What's your thoughts on being off sick from work

[perfectasalways]

I've always thought if you are too sick to work that you are too sick to go out and enjoy yourself. A woman at work was on holiday and didn't come back the next week or for the first three days of the following week - something to do with feeling a bit rubbish (not mental health related) and she has cream and and tablets from the Dr. She let slip that she was in the pub with her friend on Saturday. I just would not do this. If you are well enough to go to the pub and drink surely you're well enough to go to your work.

I’ve been off sick since December and probably won’t be ready to go back until next year. I’ve been out and about, been to the pub, met my boss at Costa for a catch up and even been into work for a social event.

There is a big difference between being fit for work and being fit enough to spend an hour or two in the pub and then going home to lie down because you’ve exhausted yourself.

It really depends why they're off and what type of work they do. Rashes also vary in severity,location and can be a symptom of something else.

Piss takers don't ruin it for everyone. They just ruin it for themselves, and if they don't then there's a really shit manager in charge so aim your ire at them.

@Fairyfalls

I have been covering my colleague who is off sick and in Spain. Watching her drink cocktails on Facebook whilst I cover her work doesn't feel right to me? To make it worse she is back from sick now in work for two days then booked the two weeks leave that would have covered her holiday off! So she is back after the Bank hols.

That's a real piss take. I can't stand working with people who are selfish and lazy like this

I wouldnt be arsed, to be honest the only actions you can control are your own, and I'd feel a bit meh not my problem now. I did get frustrated when younger when working in a critical job (ie being under staffed you still have to provide a level of service) when someone broke their ankle and had 6 weeks off. In itself of course if they can't get about, but they were offered a lift from home in a work vehicle, time off for any appointments if they fell on shift time no questions asked, and the job is done sitting down. They said they can't leave home, yet were on Facebook out and about quite merrily, went away for 2 weeks, days walking around London. Wasn't my issue to comment on or resolve, but inwardly whilst we were dealing with a ridiculous workload (as usual) it was annoying.

I personally stay at home when I'm off sick, dont went to be caught out and about basically.

She could be ill, she could be taking the piss.

If covering her work is too much then you need to take it back to your manager. It's not your problem to solve.

@thecognoscenti

MN is really weird about this and says it's none of your business and that she could be going on a rock-climbing holiday and a three-day bender and you'd have no right to judge at all. IRL most people would think it's a total pisstake. If you're covering her work it IS your business.

If you're stressed because you're covering someone else's work, that's for your manager to deal with.

If someone is off sick (genuinely or otherwise) and their absence is causing issues - that's a management problem, not a "lazy piss-taking colleague" problem.

Would she get sick pay?

@thecognoscenti

MN is really weird about this and says it's none of your business and that she could be going on a rock-climbing holiday and a three-day bender and you'd have no right to judge at all. IRL most people would think it's a total pisstake. If you're covering her work it IS your business.

Being expected to cover the work of absent colleagues to the extent that it's stressful/unmanageable is a management issue, the workload and stress would still be unreasonable if the colleague were genuinely ill or taking the piss and is not the responsibility of the colleagues still working to do.

And recovering from an illness or injury doesn't happen overnight, it's not like you're too sick to move on day 7 of your sick note and leap out of bed fully recovered on day 8 at 00.01 and ready for anything.
Staying in and never leaving the house whilst on sick can be detrimental to recovery, both mental and physical illness, depending on what it is many people need a period of time to build back up gradually to a full days work, and not doing that because your colleagues think you should be sat behind closed curtains for the duration of your sick time is detrimental to the person's health and to their recovery time too - meaning longer off sick. And colleagues don't get to know the reasons why someone is off sick unless they're responsible for attendance etc.
Of course there's piss takers, but this idea that you shouldn't dare set foot out of your house if you're off sick from work is narrow minded and counter productive in many cases.

I was off sick a few weeks ago with an injury to my leg.
I was unable to drive or walk up the stairs to our office. We dont have a lift.
I large part if my job is driving to see families. I often go out walking with them . We also cycle, canoe, kayaking family groups. I couldn't fo these for a month. I was on strong pain killers.
However I went away to the cottage we already had booked. My boss knew and I didn't keep it a secret.
I didnt drive there, I didnt walk and I slept a lot. I went to the cinema and had a birthday meal out.
Work said they were unable to make modifications for me. I was unable to do sleepovers. I wouldn't have been able to evacuate the building or assist if needed. I was unable to restrain if needed. I would have been a hindrance.
That was my first sickness in 11 years. I'm not sorry that I carried on doing the things I could do.

Hmm. Imagine if she had a raging vaginal infection and had been itchy and uncomfy and sad for a couple of weeks and her mate said "come on, let's go out for dinner." Is it any of your business?

I would have fitted your criteria. I had an entire year off sick I was actually medically retired eventually. My workplace were great. I didn’t leave the house at all for six months unless it was to go to see my consultant. All meetings with my workplace were at home. HR, the dept head and my line manager came for the first one. My line manager never came back for another she looked visibly upset. I think at that point I probably weighed about 7 stone and was still struggling to speak.

