Page 8 | How many sick days do you take?

Mushroo · 2022-07-25T10:02:46+00:00

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?

MaxOverTheMoon · 26/07/2022 10:19

Managers should be able to manage out employees who are unable to do their jobs due to high levels of sickness.

Paying generous sick pay is a great thing and should be in every company. It's short sited not to pay it as unavoidable sickness happens and losing good staff over recovering from an opp/dealing with bereavement or divorce/getting a million bugs as your child went to nursery and kindly passed them along just isn't good practice. It doesn't make employees feel valuable and then the work that gets put out isisn'as good as it could be. Most people don't take the piss or there wouldn't even be a public sector as no one would be at work.

riotlady · 26/07/2022 13:15

Just had 3 days off for food poisoning (And I work part time so that’s a full week for me). Have only been in my role 6 months so I’m a bit stressed about having to have so much time off tbh, fingers crossed I get nothing else this year

Glamping4Break · 26/07/2022 13:42

0 in the last few years

Titsflyingsouth · 26/07/2022 18:29

Sick days often depend on working context.

Now I'm WFH, I hardly take any (maybe 1.5 days a year.) When I was commuting into London daily, touching handrails and breathing in people's germs on the Tube, I had a constant stream of colds and bugs.

megletthesecond · 26/07/2022 18:33

3 or 4.
In the last 12 months I've had 4 days off. 2 for IBS and 2 to fall apart when DD was having constant meltdowns and refusing school.

glamourousindierockandroll · 26/07/2022 18:35

On average over my working life, it's usually 0. However, I've had about 8 working days this year due to covid and tonsilitis that really took it out of me.

DeepestDarkestRiver · 26/07/2022 18:43

I haven't taken a sick day since 2010. I very rarely get anything more than a cold. I had covid in April but barely had any symptoms. I feel very fortunate!

mynewname25 · 26/07/2022 18:50

i love my job so often struggle in when i probably should stay off (not office based so not likely to be infecting others)

but id say in my 15yr career it likely averages out at 2 or 3 days a year.

however im fit and healthy so i would imagine that is normal

knackeredagain · 26/07/2022 18:53

Ive been in my current job a year and haven’t had a day off sick. In previous jobs I may have had 4ish. I’ve had a couple of extended periods too, like when I herniated a disc in my back and with PND.

PortalooSunset · 26/07/2022 18:55

I'm in week 4 now. Conversation with my GP today: "so can I go back to work tomorrow?" "No, you're going to the hospital!"

latetothefisting · 26/07/2022 19:53

Used to take 2 or 3 sets of 2-3 days per year, usually just with cold/fluey bugs. Since wfh took 3 days off when I actually had covid but that's it. a) because I don't seem to have picked up all the bugs I did when everyone was in the office constantly sneezing and coughing over one another, and b) if I did feel in-between the 'not well enough to get up, dressed, drive to work and spend 8 hours there' but 'could dip in and out, in pyjamas, with naps and a short day,' I can do that and just make the time up.

ScruffGin · 26/07/2022 20:08

I'm usually pretty well, generous sick pay as well.

On a normal year, probably 1-2 days for occasional migraines.

Past year, 10 days for covid (due to work rules, rather than actually feeling ill!), Plus a couple for migraine

MrsDThomas · 26/07/2022 20:13

DH and i are public sector workers. Never have been anything else.

last sick day i had was back in 2012 when my nan died. I had her funeral to arrange.

DH last suck day was 1991. Seriously. He twisted his ankle.

so @DenholmElliot1 with your sweeping statement about public sector workers?

imnottoofussed · 26/07/2022 20:22

I think I've taken 2 in 9 years

GonnaGetGoingReturns · 27/07/2022 13:40

Titsflyingsouth · 26/07/2022 18:29

Sick days often depend on working context.

Now I'm WFH, I hardly take any (maybe 1.5 days a year.) When I was commuting into London daily, touching handrails and breathing in people's germs on the Tube, I had a constant stream of colds and bugs.

That's true actually - when I was commuting on trains and tubes I got a lot more viruses/colds etc.

I recall I worked with someone who took a 20 minute bus into work and boasted she never took time off sick. Then her youngest DC had his first child and they lived with her for a while and then more of her DC had children and she helped out with childcare. One by one they got various illnesses like Norovirus, flu and if she'd been in contact with them she got it too. Couldn't help smirking a bit at this.

GonnaGetGoingReturns · 27/07/2022 13:42

latetothefisting · 26/07/2022 19:53

Used to take 2 or 3 sets of 2-3 days per year, usually just with cold/fluey bugs. Since wfh took 3 days off when I actually had covid but that's it. a) because I don't seem to have picked up all the bugs I did when everyone was in the office constantly sneezing and coughing over one another, and b) if I did feel in-between the 'not well enough to get up, dressed, drive to work and spend 8 hours there' but 'could dip in and out, in pyjamas, with naps and a short day,' I can do that and just make the time up.

That's the one thing I used to hate at work - a lot of people would come into work with flu/colds and sneeze and cough everywhere, then they wondered why other people caught their flu/colds.

It's better now, at least in my workplace, because we've had Covid cases so any sniffle/cough is avoided!