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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think that if someone is off sick from work they should not fly to Oz

94 replies

Loveweekends10 · 06/01/2013 12:41

A colleague is off sick at the moment. She will be off for 6 months. She has written on Facebook that she is flying off to Oz for a holiday for a month during her absence.
AIBU to be a bit peed off by it.

OP posts:

YulaBaker · 06/01/2013 13:10

I was signed off for 6 month once with severe anxitey and depression.

I was 23 at the time and my Parents, with my GP's blessing, wanted to send me to Oz for 2 months to help me get over the stuff that had happened at home.

I refused to get on the plane so didn't actually go but I don't think my employer would have battered an eyelid...I was ill and needed the trip. In hindsight I should have gone.

So imo, YABU

Birdsgottafly · 06/01/2013 13:11

How come UK docs can be so precise and predict 6 months as being the minimum required

You can be signed off for anything from 7 days upwards .

ILoveSaladReallyIDo · 06/01/2013 13:12

if the illness is anxiety related, then being re-assessed every 2 weeks isn't going to help as much as knowing you're off the hook work wise to just concentrate on getting well for a few months - that's gonna help people get well isn't it? instead of yo-yoing in and out and in and out of work! and easier for the employer to plan for too?

edam · 06/01/2013 13:13

Loq, the doctor will have signed her off for the minimum or average time s/he estimates recovery will take, and that will be reviewed. Doctors don't make this stuff up!

Nancy66 · 06/01/2013 13:15

dcotors don't make stuff up but I do think it's piss easy to get a dr to sign you off work if you know the right things to say.

squeakytoy · 06/01/2013 13:32

my husband was signed off long term sick due to work related stress and other depression related issues. The GP advised that a holiday would be one of the best things he could do..

gordyslovesheep · 06/01/2013 13:39

you need to discuss your workload with your manager - it's not her fault

I have been off for 4 weeks with stress - I went to the gym, I went to visit friends and I had a couple of nights out - the stress is work related - being away from work was what the Dr wanted - not for me to put my life on hold

Viviennemary · 06/01/2013 13:44

I'm of the opinion that if work is making a person stressed and ill then it is time for them to look for another job which is less stressful. This is the best thing for their long term health.

FredFredGeorge · 06/01/2013 13:47

Your workload doubling has nothing to do with her - she's sick, she can't work, if your company has not covered the situation then your problem needs to be with them, not her - they are the ones doing something wrong, she's getting better.

Original poster

Loveweekends10 · 06/01/2013 13:49

I think it just shifts the stress onto other people left at work. Because work are paying sick leave they won't employ anyone else.
I think that person should be looking for jobs more suitable rather than forgetting and putting off the problem.

OP posts:

marriedinwhite · 06/01/2013 13:54

Our sick pay schem requires availability and co-operation with occ health. For stress related illnesses we provide counselling and will refer for CBT. We expect regular medical reviews. If a person has an illness like cancer I don't think a trip overseas is viable because of insurance access to healthcare overseas, etc.

Work and being paid for it involves a willingness to be available for it. 6 month sign offa for stress/depression are extremEly unusual and even cancer patients are usually only signed off for more than three months at a time in exceptional circs. Sounds odd to me and I would be following it uup with a consultation meeting as the HOUR mgr here and I doubt our ohP would recommend a trip on full pay to Aus without a great deal of info.

NorthernLurker · 06/01/2013 13:54

OP - what to your knowledge is the cause of her sick leave? Have you any idea? Do you think she's told your boss? I would be expected to keep in touch with any staff on long term sick. Do you think that will be taking place?

Nancy66 · 06/01/2013 13:54

what sort of work is it OP?

ifancyashandy · 06/01/2013 14:02

OP: Am I Being unreasonable?
MN: yes
OP: but...! But...! No I am not!

LoopsInHoops · 06/01/2013 14:05

"I think that person should be looking for jobs more suitable rather than forgetting and putting off the problem."

How the bloody hell do you know the facts of their illness? You sound incredibly unreasonable to me.

ILoveSaladReallyIDo · 06/01/2013 14:10

yeah the pressure of job hunting when you're ill is really gonna help

work places with a large number of staff should expect that at any given time someone is off sick/on maternity/on annual leave etc so should set staff levels accordingly
smaller workplaces can't do that so should factor in cover

kinkyfuckery · 06/01/2013 14:12

Come on then OP, why's your colleague been signed off?

dreamingbohemian · 06/01/2013 14:13

I note you're not saying why she's signed off...

Kormachameleon · 06/01/2013 14:13

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

Loveweekends10 · 06/01/2013 14:14

I know the facts because she keeps putting them all over bloody Facebook!

OP posts:

moisturiser · 06/01/2013 14:17

If someone is well enough to fly to Australia, personally, unless there are exceptional circumstances I would expect them to be well enough for work.

It is too easy to judge though. Not sure whether this would come under your 'exceptional circumstances' but I went to Australia during a year I was very unwell (too ill to work). I had well and truly had enough of the terrible pain I was in. I'd had a shit awful year health wise and I just couldn't take an English winter on top of that. I was given a first class ticket (by the airline as it happened), so I lay down all the way. I then spent a month with family out there and lay in bed every day to recuperate. In the few hours a week when I felt a bit better I went and lay on the beach. It did me the world of good and got me through something horrendous, and yes, lucky me I was able to go. But I'm sure lots of people would just look at my photos (of me on the beach) and say 'if you're well enough to get there, you're well enough to work.' And it was the most gruelling flight, even lying down, but worth it for what the trip gave me.

OP I can easily see why it grates. But I think that sometimes getting somewhere hot for a bit is the very best thing one can do to recover from something serious. If you have no idea what her health issue is or what she'll be doing out there, it would be best not to think about it too much. I had a fantastic time in Australia. I had had a terrible 10 years prior to that with very out of control pain, all kinds of traumatic surgeries, and depression. It's one of those situations where I'd say to people that I would have swapped places with them and not gone to Aus if I could have not had that hellish 10 years I'd had.

Viviennemary · 06/01/2013 14:18

A lot of companies are cracking down on this long term stress sickness. As another poster says they are requiring people to be available for interviews and assessments. I wouldn't be pleased about doing somebody else's work whilst they were sunning themselves on a beach somewhere.

kinkyfuckery · 06/01/2013 14:20

If you do like her, get off her "bloody Facebook"!

kinkyfuckery · 06/01/2013 14:20

don't like her even!

KeemaNaanAndCurryOn · 06/01/2013 14:20

^I think it just shifts the stress onto other people left at work. Because work are paying sick leave they won't employ anyone else.
I think that person should be looking for jobs more suitable rather than forgetting and putting off the problem. ^

This is a remarkably ignorant post.

When someone is signed off sick, its not because they are not competent enough to do their job, it's because at that time they are ill to do their job. Can you not see the difference?

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