to leave?

Can't you simply find another job without resigning first?

Personally I would go sick . You are sick and if you dont have a buffer you will not come across well in interviews etc. Can you go self cert sick and if necessary get a Doctors note ?

Make getting a new job a priority as from experience ,it will not get any better .

Since you say money isn't an issue and you'd be ok for 6 months, I'd resign and start job hunting hard in your notice period. Why give yourself the stress and anxiety of working for a bullying asshat when you don't desperately need the job to meet your monthly bills?

You could also do temp work while you look for a permanent job to get a bit of money coming in and maintain your unbroken employment record. Be brave and go for it! You'll feel so much better for getting out of a toxic environment. Also, if you have annual leave built up that you haven't taken, you can get that knocked off the end of your notice period and leave earlier while still getting paid for it.

Resign ; they will then have to give you the holiday pay that you can't now 'book' as leave and you can use it for a maybe a bit of a CV boost by taking a course it a new suit or similar x

Thanks for all your replies!

To answer some questions...I have tried the complain/discuss with HR/Management route. They realise there's a problem, I just think the team are too unimportant to management to bother to do anything to date, their loss. It's actually one of the most profitable areas of the business...The actual problem manager is totally incompetent and has zero self reflection ability. I mean, if you were a normal person and 90% of your team left, you'd be asking questions of yourself wouldn't you?

HR say they're taking it seriously but no action in sight as yet. To be honest I hate the actual job, it's so boring and pointless. If it were a job worth fighting for, I would!

Where I work has its own temp agency so I will be able to get some work with them (have worked with them before). That way any short break between leaving and starting temp work could be explained by a holiday, and I can say to potential employers that I'm working. Hopefully that will solve the issues.

Thanks for your replies and advice!

Resign and get work with the temp agency (while you hunt for a perm role?) - good luck

Thank you, yes I think that's the way forward!