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Original poster

What's your thoughts on being off sick from work

123 replies

perfectasalways · 20/08/2021 19:30

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.

OP posts:

OnceTheyDid · 21/08/2021 12:52

@icedcoffees

This is the problem. Its not your employers fault you live far from work.. and it's not a good enough reason not to work ffs. What if you were diagnosed with epilepsy and couldn't drive to work for a year ? What then ?

You are able to drive with a broken wrist if your GP deems it safe. To the other poster - an elbow is a bit different because of movement.

icedcoffees · 21/08/2021 12:53

To add to my above post, that's also the reason I got out of retail management - the money wasn't worth the stress

icedcoffees · 21/08/2021 12:57

[quote OnceTheyDid]@icedcoffees

You are able to drive with a broken wrist if your GP deems it safe. To the other poster - an elbow is a bit different because of movement.[/quote]
Of course it's not my employers fault, but what's the solution? A taxi would have cost more than my daily wage and public transport, like I say, wouldn't have been an option.

Anyway, it's not up to you to decide whether someone should be signed off or not. Unless you are that persons' GP and have access to all their medical records, keep your nose out.

If I was diagnosed with epilepsy and couldn't drive anymore, I suspect I would leave my job on medical grounds - but that's not remotely comparable to a temporary injury, and you know it. It's a ridiculous comparison to try and make.

Lumpwoody · 21/08/2021 13:07

@Heliachi when I was in a wheelchair and on strong painkillers I couldn’t drive to get to work I couldn’t take public transport.

I wouldn’t have been safe to do my job (painkillers).

I went to the pub with family and friends.

Are you saying I shouldn’t have?

lljkk · 21/08/2021 13:20

If I felt well enough to sit & watch TV at home for a few hours then I might feel well enough to sit in pub for a few hours -- doesn't mean I was well enough to do many types of work. Being in pub is not a demanding experience, is it? MYOB.

OnceTheyDid · 21/08/2021 13:43

Epilepsy is comparable. When it's controlled on medication but you can't drive. You going to be off for a year ?

And yes I have epilepsy (and had a broken wrist). I don't have a sense of entitlement to sick pay just because I can't get to work in my usual way. Yes my work have a responsibility towards me but I also have a responsibility towards them.

I got public transport to work. 90 minutes each way.

It's tax payers money and not be be abused.

notacooldad · 21/08/2021 14:02

I think the point is that if one is well enough to dine out, one is well enough to work
It really does depend on what duties you have to do

AccidentallyOnPurpose · 21/08/2021 14:04

I think the point is that if one is well enough to dine out, one is well enough to work.
Where do you people eat? Get dressed, drive/be driven , sit ,eat , drive/be driven , back home in bed or whatever . It's not exactly a strenuous activity is it?

Blurp · 21/08/2021 14:06

@AccidentallyOnPurpose

I think the point is that if one is well enough to dine out, one is well enough to work. Where do you people eat? Get dressed, drive/be driven , sit ,eat , drive/be driven , back home in bed or whatever . It's not exactly a strenuous activity is it?

Nailed it! I want one of these jobs where a working day is the same level of effort as an hour in the pub!

Lumpwoody · 21/08/2021 14:09

@OnceTheyDid I was in a wheelchair. Non weight bearing on my leg. And my work was a half mile walk from the train. My home is an 8 mile drive to get to the train in the first place.

What exactly would you have suggested I do?

icedcoffees · 21/08/2021 14:10

Epilepsy is comparable. When it's controlled on medication but you can't drive. You going to be off for a year?

If it was a permanent change (as in, I'd never drive again) I'd hand in my notice so they could replace me. If it was a definitely going to be temporary issue, I would 100% expect my workplace to support me somehow, yes.

That could involve them contributing towards a taxi fare, enabling me to work from home if the role allowed it, arranging a lift-share with a colleague etc.

Thankfully nowadays I'm self-employed but my previous manager was very understanding when I needed two months off for my mental health and didn't criticise me or complain when I spent time with my mum out of the house in that time.

I'm very glad I've never worked for some of the people on this thread. People get sick and sometimes that means they're off work for long periods of time. That's part of what you need to prepare for as an employer, I'm afraid.

icedcoffees · 21/08/2021 14:11

I got public transport to work. 90 minutes each way.

