Sick leave rules where you live!

[themosquitoslayer]

Hi, I live abroad, Italy to be precise. I've lived here for a long time. Recently I interviewed a young English guy who has just moved over, he asked how may sick days he gets. I found this question bizarre, how can you know how any days you'll be ill for? If you're ill you say at home, end of story, we don't want you to make yourself worse or infect everyone else.

After a bit of research I found this is the normal thing to ask in UK now. It wasn't a thing when I last worked there over 30 years ago. I asked Italian colleagues if they knew if there was a limit, no one knew. A bit of Googling I discovered it is approx 180 days, depending on which government contract you have, that's not on full pay I should add...

On the other hand the English guy was shocked when I told him if he is ill, he must go to the doctor on day 1 of the illness and get a certificate (which is actually just a code that you send to HR) you cannot be off without one, or you have to use a day of your annual leave to cover it. It is illegal for HR or your boss to ask what illness you have and you are not obliged to say what's wrong when you phone in sick, however a temporary change was made to this during peak Covid. This is standard in all Italy as companies cannot set their own rules, we all have government contracts for the given work sector, that determine our working hours & pay level, similar to UK public sector but for all sectors.

It made me think, do any other countries operate like UK or Italy, they seem worlds apart!

AFAIK you can self certify for 5 days and at least where i used to work you had to call in every day. If you are likely to be off any longer you need a doctors note. The only exception to those rules were when i had covid and the guidelines at the time was self isolate for two weeks, I didn't need a note and my boss said no need to call every day, he called to check on me in my second week. Once your sick note runs out you either return to work or get another. Although legally they cannot sack you while off sick if you are off for an extended period they may gently suggest that you reconsider employment or working hours. I am the only person I know who returned to full-time.time hours after 10 weeks off with work related stress. Everyone else went part-time or shuffled their role in store. The management team decide whether to give company sick pay or statutory sick pay, some companies pnly offer SSP.

In NZ you get 10 days paid sick leave a year, it can be carried over up to 20 days and the leave can be used to care for a sick dependent. If off for 3 or more consecutive days your employer can ask for a medical certificate. Of course employers can go over and above if they wish to.

I'm in Australia and thats not how it works anywhere I've worked. You get a certain amount of sick days per year and they do roll-over but you can only take them for illness, and they aren't paid out if you leave. They aren't related to your separate annual leave entitlements.

In the UK you absolutely can get dismissed while off sick

@JacknDianemost retailers in the UK use the Bradford system. Especially supermarkets.

Ive never heard of the Bradford system

In the UK you’ll get SSP but then some companies will top that up and give you full pay. Not all though. So it’s possible that he is asking about the benefit your company will give (the amount of days paid in full). But I agree it’s a strange question to ask - one if you probably have something underlying going on. Not that you should discriminate against that, but an employer couldn’t help but be put off by that for obvious reasons.

@JacknDianeit doesn’t get explicitly called “The Bradford system” but it is used in almost all large UK retailers to manage absence, especially supermarkets where absence can lead to lost profit.

I remember reading on here about where in one country (I forget which, sorry), if you are off sick from work then you are not allowed to leave your home.

Luxemburg