How many sick days do you take?

[Mushroo]

Inspired by a Reddit thread. How many sick days do you take on average each year?

The consensus on Reddit seemed to be about 4 a year which I thought seemed quite high. Personally, I think I’ve had 2 or 3 in my working life (8 years) which I guess is low.

So just out of interest how many do you take?

I couldn't give a meaningful average. Some years I have had zero, other years I have had weeks - it's entirely driven by my health, not by how many I think I should be taking.

I have sick days when I need them. I also have quite a flexible work schedule so if I wake up with a migraine I can sleep it off then work late to compensate.

I don't often have actual days off sick but I did have covid earlier this year which made me feel more ill than I was expecting. I needed the couple of days off to just sleep.

Both DH and I are public sector workers. As I said in an earlier post I’d had one day sick in six years until Covid. DH has been in current job for over 20 years and has had less than three periods of sickness two were one or two days the other was a bit over a week as he was hospitalised. He didn’t even take any days when he caught Covid from me as he was able to work from home.

it’s not to do with being paid it’s down to your actual health and your work ethic.

In my last job I had 3 sick days over 10 years. Two were vomitting bug and the other was a fall and I went to A&E to get checked.

The job before that was two days. One was in relation to a vomiting bug and the other was a blinding headache.

This job I had five days in one year with COVID which considering I only work part time is a lot.

The last time I took any time off sick was when I had pneumonia five years ago.

I had four weeks in a 9 month period two years ago due to bullying. Other than that I've only been off with covid twice (excluded from work not my decision), no other illness for years.

I work for a company who are really encouraging of people taking time off when under the weather in any way - most of my colleagues and I probably have 6-10 sick days off a year. They’re great about “slow days” as well - I suffer badly from migraines as does a colleague and if we have had one overnight or something it’s perfectly acceptable to let everyone know you’re having a slow day and will be doing some work/emails but won’t be attending client facing meetings etc., or will just pop online for one meeting. It’s wonderful and makes everyone feel very supported. It’s lovely to have managers encouraging staff to log off or go home if they can hear they’re coming down with a cold rather than awful presenteeism. (These are all paid as well!)

Usually barely any. However, since the end of lockdown I seem to be getting a ridiculous amount of really bad colds that absolutely floor me. In the last year I think I’ve had about 5 sick days and probably at least 3 more I would have taken if we didn’t have a limit.

I only started this job a year ago and I’m sure they must think me incredible sickly!

Apart from isolating because of contacts (when you had to isolate) I have had 2 days off in 5 years (one of which was pregnancy related) im rarely ill

In the olden days there was one job where I literally took a Monday off for about 6 months - mental health reasons and due to depression/relatives dying etc. I did think there might be something said to me but when I asked the new office manager she said nothing was on my HR file about this.

In other old jobs - if I felt sick I did take time off if it was paid, mostly bad sore throats, once sinusitis etc. In another job where it was frowned on to take any time off at all, ever, I took 3 days off with Norovirus and went back into work (forced, feeling and looking awful), I also badly bruised ribs, cut hand (accident) and had to have a week off work but I literally couldn't move. Sprained ankle (they told me later I'd broken a couple of small bones but didn't x-ray then) - 3 days off in an old job.

I've now been temping/contracting for approx 4 years and though I do take time off if vomiting, temperature etc (genuinely ill), I rarely do take time off, as it's unpaid. But if I do this, I ensure I have a back up of savings to cover loss of earnings. In theory if you WFH you can be ill and work, but I've done this sometimes feeling sick/vomiting and felt worse looking at laptop so if I feel really bad and WFH I either log on late/finish early or just take a day or two off.

I know certain people in old jobs who used their sick leave allowance as 'extra holiday' and then complained when the rules were changed not in their favour. One man in a job used to be off for a week every year with 'flu'.

We've seen sickness levels drop dramatically since we were able to WFH. Like others have said there are occasions/conditions when you can't manage the commute but can deal with emails etc. It also means that people aren't bringing their germs into work so people aren't catching things from colleagues. Benefits the individual, the staff and the business. The only downside is if people keep going and don't allow their bodies to recover, but most people are sensible.

Most people's immune systems are shot to pieces as we haven't had exposure to viruses/colds etc so that's why you're getting more.

Vitamin C and zinc and echinachea do help.

Thank you @GonnaGetGoingReturns I’d been thinking of trying some vitamins so will order those you’ve suggested

I've had more time off because I can't physically do my job than being ill ill. I get laryngitis at least once a year and feel fine but I can't teach so have to stay at home. I've had a couple of sprained ankles and an infection on my knee twice that meant I was not mobile enough to get to work. If I was in a WFH or admin type role I could have carried on working.

as many as I need. which purely due to luck until now was not many. maybe one or two a year.

Depends how ill i am......i've had one day off this year when I had Covid (wfh the rest of the days) and i think i had one day last year when I randomly had a weird stomach bug thing despite it being in the middle of lockdown and not having been everywhere! 2020 I had quite a lot as I had 2 surgical procedures and was signed off sick afterwards so probably hit 12-15.

In the last 15 years or so, maybe 4 days off sick, plus 2 weeks post gall bladder op and 4 days for Covid. I work in a secondary school and have been lucky not to catch much from there. Even the covid was probably from a birthday party rather than from school.

Generally none but last year I was hospitalised with a gallbladder infection which ended up with emergency removal. So had a week off while I was in hospital then 2 weeks after while recovering.

Usually around 3 a year, usually (pre-wfh) back pain from our crappy office chairs, flu type bugs or side effects from a medication I take. I have already taken 3 days off this year when I had covid so might be slightly higher this year
I’m a public sector worker but I’ve never taken off a period long enough to even need a doctor’s note.

I have a chronic illness so I'd say between 5-8.

I'm healthy in general, so I had half a day for covid last year, and I seem to remember I had one day sick the year before for a stomach bug

I've been working in my public sector job for 17 years and have had 4 days off sick.

Depends on if any of my underlying conditions flare up. It can vary from 2-3 days a year to 3 months+.

7 (in the last 15 years). Two have been in the last 7 months!!

None or maybe one in a typical year.