Public transport for me would have been 5 hours each way, and even if I got the earliest train, it would involve getting to work over an hour late. I'd then need to leave work three hours later in order to arrive home the same day.

A total waste of time for me and for my employer. 90 minutes is perfectly reasonable, though.

Lumpwoody · 21/08/2021 14:12

I could not at the time get public transport because I couldn’t get to the station on time to get the train I needed to get.

Toddlerteaplease · 21/08/2021 14:14

Absolute rubbish. When my MS flares up, there is no way I can do 12 hours on a busy ward. But can drive to a coffee shop. I'd go mad stuck in doors for the length of a flare up.

notacooldad · 21/08/2021 14:22

I think some MN live in their own zone bubble and cant see that people have varied and widely different experiences to them, especially in the work place.
Our colleague had ' funny turns' needed time off. Our manager encouraged her to see friends and socialize so that she didn't become isolated while she was off work. She really needed her friends around as it turned out to be a brain tumour and was off for a year and returned on light duties for 6 months.

Dont judge. You may not know all the facts. Some things may be kept from you.
Also you may be in their position one day as well.

Spectre8 · 21/08/2021 14:45

So she went to the pub on the weekend which is not even a work day. She is entitled to do what she likes on a weekend. Some people go out drinking on thursday night and too pissed or have hangovers they call sick on Fridays. Are you going to tell people not to go to the pub on Thursday night?

Think you need to mind your own business.

This is why I never speak about what I do in my personal life to anyone at work, I use boring bland statements like I didn't do much or had a chilled one. Because anything you tell people is used against you. Whether its used against you because you called in sick, or used against you for not needing a payrise cos you seem to have enough money to go on holidays alot etc.

KatherineJaneway · 21/08/2021 14:58

Depends on why you are ill.

Meant to be in bed with a bad cold / flu then fine to go to chemist to get medication but not OK to go to the pub.

Original poster

perfectasalways · 22/08/2021 09:26

To be fair I have had an awful year health wise - I fractured my back in two places (not discovered until 4 months later) and couldn't sit up never mind walk. Was promptly given boxes of files from work and had to work sometimes 10 hour days from home - got numerous sick lines but was made to feel guilty as I wasn't as efficient and others were picking up the slack. Because I can work from home (this other lady can't) no matter what I'm expected to work. I just feel so guilty. I was off a total of 3 weeks 1 day (not all together) - some of due to mental health, which I fully admitted - I was in a very low place so I don't have a lot of sympathy for someone who questioned how I was able to do certain things and not others (like I can bend down but not sit in a chair). Her being off had no impact to be fair, which was quickly recognised.

OP posts:

MrsClatterbuck · 22/08/2021 17:19

If you had a sick line from your doctor and they do not give those out lightly then no matter what work saidct make feel guilty I would not have been working. Those sick lines were to help you get back to health so you could work and and ignoring a sick line may delay your recovery and also cause problems later in life. I knew someone who had surgery and where told to rest but didn't follow the instructions for their recovery and ended up having to have the surgery redone.

Blurp · 22/08/2021 19:15

@perfectasalways it sounds like your workplace is a nightmare and the management are terrible. You should not have been given work to do when you were off sick.

Zorinindustries · 22/08/2021 19:24

It totally depends the illness and the job. I have a job where I am on my feet all day. I also have a knee injury.
I can get to the pub and sit down, chat, eat and drink, but not be on my feet and sitting on the floor and on teeny tiny chairs all day, which is required by my job.

DisgraceToTheYChromosome · 22/08/2021 20:17

I've been off for nearly six months, because my gait made me unsafe. I socialised, ate out, did all sorts of things. If anyone had suggested I should be festering indoors, grovelling for my derisory SSP, I would have told them to fuck off.

SirenSays · 22/08/2021 20:33

I was off signed off sick due to grief but I had to go in during this time to drop off some paperwork. I heard a particularly nasty colleague make a comment on my summery outfit and that I was wearing make up. Apparently I should have gone in wearing my quilt and sobbing as anything less meant I was skiving.

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