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

[Loveweekends10]

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.

I can understand why you would have the reaction you have, but as other posters have said it's a bit of a minefield without the full facts. At the moment we're waiting for the results of DH's MRI scan - possibly a brain tumour. Obviously, I've been doing a lot of thinking about what we'll do if it's terminal or not. Either way, I think we would take a family holiday, somewhere gorgeous that we would remember. If he returns to work, then he would have had a holiday whilst he was on sick leave. This is all up in the air for us at the moment, but shows that there are many reasons why someone would do this. OTOH, there are people who take the piss!

The OP plainly doesn't know why the person is off sick. Therefore I think she is being hugely unreasonable in her judgement of this situation.

Has she put details of her illness on facebook? You may know the facts about her trip, but you don't seem to know why her GP saw fit to sign her off for 6 month.

My facebook shows a happy family living the life of riley while I am off sick.

It gives me a bit of normality in an abnormal situation.

Of course those who know me - can see - what is missing - thankfully I only have real friends on FB.

Don't think people's lives as as it appears on screen.

The problem is there are a lot of piss takers out there, particularly where I work (public sector) which clouds judgement sometimes. And depression and stress are the most widely used by skivers, for obvious reasons. Awful for those genuine ones.

I find it remarkable though how many staff seem to recover from bad backs, stress (work related and otherwise) etc, just as the sick pay and accrued holiday pay run out. Sadly it makes one a little cynical.

Agree with marriedinwhite! I have seen remarkable recoveries that defied belief!

Equally, I think it is galling to see this. There may be legitimate reasons why this travel in no way conflicts with the reason they've been signed off sick, but it is annoying for the people remaining in work. There are lots of reasons why it may not be possible to get cover for sickness absence (skills, training etc) as well as financial impact of paying for sick leave and cover.

There is a direct link between how generous a company's sick pay scheme is, and how much sickness absence they experience. Perhaps a small element is explained by people who can't afford to be off sick dragging themselves in when they shoukdn't, but a huge number of people treat it as extra annual leave.

I have a confession that isn't going to put me in the best light.

Once upon a time I felt just like you. A colleague was off sick for several sessions of a couple of months and I had to pick up part of the slack at work. I was very resentful. I begrudged my colleague's absence and their FB posts.

And then I got pregnant and suffered with Hyperemesis, necessitating a couple of months off. And it was horrible. I felt like I couldn't leave the house if I was having a good day (ha!) in case someone from work saw me. I wished someone a happy birthday online and was contacted by colleagues saying "feeling better then?". I was made to feel like shit when I got back because people had been covering my work - and yet I'd done nothing wrong; I could barely get out of bed for those two months much less don a suit and sit at a desk. But you'd better believe it wasn't seen that way by other staff; "she's only pregnant, she can't be that ill" was one conversation I overheard one day.

Never, ever again will I judge someone for being off work because now I know how it feels.

YABTU.

I couldn't care less if work pay me or not.

It doesn't factor into our situation.

Public sector sick pay is not what it was -they aare managing it much better than they did.

Thankfully my boss, her bosses, occ health and the works doctor as well as my own GP understand the situation I am in.

Yes it's been nice to be paid - bills are one less thing to worry about - but I am not capable of working - and I dont know if I ever will be - however what has happened to us - won't be covered by benefits and we cannot live on DCs salary.

I have no idea what the future holds for my family - but none of my colleagues have a clue about anything - and it's absolutely none of their business.

marriedinwhite there are specialist insurers that will cover people with cancer, though premiums can be higher. In addition, there are often periods during someone's treatment when you can be fairly certain that they will not become suddenly and critically ill, even though they are not fit to go and work for 8 hours straight. So long as you are not going somewhere without access to Western medical facilities, then it is far from unreasonable to go.

Professionally, I think it's important to point out that if someone with an exemplary attendance record falls ill there does tend to be a more sympathetic approach by management when compared with the approach to the employee who has multiple days off and always has had. Just saying - might be worth bearing in mind.

I was off sick this year with what has now been diagnosed as CFS/ME. During the first sick period I was scared to go out because I was worried people from work would get the wrong idea. However my boss did say I should try it because I needed to see how I coped with a trip out. I don't think she would feel the same about a holiday but then I wouldn't be able to afford it or cope with it physically anyway.

While we are at it all those bloody disabled people in London this summer.

They were all having a nice holiday paid for by their governments, and TRAVELLING, I mean if you only have one leg you should not be able to leave your home country.

I think OP there are many other ways you could expend your energy more usefully rather than sulking about a situation which is not your business.

In Victorian days travel used to be prescribed as a treatment for a whole range of illnesses. When my gran was too ill to attend school during her pre-teens she was sent to rest with relatives in the countryside. When dd was ill (probably same condition) I was afraid to even take her out into the garden in case people should gossip. Guess who recovered the quickest?

Actually, here in France, it's apparently still possible for doctors to prescribe spa visits for certain conditions.

OP, why did you ask if you were being unreasonable if you refuse to accept the consensus, or even acknowledge that the majority of people might have a point?

I would hazard that you don't have a clue what your colleague's condition actually is therefore you are in no position to judge whether or not she is up to travelling to Australia. If your workload is too much, you should take that up with your employers.

I wonder if you'd prefer to trade your health with the condition your colleague has?

If she has a long term illness, maybe a break will be good for her...

Jealously is not a good look