How much contact is usual/OK when you're off sick?

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A friend has been off for two weeks. Her certificate says "stress". Her employer has not been told what is causing the stress.

Her boss has sent what appears to be a very pleasant email, along the lines of, so sorry you're not feeling well, let me know if to can do anything to help, I'm here if you want to talk.

Her husband has responded basically saying she's off with stress, leave her alone.

It is a work related matter but the employer doesn't know what (an issue with a colleague). Surely they're entitled to ask so that they can try and resolve things? Isn't it considered good practice to keep in touch with a staff member who (may be) off long term?

Friend is genuinely struggling with the issue but it seems to me that she should at least let her boss try and resolve it. That seems best for everyone, including her?

I am a manager with the same issue , one of my staff is off with stress and anxiety. for a short will he went NC and we were all getting concerned so HR sent he a gently worded email just to let him know that we will help him in any way we can .
It is standard practice and is the best way to approach this kind of situation , however they can not keep on contacting her as this will be seen as harassment.
Your friend should ( when she is ready ) contact her HR and explain what the issue is keeping as close to the facts as she can .
HR can not help solve the problem if she doesnt tell them what it is .

Why is your friends husband responding on their behalf? I'd be mortified if DH did that for me!

As far as I can see, boss hasn't done anything wrong. I would advise your friend to contact boss themselves, say currently off and hoping to be back as soon as possible, thanks for the message and will be happy to talk about anything needed nearer time they are coming back to work.

Theyvhave a joint email account (i know!) Frankly and she asked him to.

I think the reply by her partner is a bit over the top to be honest. Fair enough if she doesn’t want to talk about it but it was a curtesy email I’m guessing and it seems standard to do so the response was unnecessary. Unless it was worded better than leave her alone she is stressed. Not sure why he is replying for her though but maybe she asked him too.

Just seen your post saying she asked him too. Did not realise that some people have joint email accounts, that seems odd.

It isn't odd to have joint email accounts, it's useful for family/kids/bills etc so you can both see stuff. We've got one.

Dh is out of order. A gentle email offering help is fine. Pestering with multiple emails isn’t, but that isn’t the case so why is the dh leaping to her defence and why can’t she answer herself?

How does she think saying nothing will change anything? Does she think the issue will go away of its own accord, without her doing or saying anything? (I strongly disagree!)

If her employer offers confidential counselling by a third party, talking to them first might help her understand the benefits of telling her employer what the issue is.