Sick days

[Belladog1]

Just wondering how many days sick you generally have per year. I'm not talking serious ailments but coughs/colds/stomach issues etc ....

I am very lucky and I'm rarely ill. I can't remember the last time I got a cold and i don't think I've taken a sick day in years. I'd have to feel really rubbish before I'd consider not going to work.

But my colleagues are very different. One lady is off a lot, at least fortnightly with headaches or a cold. She apparently takes to her bed and gets looked after by her husband. I've noticed her son takes lots of time off too for ailments and she often gets calls from the school for him to be collected as he has tummy ache. I can't help but wonder if her sickness days and staying home look great to her son who gets a day home with one mention of a poorly stomach.?

My boss often phones me to say he's woken up feeling grotty and is taking a day to stay under the duvet.

I remember as a kid trying to convince my mum i was sick. She would sit on the bed, pull a silly face and if I giggled she'd say 'I think you're well enough to go to school', and off I'd go. But, even today, as a middle aged woman, I still feel guilty, almost like I'm lying, if I need a day off sick.

My colds or flus or gastro seem to land late in the week so I already work from home and then am sick over the weekend. The severe symptoms are over by then and then it is back to work! I would
prefer to be sick over the working week because I would use my sick days more. Because it lands like this quite often, I can’t recall using lots of sick days, maybe up to three last year. With a toddler who goes to daycare, I get lots of sick bugs and it all just seems to fall in the weekends. We don’t have help so DH and I may tag team while the other rests. I would take an annual leave day after such a weekend to have a bit of recovery.

The problem I have is my symptoms carry on for weeks after initial recovery. So I can have a hacking cough for couple of weeks. I don’t take time off for that.

I don’t mind if people take sick days. I think adults know how to manage themselves. Of course, there are those that take the mickey but I’ve got too many of my own issues to think about to worry about what they are up to. Not my business.

During my second pregnancy I was signed off with HG for a good 3/4 months. Company were great and thankfully I still got full pay. We don’t have a limit on sick days but other than when I was pregnant I rarely took time off unless I was really ill eg flu or a stomach bug that I could spread to coworkers.

I honestly have no idea what my sick day limit is. Or what the rules are surrounded it. I've worked there for so long I can't remember what my contract says!!

To trigger warnings etc all my contracts have specified 3 instances or 10 days in either a rolling 6 or 12 month period but in practice there is a certain amount of discretion in there.

In terms of sick pay, I've been lucky to work on.places that do have full sick pay, but contracts used to be more generous and now it's quite common to build up the maximum with length of service.

Ever since I was a baby I would get really sick every couple of months, sometimes every few weeks. Always had ear infections, tonsillitis, colds would knock me for six, chicken pox, mumps, measles all made me extremely ill. I was nearly killed as a baby after being given far too high a dose of penicillin by the doctors that caused a very serious allergic reaction. I'm now allergic to quite a few anti biotics. The regular bouts of illness has continued through my life. I hate it. I don't want to be ill. Bugs that others can weather just absolutely destroy me. I guess I have a weaker immune system than others. The only time I've been consistently well was during lockdown as I had to shield. I can't be the only one. It's never been looked in to why even though I'd love to know! I've always felt like I'm faulty!

I don't take time off sick and if I have a cold or feel a bit under the weather, I try to just get on with it. I have to be laid up and unable to move to think about calling in sick. I wouldn't judge other people for being off though we all have different levels of health and pain thresholds and if someone has something contagious it is better they stay away than pass it on to the rest of the workplace.

Checked my collective agreement, we get 28 days full pay sick leave (increases with years worked), includes taking time off for caring for a sick child (so nice to find out that that is paid time! Maybe next time DS is ill I'll stay home and look after him instead of OH, as he doesn't get paid). Zero mention of disciplinary action regarding sickness except that the employer may order the employee to see a specific doctor (presumably the occupational healthcare doctor) to be examined if they don't believe they are sick.

This sounds quite selfish. What about your colleagues?

I think I've had 11 days off - that was enforced by the covid rules and then 2 days while my son was taken to hospital and 1 parent had to stay at home with our other children, during half term.

Otherwise I tend to feel better if I drag myself to work!

I don’t for coughs and colds (self employed) but I did have to admit defeat for 2 days with noro.

If I don’t work, I don’t earn.

I'm prone to an upset stomach but since lockdown would just wfh unless I was glued to the toilet. Haven't had a day off in the last year but did get Covid the year before where I needed 2 days off.

You think people should come into the office with infectious illnesses?

I thought we'd lost this selfish attitude during COVID.

Sometimes being off sick is more about keeping your illness to yourself, than passing on to others.

My dad died of flu last year, he got it from my SIL, who picked it up at work.

I'm not sure I'd be happy to see a GP who was ill and had been through a traumatic event the day before.

Are you not concerned about passing on your illness?

I don’t get unwell ever really.

But I’m a bit weird about illness and don’t see coughs, colds, headaches as reason for me to be off. (I work 90% from home so keep it to myself)

Anything that can be made better by paracetamol is minor to me so does not warrant any drama or consideration. I take the paracetamol, up my fluids and crack on.

I’m intolerant of anything that inconveniences me. Told you I’m weird!

Ended up in hospital one Thursday needed morphine so took the Thursday & Friday off to recover but was back to work on the Monday. That’s 2 days in 4 years in my current job.

I just dont “get” minor illness having impact on life.

I really thought the attitude to "sick days" had changed, but this thread suggests it hadn't!

I thought we'd learned during COVID that staying at home with sniffles, etc. wasn't about you, it was about not passing on your illness to others (who may be more severely impacted by it).

I've had more sick days off in the past 3 years than my entire 20 year work life. My LO went to nursery and I was picking up everything going!
I lost both my parents last year too, and think this knocked my immune system as I also picked up a lot.

For the love of god, you don't get a reward for going in sick. If you can pass whatever you have on to someone else - STAY AT HOME

I’ve had one in the last year. I was too unwell to look at a screen. Before that one or two a year when taken down by D&V. Before kids (and Covid) none, never got ill! Compared to other people I think generally am lucky to get ill a lot less and to bounce back fairly quickly. I can also WFH so there’s more flexibility to show up when too ill to leave the house but not ill enough that you can’t get a few bits done on a laptop.

the employers arent listening, sadly

Haha I totally get this. I was off after having a knee op (was non weight bearing and can’t WFH) and I still had to put on “the voice”!!! 🤣🤣

Not taken a sick day since I started WFH full time. If I feel rubbish for whatever reason I just take it easy and do the bare minimum that day. No one would notice or care.

If I were REALLY sick - eg flu, shingles? - I would probably tell my boss, log off and out my OOO on.

I was last off sick in 2016. I was in hospital with a chest infection.

I manage a large team and I’m struggling to think of when any of them were off sick. Perhaps because we largely wfh, it’s much easier to work when full of cold etc. __

Self employed for 16 years and I think I’ve had around 10 days for nori virus twice and Covid.

When employed I definitely took my “allowance” of sick days 😳

I hate this but I also feel like I have to do it (especially when i was a child trying to convince my parents I actually was ill) thankfully I can just text my manager if I'm ill, no need to call.

I used take about 3 days when we working in office full time. When wfh I didnt take any as even if unwell i would still log on.

Saying that i had a run of bad luck last year and needed surgery three times (2 planned and 1 emergency) and I had 9 weeks off and wfh solely for another 4 weeks.

This isn't a competition. I've had 2. I took no time off for the second as I didn't need to but did for the first.