Some people do take the piss with sick leave it’s true and it’s a shame that people don’t have a conscience. I had literally had about three days off sick in 27 years and then I went and had more than most ever will in one fail swoop, I mean I almost died so it was most definitely not a skive.

I still miss working.

As long as you’re keeping your managers up to date with progress and following your HR protocol and not taking the piss then even if someone does see you ‘out’ it is allowed. You can collect prescriptions, do food shops, take kids to and from school whilst off sick. I’m a single parent there is no one else to do these things. I feel horrible a lot of the time and my mobility is awful so am struggling but life does go on. I think also splashing things over SM isn’t appropriate- I don’t put anything on about anything I do. But I can manage to walk from the car to somewhere close by but will be in a lot of pain but I couldn’t run about a ward for a shift by any stretch. However I hope to get back to nhs probably doing something else until I am more mobile/get physio/surgery etc so I can at least be productive. I need to work my way back.

Depends why you're off
I was off following spinal surgery and was out walking in the parks, pottering around town etc (the shopping centre was flat so good for walking) as instructed. But I couldn't bend, lift, twist at all or sit for more than 30-45 mins so I wasn't capable of working

@Heliachi obviously not
A carer could be in the pub with a broken arm or leg but couldn't work
A builder recovering from a broken back or shoulder operation or work related injury
Like I posted above, my spinal surgery, I was signed off work for 8 weeks and spent the first 3 weeks sleeping but after that I had to walk, do PT etc but I was in no way able to work
There's a million different things you could be off with and not able to work

@Heliachi I could dine out with an approptiately packed open wound, does this mean I was infact well enough to go to work? (Prop forward).

As a manager you always know the ones taking the piss. We managed to sack someone who had gone on holiday when signed off sick with a bad knee which left him unable to walk. All good except for the FB posts of him dancing in clubs every night. Or the people who have a broken wrist and get themselves signed off for a month!

On the other hand we know when people are having a difficult time with their MH and often suggest getting signed off and going on holiday as it does the world of good.

I have been off sick a few times. Once was from complications from surgery. I was told by a HCP from work to get myself out and about. If you stay in the house all the time as you get better you don't actually know how you will cope with going back to work. I was actually starting not to want to leave the house which was not good at all. Also when I was off for depression having outing with friends did more for my recovery than sitting in the house staring at four wall. It's good now that firms are doing phased returns to work which greatly helps those who have been off a while.

Though why is this colleague questioning you when you have been off sick. Is she your manager if not she has no right to ask you anything and you don't have to give her any information.

@OnceTheyDid

As a manager you always know the ones taking the piss. We managed to sack someone who had gone on holiday when signed off sick with a bad knee which left him unable to walk. All good except for the FB posts of him dancing in clubs every night. Or the people who have a broken wrist and get themselves signed off for a month!

On the other hand we know when people are having a difficult time with their MH and often suggest getting signed off and going on holiday as it does the world of good.

I had a broken elbow and was off for more than a month all with occupational health's blessing. I needed a lot of physio to get me back to where I had been. No way could I have gone back to work after say 2 or 3 weeks.

Or the people who have a broken wrist and get themselves signed off for a month!

Eh? Am I missing something - why is that a problem?

If you have a broken wrist, you can't drive. I used to live a 25 mile journey away from work. Public transport wasn't an option (it took 5 hours each way) so if I'd broken my wrist, I'd have had to be signed off.

I'm NHS.

It is 'my business' if someone is off sick as the rest of us have to pick up the slack and, if they're skiving, they're actually defrauding the tax payer.

However, my department do absolutely nothing about the persistent 'sickie takers' to the extent they'll happily post FB and Insta updates whilst 'sick', it's got that ridiculous.

The net result is that the bar for going sick has collectively fallen so low that even erstwhile hard working, non-skiving people are beginning to think 'Sod it'.

*@th*ecognoscenti
MN is really weird about this and says it's none of your business and that she could be going on a rock-climbing holiday and a three-day bender and you'd have no right to judge at all. IRL most people would think it's a total pisstake. If you're covering her work it IS your business.

See, in my experience it's the MN "sickness police" who are weird. In real life most people I know accept that people who are ill may be able to go out for a coffee for an hour while not being able to go to work.

The chronic piss-takers are a different issue, and should be dealt with by management, not by making everyone jump through hoops.

In my current workplace we would be told off and sent home if we tried to "struggle in" (especially with something infectious). We can also take a day or two of unpaid leave at a moment's notice each year, for those days when we wake up and just can't. The level of absence is really low.

It is 'my business' if someone is off sick as the rest of us have to pick up the slack

That's a management problem, not a skiver problem.

Workplaces need to plan for absence, whether those absences are genuine or not. If your manager doesn't have plans in place to cover for absence, that's their fault - it's not the fault of the person who is off sick.

and, if they're skiving, they're actually defrauding the tax payer.

Again, that's a management problem. If people are skiving or abusing the absence policy, they should be managed out or put on a performance plan. The fact that that's not happening isn't the skivers' problem. It's a management issue, again.