How often do you take a sick day?

[Rapunzel91]

For those employed, how often do you take a sick day from work? And do you still sometimes work when ill?

Im ill all the time so tend to just work at home when I have a cold which is often. I’ve got a stomach bug today but feel like I still need to work as I took a sick day about a month ago 🤢

I think I’m ill more than the average person to be fair. Don’t know why, just seem to pick up everything 🤷‍♀️

I've worked for my employer for 24 years and have had 5 or 6 days off sick in that time. I'm never ill. Have never had a stomach bug or anything like that. Have had 2 or 3 colds in my life and have had covid twice but asymptomatic.

I'm prone to headaches so I'm more likely to log on late WFH, maybe every other month. I probably take 1 or 2 sick days a year usually because of a full blown migraine but I'm out of the young child bringing everything home stage.

I think it really depends on what your job is. Imagine you had a cold with a nasty sinus headache. If I had an office job or work from home job I would definitely just take some pain killers go in and get on with it. As a teacher, no fricking way. Kids screaming, everyone expects you to run at 110% capacity, no time to sit down all day let alone drink a cup of tea. Two very different scenarios.

As a teacher, I kept catching everything and eventually chose to leave the profession because of how much the exhaustion was killing my immune system. I had chest infection after tonsillitis after pneumonia it just went on and on.

GP said to me if you work with children or a medical setting expect around 4-5 bouts of illness a year, and if you don't then expect 1-3 bouts of illness. Hence his concern when I had 8 in a term. It was dreadful.

I’m very careful though. I still use hand gel and disinfect my office!
I keep a distance between myself, work colleagues and clients. I prefer it that way. I always wash my hands when I get home, always have. Use the gel in the gym after a work out. I suppose I may seem anti social!

Or, like at my workplace, you are made to feel guilty any time that you ring sick. And no, not one of the workers who rings in sick all the time and takes advantage, but one that will phone in once or twice a year at most. My old manager was pissed off when I had a bad case of Hand foot and mouth disease - covered head to toe (not just the 3 places in the name!) in itchy, sore spots. Couldn't sleep and the only place I felt comfortable was in the bath. And of course, it's contagious.

Why are you all running yourselves into the ground? There are always loads of people off sick in my office - weeks at a time!!

I’ve had 1 day in the last year, I’m beginning to think I’m owed a few.

We are all replacable.

I can't work from home and work in a small team. It's difficult to get cover for sickness so I would have to be very unwell not to work. The last time was November 2023 for 2 days. I would go in with a cold but not with n &v. Luckily I don't get unwell often.

I thought it would be obvious that I’m not leaving the house with a stomach bug. I work from home

I work from home unless I'm really ill, like the virus I had two weeks ago and even then I took three days annual leave.

I can't remember the last time. I had planned sick leave in 2018 for surgery but that's slightly different.
I tend to do what I can at home when I have a cold etc but I'm very rarely ill which helps

In the last probably ten years I have taken maybe 5 counts of absence. Once for the flu, twice (maybe three times) for COVID during mandatory isolation times, and twice for pregnancy loss/complications.

I haven't been off sick without a sick note from a doctor (or the COVID test centre) in over ten years.

I can't work from home and don't get paid if I don't work, never have, and so if it's a cold or something I'll just go in. I do feel a bit bad sometimes as doing so contributes to the fact we all constantly get ill at work (as we all do the same thing), but I'm not losing pay to sit on the sofa and spare my colleagues the same illness unfortunately!

So sorry for your loss 💐

I haven't had any for + 10 yo. No work, no pay. No WFH.

This made me chuckle, definitely can be a martyr culture in the workplace where people struggle in and spread their germs.
When I worked in an open plan office you could see colds and viruses spreading like waves along the bank of desks, used to sit there waiting to hit me or those sitting next to me.
Trouble is once a few people struggle in when they clearly shouldn't, it psychological makes it harder for the next person who catches it to phone in sick because their colleagues still work when ill.
Working from home is a bit better but honestly if you are ill it doesn't matter where you work, you are ill.
Having said that clearly easier to function with a cold in a role where you are sitting down in the warm and can have a short break whenever required than in a classroom, factory floor, supermarket etc.
To answer your question OP
On average I've probably phoned in sick once a year , usually lasts about a week, last few times have been due to covid/virus.
Sometimes I'll have a couple of periods of sickness in 12 months other times will go a couple of years with no sick leave.
I wouldn't go into the workplace with a tummy bug.

Hardly ever. Just for covid in recent years.

I can't think of a single time I've been off sick in my 20 years of work. Current job is hybrid so things like coughs/colds etc. I'll just work from home so as to not spread it around (which my employer actively encourages). The last time I was what I'd consider "properly" unwell (stomach bug) was 6 years ago whilst I was on maternity leave. Even with young kids, we are generally lucky with health!

I agree with PP, it does surely depend on job. I'm sick around once, twice a year. I have a physical job where I'm on my feet all day, it's very tiring on a normal, healthy day. My colleagues, most call in 5+ occasions in one year and have had to be referred to HR. If it were an office job I don't think it would be as bad, as people could cope with less severe illnesses, and keep to themselves a bit more to not spread things.

I would agree with the martyr thing if you get proper sick pay. I don't, and so have often been the person coughing and sneezing etc at work. Which sucks for me as much as everyone else (I also work in hospitality so sucks for customers too). But I get ill a lot (probably from working with the public/kids/sick co workers) and could not afford to be off on SSP every time I had a virus of some kind.

Once per year on average, normally for a day or two. Typical heavy colds, covid, tonsillitis etc. I wfh mostly though and have a very flexible job so on days I'm not feeling great I can normally muddle on through with doing the minimum at work and just pick it up when I'm better (no-one else picks up the work so that doesn't screw anyone over)

I take a few days a year. I'm rarely physically ill, buy tend to take a day or two when I'm feeling mentally burned out. But I tell my work it's a physical illness instead to keep things easy.

Bet your clients love you for that

Generally a couple of days a year. I'm a nurse so I won't go if I have a temperature or D+V I have small nursery and primary aged children so tend to pick things up from them, particularly my youngest who is still at a coughing in your mouth kind of stage

Very jealous of those who don’t tend to get sick!

In the last year I’ve had flu last Feb and again this Christmas, around 6-7 colds (not sure), I get headaches roughly weekly, migraines every 6-8 weeks and this stomach bug. Feel a bit like a broken down car!
I’ve taken 3 sick days in the last year and have pushed myself through some horrible bugs (like the flu) as I always feel I could be worse the next time.

The trouble is when I’m off sick no one does my work for me so it just builds up and makes things more difficult and busy when I go back that’s why I don’t like having sick days

Work from home, did have a week off last year with Covid, I was ill 🤧, nothing so far this year.